Chapter 2 – The Secret Beneath the Manor
Chapter 2 – The Secret Beneath the Manor
Estelle laughed.
"You think those photographs are enough?"
Christopher frowned.
"They're more than enough."
"No."
"They're only the beginning."
She looked directly at Emma.
"The child deserves to know where her mother really is."
Christopher froze.
"What are you talking about?"
Estelle smiled.
"I never said Sophia died."
The room fell silent.
Christopher stepped closer.
"You're lying."
"I wish I were."
She pointed toward the east wing of the estate.
"Under the old wine cellar."
"There is a room."
"A room no one has entered in years."
Christopher's security team smashed through the locked iron door beneath the mansion.
A hidden staircase descended into darkness.
The air smelled of dust.
Old concrete.
Forgotten secrets.
At the end of the corridor stood a reinforced steel door.
One guard forced it open.
The flashlight revealed a small underground apartment.
A bed.
Books.
Photographs of Emma covering the walls.
And sitting quietly near the window...
A woman slowly looked up.
Her hair had turned gray before its time.
Her face was thin.
But Christopher recognized her instantly.
"Sophia..."
She dropped the book from her hands.
Tears streamed down her face.
"Christopher?"
Eight years.
Eight stolen years.
Emma hesitated.
The stranger knelt before her.
"I've dreamed about you every day."
Emma looked at Christopher.
"Daddy..."
Christopher nodded.
"It's okay."
Emma walked forward.
Sophia wrapped her daughter in her arms.
Mother and daughter cried together.
Every guard standing nearby silently looked away.
Even the toughest among them wiped tears from their eyes.
Christopher turned toward Estelle.
"You kept her prisoner."
Estelle answered without remorse.
"If she disappeared, the inheritance stayed under Pierce control."
Christopher's voice became colder than ice.
May you like
"You didn't protect this family."
"You destroyed it."
