Chapter 14 - THE VERDICT

The judge adjourned the hearing for twenty-four hours. Viktor walked out triumphant. Reporters swarmed him. He spoke of grief. Of family tragedy. Of stepping forward to protect an orphaned child.

I stood alone in the hallway. Everything I had built. Everything I had risked. All of it… for nothing.

Sarah found me sitting on a bench. She didn’t say anything. She just sat beside me.

“Is it true?” I whispered. “Is Daniel really dead?”

“I don’t know,” Sarah said gently. “The fire was intense. The remains were difficult to identify. But Emily… Viktor is lying. I can feel it. He said it too quickly. Too confidently. He wants you to believe it.”

“Why?”

“Because if Daniel is dead… then Noah is the heir. And Viktor claims guardianship. And he wins.”

I stood up. “Then we prove he is lying.”

“How?”

“Viktor is holding him somewhere. Alive. He wouldn’t kill him until he is absolutely certain no one will find him. He needs to know the truth. He needs to be sure Daniel never spoke to anyone.”

“Emily… we have no leads. No evidence. No location.”

“We have the notebook,” I said. “And we have Evelyn’s final entry. The one about the place where secrets are buried.”

I pulled the notebook from my bag. Turned to the very last page.

*If you ever need to find what is hidden… go where the bones are buried. Go to the Holloway family crypt.*

Sarah looked at me. “The mausoleum. At the old family cemetery.”

“Where my father is buried. Where Evelyn will be buried one day. Where every secret has always been kept.” I stood up. “That is where he is.”

“Emily, it’s a cemetery. Open to the public.”

“Not the crypt beneath it. The one only family members know about. The one my father built to hold documents. Safe from fire. Safe from water. Safe from everyone but us.”

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Sarah hesitated. “Viktor will expect you to go there. It’s a trap.”

“Let it be a trap,” I said. “If Daniel is there… I will walk into hell itself to get him back.”