Chapter 4 - Secrets in the DarkThe darkness inside the storage room felt suffocating, broken only by the faint sliver of light filtering through the cracked plaster wall where the hidden door hung ajar.
Daniel gritted his teeth, fighting through the lingering tremors of the taser shock as he pushed himself up onto his hands and knees. His muscles ached fiercely, but adrenaline burned hot in his veins.
"Dad... are you okay?" Lily whispered, her small voice trembling as she crawled over to him, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck.
"I'm okay, sweetheart. Daddy's right here," Daniel panted, pulling her close. He looked across the narrow space toward Evelyn, who was huddled near the corner of the secret cell, shivering violently.
Daniel carefully set Lily down, crawled over to Evelyn, and gently pulled her into his arms, wrapping his own jacket around her shivering shoulders. "Evelyn... I am so sorry. God help me, I didn't know. Vanessa told me... she showed me police reports, a body..."
"It was all... a setup," Evelyn whispered, her voice like dry autumn leaves. She clutched his arm as if afraid he would vanish like a mirage. "The night of the anniversary... Vanessa invited us out to dinner. On the way back, she insisted on driving our car while I rode with Lily in the back. She drove us off the old logging road, near the cliff. Right before the drop, she jumped out with the emergency brake pulled. She dragged me out of the wreckage before it burned... and brought me here."
Daniel stared at her, his stomach churning. "Why? Why keep you alive down here all these years instead of...?"
"Because of my grandfather’s trust fund," Evelyn explained, her eyes welling with fresh tears. "The legal terms stated that my half of the corporate shares would only transfer entirely to Vanessa as my designated power of attorney if I were declared legally dead after five years, or if an official death certificate was issued. If I simply disappeared, the shares would remain frozen in probate forever. She needed me dead on paper, but alive enough to sign the final electronic transfer authorization once the statute of limitations passed."
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"Which is this week," Daniel realized with a sickening jolt. The five-year mark of the 'accident' was precisely tomorrow. Vanessa was cashing out everything—his company, his fortune, his life's work—and leaving the country.
"We have to stop her," Daniel said, determination hardening his features. He looked around the room for anything they could use to force the external deadbolt.
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