CHAPTER 8 — The Father Everyone Believed Was Dead
Hours later, Sophie returned to the abandoned hospital where the fire had happened twenty-six years earlier.
The place had been condemned for decades.
Broken windows.
Collapsed walls.
Silence.
Following clues hidden in Richard's journal, she discovered a rusted metal door beneath the old maternity ward.
Behind it...
...was a small underground room.
Dust covered everything.
Except one object.
A wooden box with her name carved into it.
Inside was a tiny silver bracelet.
A family photograph.
And an old cassette recorder.
Hands shaking, Sophie pressed PLAY.
Richard's familiar voice filled the room.
"Sophie... if you're hearing this, then I've failed to protect you."
"The fire wasn't an accident."
Her heart stopped.
"Someone set the hospital on fire to eliminate a witness."
"Your parents discovered evidence that would have destroyed one of the most powerful families in the country."
Sophie covered her mouth.
"They were murdered..."
The recording continued.
"Everyone believes your father died in the fire."
"He didn't."
Sophie's knees nearly gave out.
Richard's next words changed everything.
"He's been hiding for twenty-six years."
"Not because he abandoned you..."
"...but because he spent every single day hunting the people who destroyed your family."
At that exact moment...
A slow clap echoed through the underground room.
Sophie spun around.
A tall man stepped out of the darkness.
His hair was streaked with gray.
A deep scar crossed his face.
His eyes filled with tears the moment they met hers.
He held up the matching silver bracelet from the box.
In a broken voice, he whispered,
"Happy birthday, sweetheart..."
"...I've been trying to find you for twenty-six years."
Sophie couldn't breathe.
May you like
Because for the first time in her life...
She was looking into the eyes of the father the entire world believed had died.
