Chapter 3: The Woman Behind The Wall
I don’t remember moving.
One second, I was standing beside Lily.
The next, I was tearing through the hidden room, searching for the way behind the wall.
“Emily!””
My voice broke.
“Emily, can you hear me?””
A weak cough came from the other side.
“Yes.””
Lily started crying.
“Mommy!””
Emily’s voice changed instantly.
A mother’s voice.
Even after everything.
“Lily? Baby?””
Lily pressed both hands against the wall.
“I knew you were there.””
A long silence followed.
Then Emily whispered:
“I knew you would find me.””
I felt my heart break.
Not because she was gone.
Because she had been here.
The entire time.
I turned toward Vanessa.
She was standing near the entrance.
Frozen.
“Tell me what happened.””
She looked down.
“Michael…”
“No.””
My voice became harder.
“No more excuses.””
She swallowed.
“I didn’t know it would go this far.””
That sentence made my blood run cold.
“You didn’t know what would go this far?””
Vanessa closed her eyes.
“I made mistakes.””
“Mistakes?””
I pointed toward the wall.
“My wife has been trapped inside our house for eighteen months.””
Lily grabbed my hand.
“Daddy, get Mommy out.””
I looked at my daughter.
Then at the wall.
Then at Vanessa.
“I’m getting her out.””
I searched the room for tools.
There was an old metal box in the corner.
Inside were rusted tools, probably left by whoever built the hidden space.
I grabbed a hammer.
Vanessa stepped forward.
“Michael, wait.””
I looked at her.
“What?””
Her eyes filled with tears.
For the first time, I couldn’t tell if they were real.
“If you open that wall, everything changes.””
I stared at her.
“Good.””
The first hit shook the room.
Emily coughed behind the wall.
“Michael…”
“I’m here.””
Another hit.
“I’m here, Emily.””
Lily cried into my arm.
“Daddy, be careful.””
“I will.””
The third hit broke through.
A small opening appeared.
Light entered the hidden room.
And behind the wall, I saw a hand.
A weak hand.
A hand I had held thousands of times.
“Emily!””
I pulled away the broken pieces carefully.
After several minutes, the opening was large enough.
Emily appeared.
She looked thinner.
Paler.
But alive.
She reached toward me.
I grabbed her hand.
And the moment our fingers touched, eighteen months of pain collapsed into one breath.
“I thought I lost you,” I whispered.
Emily closed her eyes.
“I thought you would never find me.””
I pulled her out.
Lily ran into her arms.
The sound my daughter made when she hugged her mother was something I would never forget.
But the moment wasn’t complete.
Because Emily looked past me.
Straight at Vanessa.
Her expression changed.
Not fear.
Anger.
“You told him I ran away.””
Vanessa said nothing.
Emily held Lily tighter.
“You told everyone I abandoned my family.””
Vanessa’s lips trembled.
“I had no choice.””
Emily laughed weakly.
“No choice?””
She looked at me.
“Michael, she didn’t just hide me.””
My stomach tightened.
“What do you mean?””
Emily reached into the pocket of her old sweater.
She pulled out a small folded piece of paper.
I stared at it.
A name was written on the front.
A name I recognized.
A name that made Vanessa step backward.
“Who is that?”” I asked.
Emily looked at me.
“Someone who paid Vanessa to make sure I disappeared.””
The room went silent.
I looked at Vanessa.
She was crying now.
But she wasn’t looking at Emily.
She was looking at the doorway.
Like she was waiting for someone.
Then the mansion’s front door slammed open.
A man’s voice echoed through the hallway.
“Vanessa?””
She closed her eyes.
Emily grabbed my arm.
“Michael…”
May you like
The fear returned to her face.
“That’s him.””
