Chapter 5: The Name In The Old File
We escaped through the back entrance before whoever was outside reached us.
For the first time in my life, I ran.
Not from failure.
Not from fear.
From the truth.
Daniel picked us up two streets away.
He didn’t ask questions.
He just unlocked the doors.
When we reached a safe apartment owned by my company, Amelia finally spoke.
“There is something else.””
I looked at her.
“Of course there is.””
Her eyes filled with regret.
“I didn’t come back because I wanted revenge.””
“Then why?””
She reached into her bag again.
This time, she pulled out a small envelope.
“Because your father left something behind.””
Inside was a document.
A birth certificate.
I looked at the name.
Then my entire world stopped.
The child’s name was not mine.
It was Amelia’s.
But the father listed on the paper was:
Richard Vale.
My father.
I looked up slowly.
“What is this?””
Amelia was crying.
“Your father had another daughter.””
The room became silent.
“No.””
“Lucy…”
“No.””
I pushed the paper away.
“My father had one child.””
Amelia whispered:
“He had two.””
I stared at her.
“Who?””
She looked at me with tears in her eyes.
Then she said the name.
“Me.””
I couldn’t move.
Twenty-five years of grief.
Twenty-five years of believing I had lost my best friend.
Twenty-five years of believing my father was the man who protected me.
All of it collapsed.
Amelia reached for my hand.
“I wasn’t just your friend.””
My voice barely worked.
“Then what were you?””
She whispered:
“Your sister.””
I looked away.
My entire body felt numb.
Then Daniel entered the room holding his phone.
“Ms. Vale.””
I looked at him.
“What?””
His face was pale.
“We found who has been tracking you.””
“Who?””
He placed the phone on the table.
A security image appeared.
A man standing outside my mansion.
A man I knew.
A man who had hugged me at my father’s funeral.
Daniel whispered:
“It’s Victor Hale.””
I stared at the picture.
Then Amelia grabbed my hand.
“Lucy…”
“What?””
Her face turned white.
“Victor wasn’t working alone.””
The phone rang.
Unknown number.
I looked at Amelia.
She shook her head.
But this time, I answered.
A familiar voice spoke.
“Lucienne.””
My blood turned cold.
Because I knew that voice.
I had heard it every day growing up.
The voice of the man I buried ten years ago.
My father.
“Hello, daughter.””
May you like
And then he said the words that destroyed everything I thought I knew.
“You need to ask Amelia what happened the night she really disappeared.””