CHAPTER 5 — “The Man on the Video Wasn't Her Father”
Emily felt the world collapse around her.
The grainy security footage played over and over on the tablet.
The man stepping out of the black SUV...
The man walking toward her mother's car...
Looked exactly like Michael Hayes.
Emily's biological father.
"No..." she whispered.
"It can't be."
The detective paused the video.
"I'm sorry, Emily."
"We'll have to bring Mr. Hayes in for questioning."
David Carter slowly smiled through his handcuffs.
"I told you."
"Sometimes the truth hurts more than the lie."
Emily's tears streamed down her face.
For years she had dreamed of meeting her real father.
Now she feared he might be a murderer.
Three hours later...
Police cars surrounded a quiet farmhouse on the edge of town.
Emily insisted on going.
The front door opened before anyone knocked.
A tall man in his early fifties stepped onto the porch.
His hazel eyes...
The same eyes Emily saw every morning in the mirror.
Michael Hayes froze.
He stared at Emily as though time itself had stopped.
His voice barely escaped.
"...Sarah?"
Emily shook her head.
"No."
"My name is Emily."
Silence.
Michael's face turned pale.
"Emily..."
He whispered the name as if he had carried it in his heart for years.
"You... you're my daughter?"
Emily couldn't answer.
Instead, she held up the old birth bracelet.
Michael immediately recognized it.
His knees gave out.
He collapsed onto the porch, sobbing.
"I knew it..."
"I knew Sarah had our baby."
"I searched for both of you for sixteen years."
The detective stepped forward.
"Mr. Hayes, we need to ask about the night Sarah Carter died."
Michael looked confused.
"What happened to Sarah?"
Emily stared at him.
"You... you don't know?"
Michael slowly shook his head.
"I received a letter saying she had moved overseas with her husband."
"I never heard from her again."
The detective showed him the surveillance footage.
Michael stared for several seconds.
Then he frowned.
"That's not me."
Everyone looked at him.
"It looks exactly like you," an officer replied.
Michael walked inside without another word.
When he returned...
He was carrying an old photo album.
He opened it to a family picture.
Standing beside him was another man.
Same eyes.
Same smile.
Same height.
Same face.
Emily gasped.
"Twins..."
Michael nodded.
"My identical twin brother."
His voice became heavy.
"Matthew Hayes."
The detective's eyes widened.
"Where is he now?"
Michael closed the album.
"I haven't seen Matthew in nearly twenty years."
"He disappeared after joining a private security company."
Emily's heartbeat quickened.
"If it wasn't you..."
"Then Matthew was the man following my mother."
Before anyone could speak...
A young officer's radio crackled.
"Detective!"
"We've got another problem."
"The forensic team just finished examining the hidden office."
"They found fresh fingerprints."
The detective frowned.
"Whose?"
The officer swallowed hard.
"They don't belong to David Carter."
"They don't belong to Michael Hayes."
A long silence filled the farmhouse.
"So whose are they?" Emily asked.
The officer looked directly at her.
"They belong to someone who entered that secret room..."
"Less than twenty-four hours ago."
Which meant only one thing.
Someone else already knew the truth.
Someone had been inside the mansion...
Watching.
Waiting.
May you like
And that person was still free.
To Be Continued...
