Chapter 2: Grace’s Last Message
For three seconds, Adrian could not move.
The television glowed across the room.
*FOR ADRIAN — FROM GRACE.*
Lily stood beside him, clutching the sleeve of his shirt.
“Daddy,” she whispered, “is Mommy on there?””
Adrian looked down at her.
He wanted to say no.
He wanted to turn the television off, take the USB somewhere private, and somehow put the last five years back where they belonged.
But the answer was already on the screen.
A small preview window appeared.
Grace.
Older than Lily remembered her, but unmistakably Grace.
Her dark hair was pulled loosely over one shoulder. She was sitting at a desk in a room Adrian did not recognize.
There was no makeup on her face.
No smile.
And there was something in her eyes that made Adrian’s chest tighten.
Fear.
Not panic.
Not sadness.
Fear.
“Daddy?”” Lily asked again.
Adrian swallowed.
“Yes.””
Evelyn stepped toward the television.
“Adrian, we should not play this here.””
He turned.
“Why not?””
“Because you don’t know what it contains.””
“That seems to be your favorite sentence tonight.””
Evelyn’s face hardened.
“I’m trying to prevent this family from being torn apart.””
Adrian looked at the USB in his hand.
“You already cut open my daughter’s bear.””
“I was trying to find the truth.””
“You did.””
His voice dropped.
“Now we’re going to hear it.””
Evelyn crossed her arms.
“You have no idea what Grace may have recorded.””
“Neither do you.””
“I know enough.””
Adrian stared at her.
“Then you can stay and listen.””
Evelyn’s lips parted.
For the first time since Adrian had entered the room, she looked genuinely frightened.
Lily noticed.
“Evelyn?””
The woman forced a smile.
“I’m not afraid of a video, sweetheart.””
Adrian reached for the remote.
He pressed play.
The screen went black.
A soft click came through the speakers.
Then Grace appeared.
“If you’re watching this, Adrian,” she said, “something happened that I hoped would never happen.””
Lily gasped.
“That’s Mommy.””
Adrian closed his eyes for half a second.
Hearing Grace’s voice after so many years was like walking into a house that had burned down and finding one room untouched.
He opened his eyes.
Grace continued.
“I need you to listen to everything before you make any decisions.””
Adrian’s fingers tightened around the remote.
Grace looked down at something on the desk.
“I recorded this because I can’t trust that I’ll have the chance to explain everything to you myself.””
Evelyn moved closer to the television.
Adrian noticed.
So did Lily.
Grace continued.
“For the past four months, someone has been taking documents from my office.””
Adrian frowned.
“Documents?””
Grace nodded slightly.
“Financial records. Copies of legal agreements. Private correspondence. Things that would only matter to someone who knew exactly what they were looking for.””
Evelyn spoke quickly.
“This is ridiculous.””
Adrian raised one hand.
“Quiet.””
Grace glanced toward the camera.
“I initially thought it was a mistake. Then I found something missing that could not have disappeared by accident.””
The room became silent.
“What?”” Adrian whispered.
Grace answered from the screen.
“A folder containing records from the year Adrian’s father died.””
Adrian stared.
His father had died when Adrian was twenty-three.
The official cause had been a heart attack.
At least, that was what the family had always been told.
Evelyn shifted her weight.
Grace continued.
“I found out that the records had been removed from the family archive.””
Adrian looked at Evelyn.
She shook her head.
“Don’t look at me.””
“I’m not,” he said.
But he was.
Grace lowered her voice.
“I asked questions.””
She paused.
“And that was when things changed.””
A faint sound crackled through the speakers.
Grace glanced over her shoulder.
“Someone had been inside my room.””
Lily squeezed Adrian’s hand.
“Mommy was scared.””
“Yes,” Adrian whispered.
Grace looked back at the camera.
“They wanted me to stop looking.””
Adrian’s heart began pounding.
“What did they do?”” he asked, as if Grace could hear him.
On the screen, she looked directly into the camera.
“They threatened Lily.””
Adrian stopped breathing.
Lily’s hand went cold in his.
Evelyn’s face became pale.
Grace continued.
“They told me that accidents happen.””
Adrian slammed the remote down on the table.
The television shook slightly.
“No.””
Lily looked up at him.
“Daddy?””
He stared at Grace’s face.
His breathing had changed.
“Why didn’t you tell me?””
On the screen, Grace seemed to answer.
“Because I knew you would confront them.””
Adrian went still.
“And if you confronted them, they would know I had the evidence.””
Evelyn whispered, “This proves nothing.””
Adrian slowly turned toward her.
“Then why are you shaking?””
Evelyn looked at her hands.
They were trembling.
