Chapter 5: The Room With My Name On It
The second floor of the ballroom was colder than downstairs.
The music was gone.
The laughter was gone.
The celebration had become an investigation.
Every step I took felt heavier.
The officer walked ahead of us.
Two other officers followed.
Emma held Lily’s hand tightly.
Vanessa and Ryan were behind us under supervision.
Nobody spoke.
Nobody wanted to.
Because everyone was waiting for the same answer.
Why was there a room with my name on it?
At the end of the hallway was another door.
A simple gray door.
Nothing special.
Nothing suspicious.
Except for the name on the paperwork.
Daniel Carter.
I stared at it.
"I’ve never seen this place before.""
Emma looked at me.
"I believe you.""
Those three words almost hurt more.
Because they meant she once didn’t.
The officer unlocked the door.
Inside was a small office.
A desk.
A filing cabinet.
A computer.
And hundreds of documents.
My photograph was everywhere.
Not normal photographs.
Surveillance photos.
Pictures of me leaving work.
Pictures of me buying groceries.
Pictures of me with Lily.
My stomach turned.
Someone had been watching me.
The officer walked inside.
"Do you recognize any of this?""
I shook my head.
"No.""
Emma stepped in slowly.
Her face changed.
"I know this place.""
I looked at her.
"You’ve been here?""
She nodded.
"Once.""
"When?""
"The night I disappeared.""
The room became silent.
"Why?""
Emma walked toward the desk.
"Because Vanessa brought me here.""
My jaw tightened.
"She brought you to a room in my name?""
Emma nodded.
"She wanted me to believe you created it.""
I looked around.
"Why would she do that?""
Emma opened a drawer.
Inside were old envelopes.
She picked one up.
"I found this.""
She handed it to the officer.
He opened it carefully.
Inside was a handwritten letter.
My handwriting.
Or something that looked like it.
Emma watched my reaction.
"I thought it was real.""
I took the paper.
The words blurred.
It was a letter addressed to Emma.
A letter saying I wanted her gone.
A letter saying Lily would be better without her.
A letter saying Vanessa understood me.
My hands shook.
"I didn’t write this.""
Emma nodded.
"I know.""
I looked at her.
"Now.""
She looked down.
"Back then, I didn’t.""
I sat down.
For six years, I had wondered why Emma left.
Now I was discovering she left because someone had carefully built a fake reality around us.
Vanessa had not just stolen my wife.
She had stolen our trust.
The officer examined the letter.
"This appears to be a forgery.""
Ryan laughed from the doorway.
"Appears?""
Everyone looked at him.
He smiled.
"You people are finally catching up.""
I stepped toward him.
"What did you do?""
He shrugged.
"Nothing.""
"You helped her.""
"Helped who?""
"Vanessa.""
He smiled.
"Maybe.""
The officer moved closer.
"Mr. Ryan Blake, you need to stop speaking unless asked.""
Ryan ignored him.
"Daniel, you want the truth?""
I stared.
"Yes.""
He looked at Vanessa.
"Your fiancée didn’t choose you because she loved you.""
Vanessa’s face changed.
"Ryan.""
He continued.
"She chose you because you were the perfect person to replace what she lost.""
My eyebrows tightened.
"What does that mean?""
Ryan smiled.
"It means Vanessa wasn’t trying to steal your wife.""
A pause.
"She was trying to become her.""
The words were disturbing.
Emma looked at Vanessa.
"You always wanted my life.""
Vanessa stared back.
"I wanted what you had.""
"What?""
"A family.""
Nobody spoke.
Vanessa’s eyes filled.
For a second, I almost saw the woman I thought I knew.
But then she looked at Lily.
And that disappeared.
"I deserved it more than you.""
Lily stepped closer to me.
I moved in front of her.
The officer noticed.
"Ma’am, stay where you are.""
Vanessa laughed softly.
"You all think I’m the monster.""
She looked at Emma.
"But ask her why she really disappeared.""
Emma went still.
Again.
That same fear.
That same hesitation.
I looked at my wife.
"What is she talking about?""
Emma closed her eyes.
"I was going to tell you.""
"When?""
She didn’t answer.
"Tell me now.""
Emma looked around the room.
At the files.
At the fake letter.
At the life that had been destroyed.
Then she whispered:
"The night I disappeared...""
She swallowed.
"I discovered that Lily wasn’t the only child Vanessa had been watching.""
My blood ran cold.
"What?""
Emma looked at me.
"Vanessa had been tracking another person connected to you.""
"Who?""
She looked directly at me.
"Your first daughter.""
The room stopped.
I stared at her.
"I don’t have another daughter.""
Emma’s eyes filled with tears.
"Daniel...""
A phone on the desk suddenly rang.
Everyone jumped.
The officer looked at it.
"Nobody touch that.""
But the screen lit up.
One name appeared.
A name I had never seen before.
Emma saw it.
And her face turned white.
"That’s impossible.""
I looked at the screen.
"Who is it?""
May you like
Emma whispered:
"Your daughter.""
