CHAPTER 6 — "The Voice From the Past Named the Traitor"
Edward returned to his private estate before dawn.
Every entrance was locked.
Every window was checked.
Only his oldest friend, security chief Michael Reeves, remained in the room.
Edward stared at the cassette.
"I have to hear her voice."
He found an antique cassette player in his late father's study.
The tape clicked.
Static filled the silence.
Then...
Amelia's voice.
Older.
Weak.
But unmistakable.
"Edward..."
"If you're hearing this... then I couldn't keep the truth hidden anymore."
Edward closed his eyes.
For the first time in twenty-two years...
he heard the woman he loved speak his name.
"I never stopped looking for you."
"I never stopped loving you."
"They lied to both of us."
"They told me you were dead."
"They showed me photographs."
"They even held a fake funeral."
"I believed them..."
A sob escaped Edward's throat.
Amelia continued.
"The night I disappeared, I wasn't kidnapped by strangers."
"I was betrayed by someone who sat at our dinner table."
Edward's eyes snapped open.
His pulse raced.
"You trusted him."
"So did I."
"He smiled while destroying our lives."
The recording paused briefly.
Then Amelia whispered one final name.
"William..."
Edward froze.
William Ashcroft.
His older half-brother.
The man who had helped build the Ashcroft empire.
The man Edward had trusted with everything after their father's death.
The tape continued.
"William wanted your company."
"He wanted your inheritance."
"But he also wanted revenge."
"He believed Father loved you more."
"So he took the only thing he knew would break you forever."
Edward's hands began shaking uncontrollably.
Every missing clue...
Every failed investigation...
Every dead end...
William had been in charge of them all.
Just then, Michael's phone vibrated.
He answered.
His face turned white.
"Sir..."
Edward looked up.
"What is it?"
Michael swallowed hard.
"The hospital called."
Edward's heart stopped.
"They said Noah is gone."
Edward rushed toward the door.
"What do you mean, gone?"
Michael's voice barely rose above a whisper.
"His hospital bed is empty..."
"...and every security camera went black exactly three minutes before he disappeared."
Edward sprinted into the darkness.
May you like
For the second time in his life...
someone had stolen his child.