She immediately clasped them together.
“I’m shocked.””
Grace’s voice continued from the television.
“The evidence is not where they will expect it to be.””
Adrian looked at the teddy bear.
Lily did too.
Grace gave a faint, sad smile.
“I chose something Lily would never let anyone take away from her.””
Adrian’s eyes widened.
The bear.
“He knew,” Adrian whispered.
Evelyn stared at the television.
Grace continued.
“I know it sounds strange. But Lily loves that bear more than anything in the world.””
Lily looked down at the damaged toy.
Grace smiled.
“One day, she’ll be old enough to understand why I did this.””
The video paused.
A loading circle appeared.
Adrian frowned.
“Why did it stop?””
Evelyn stepped forward.
“Maybe the file is corrupted.””
Then a second file appeared on the screen automatically.
*WARNING — IF PRIMARY VIDEO IS INTERRUPTED, PLAY ARCHIVE 02.*
Adrian looked at the USB in his hand.
“What the hell?””
Evelyn stepped backward.
“No.””
Adrian heard it.
One tiny word.
“No.””
He looked at her.
“You know something about this.””
“I don’t.””
“You just said no.””
“I meant no to whatever you think this is.””
Adrian walked toward the television.
“Archive 02.””
He clicked it.
The screen changed.
This recording looked different.
The camera angle was lower.
Grace was standing rather than sitting.
Behind her was a large wooden cabinet Adrian recognized immediately.
His old family study.
Grace turned the camera toward the cabinet.
“There are two compartments behind this cabinet.””
Adrian’s face changed.
He remembered the cabinet.
He had moved it once as a teenager.
There had never been anything behind it.
Grace continued.
“One belongs to the past.””
She touched the wood.
“The other belongs to the person who created the lie.””
Lily looked confused.
“What lie?””
Adrian didn’t answer.
Grace reached behind the cabinet in the video.
A hidden latch clicked.
A narrow compartment opened.
Inside was a brown envelope.
Grace removed it.
“This is what I found.””
The video froze.
Then the screen went black.
Adrian stared at it.
“That’s it?””
A message appeared.
*ARCHIVE 02 COMPLETE.*
Then:
*ARCHIVE 03 — PASSWORD REQUIRED.*
Evelyn exhaled.
“We should stop.””
Adrian turned.
“Why?””
“This is clearly something Grace prepared under emotional distress. We don’t know whether any of it is authentic.””
“You seemed very certain before.””
“I’m trying to be rational.””
“You’re trying to stop me.””
Evelyn’s voice sharpened.
“I am trying to protect you.””
“From what?””
She looked at Lily.
“From your wife.””
The words hung in the room.
Adrian’s expression went cold.
“My wife is dead.””
“Yes.””
“And you’re standing in my house, telling me to be afraid of her.””
“I’m telling you that Grace may have been investigating things she didn’t understand.””
“She understood enough to hide a USB in her daughter’s teddy bear.””
Evelyn said nothing.
Lily carefully picked up the damaged bear from the floor.
She brushed the loose stuffing away with her fingers.
Then she noticed something.
“Daddy.””
Adrian turned.
“There’s writing.””
“What?””
Lily pointed to the inside lining.
Adrian knelt beside her.
There, printed in tiny black ink along the fabric, were four words.
*ASK ABOUT THE BLUE ROOM.*
Adrian stared.
He had never heard of a blue room.
Not in the mansion.
Not in any property documents.
Not anywhere.
Evelyn saw the words.
Her face changed so quickly that Adrian almost missed it.
But he didn’t.
“Evelyn.””
She looked away.
“Where is the blue room?””
“I don’t know.””
“You know something.””
“I said I don’t.””
Lily looked between them.
“Daddy, why is she scared?””
“I’m not scared,” Evelyn snapped.
The sound of her voice made Lily flinch.
Adrian stood immediately.
“Don’t speak to her like that.””
Evelyn took a breath.
“You’re letting a dead woman manipulate you.””
Adrian’s eyes hardened.
“Choose your next words carefully.””
“I am choosing them carefully.””
“No. You’re choosing them desperately.””
He stepped closer.
“Tell me about the blue room.””
Evelyn remained silent.
Adrian waited.
Nothing.
Then footsteps sounded in the hallway.
Slow.
Measured.
Someone was approaching.
Lily moved behind Adrian.
“Who’s coming?””
Adrian looked toward the doorway.
The footsteps stopped.
A shadow appeared beneath the door.
Then the handle began to turn.
Evelyn whispered one sentence.
And this time, there was no doubt she was telling the truth.
“The blue room was sealed after Grace died.””
May you like
The door opened.
And the person standing on the other side was holding a key.
