“Mara, it’s too dangerous.”
“Ethan risked everything to protect me.”
I looked down at my daughter.
“I can’t sit here while he disappears again.”
Samuel stared at me.
Then he nodded.
“I’ll go with you.”
Elena looked at him.
“You’re certain?”
Samuel picked up the metal box.
“I spent twenty-seven years running from the truth.”
He looked at me.
“I’m done running.”
PART 5 — THE TRUTH OUR FAMILY DESERVED
The warehouse was abandoned.
At least, that was what it looked like from the outside.
Broken windows.
Rust-covered doors.
Weeds growing through cracks in the concrete.
It stood beside an old railway line that hadn’t been used in decades.
Elena parked two streets away.
Samuel stayed in the car with my daughter while Elena and I approached the building.
My hands were shaking.
Not from fear.
From anger.
I had spent my entire life believing my parents died in an accident.
Believing my grandfather had protected me.
Believing Ethan had abandoned me.
Now I knew none of those things were completely true.
We found the door mentioned in the photograph.
It was locked.
Elena produced a key.
“Ethan gave this to me.”
She unlocked it.
The door creaked open.
