Chapter 13 - The Countdown Begins
The first warning arrived at midnight.
Graham’s office alarm activated.
Security rushed inside.
Nothing was stolen.
Nothing was broken.
Except one thing.
A photograph.
The old family portrait.
The one with Graham, Emily, and Maisie.
Someone had taken a knife and cut Emily’s face out.
On the back of the frame was a message.
“THE PAST IS NOT FINISHED.”
Graham stared at it.
For the first time, Natalie saw real fear in his eyes.
Not fear for himself.
Fear for Maisie.
Detective Reyes increased security.
But the threat became more personal.
A package arrived the next morning.
Inside was Emily’s wedding ring.
The ring Graham thought had been lost forever.
Nobody spoke.
Because whoever sent it wanted them to know something.
They were close.
Too close.
Then Ethan revealed another piece of information.
Marcus Vale had a daughter.
A daughter named Vivian.
Natalie felt the world stop.
“No.”
Ethan nodded.
“Vivian changed her last name years ago.”
Everything connected.
The obsession.
The revenge.
The planning.
Vivian had not randomly chosen Graham.
She had been sent toward him.
Detective Reyes looked at the timeline.
“Her entire relationship with Graham was part of a plan.”
Graham closed his eyes.
The woman he almost married.
The woman he almost trusted with his daughter.
Was the daughter of the man who hated his family.
That afternoon, Maisie disappeared from school.
Only for eleven minutes.
But eleven minutes was enough.
The entire family panicked.
Police searched everywhere.
Then they found her.
Behind the school garden.
Sitting alone.
Crying.
Natalie ran toward her.
“Maisie!”
The little girl looked up.
“I didn’t run away.”
Natalie knelt beside her.
“Then why were you here?”
Maisie handed her something.
A small envelope.
“I found it in my backpack.”
Inside was a note.
May you like
One sentence.
“Ask your father what really happened to your mother.”
