Chapter 2: The Woman Who Never Left

I pushed the door open.

The room beyond was supposed to be empty.

That was what Vanessa had told me six months earlier when we toured the estate.

“Storage room,” she had said.

But it wasn’t storage.

It was a prison.

The smell hit me first.

Dust.

Old wood.

And something metallic that made my stomach turn.

A small lamp flickered in the corner.

Then I saw her.

Emily.

My wife.

Alive.

Her hair was tangled, her face pale, and her hands were wrapped around the edge of a thin blanket.

For a moment, I couldn’t move.

My brain refused to accept what my eyes were seeing.

“Daniel,” she whispered.

I rushed toward her.

“Emily?””

She reached for me.

I grabbed her hand.

It was cold.

Too cold.

“Daddy!””

Lily ran past everyone and collapsed into her mother’s arms.

“Mommy!””

Emily cried.

A sound I had not heard in years.

“I thought I’d never see you again.””

I looked over my shoulder.

Vanessa stood in the doorway.

The entire room was watching her.

Her perfect image was gone.

“Explain,” I said.

She swallowed.

“Daniel, you don’t understand.””

“No.””

My voice shook.

“I understand enough.””

Emily looked at Vanessa.

“You told him I left.””

Vanessa’s expression hardened.

“You don’t know what you’re saying.””

Emily laughed weakly.

“You locked me away for three years.””

The room erupted.

Someone gasped.

Someone called the police.

Vanessa stepped forward.

“She’s unstable.””

Emily flinched.

I noticed.

That hurt more than anything.

Because Emily wasn’t afraid of me.

She was afraid of Vanessa.

I helped Emily stand.

“Why?”” I asked Vanessa.

She stared at me.

Then she whispered:

“Because you were never supposed to find her.””

The words hung in the air.

My entire body went numb.

“Never supposed to?””

Vanessa looked around at the guests.

Then she ran.

Not toward the exit.

Toward the staircase.

I followed.

But before I reached the stairs, Emily grabbed my sleeve.

“Daniel, wait.””

I turned.

Her eyes were filled with fear.

“There’s something you need to know.””

“What?””

She looked toward the hallway.

“Vanessa didn’t just hide me.””

A tear rolled down her cheek.

“She hid the truth about why I disappeared.””

Before I could answer, my phone rang.

Unknown number.

I picked up.

A man’s voice whispered:

“Daniel, if Emily is alive, you’re in more danger than you realize.””

I froze.

“Who is this?””

The voice paused.

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Then said:

“The person who helped Vanessa erase your wife.””