Elena looked at the metal box.
“That.”
Silence filled the kitchen.
“The documents your grandfather kept weren’t the only copies,” she continued.
“Where are the others?”
“Ethan found them.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
Samuel stood.
“Then how do you know he’s in danger?”
“Because I was with him when we found the last file.”
“What happened?”
Elena’s face tightened.
“Someone followed us.”
“Who?”
“We don’t know.”
“What did Ethan do?”
“He told me to leave.”
“And he stayed?”
“Yes.”
I could barely breathe.
“Why?”
Elena looked at me.
“Because he wanted to protect you.”
My eyes filled with tears.
“Then why did he abandon me?”
Elena hesitated.
“He didn’t.”
“What?”
“He was trying to stay away from you.”
“That’s the same thing.”
“No.”
She looked directly into my eyes.
“He received a threat.”
My stomach dropped.
“What kind?”
Elena pulled out her phone.
She showed me a message.
If you tell Mara the truth, she dies the same way her parents did.
My hands went numb.
“When did he receive this?”
“The night you told him you were pregnant.”
I couldn’t speak.
Everything suddenly made sense.
His fear.
His disappearance.
His silence.
