PART 4 – The Woman I Trusted Most
Chaos exploded across the street.
The first man lunged toward Lily.
I pulled her behind me.
"Run!" I shouted to Margaret.
Restaurant employees rushed outside.
Guests screamed.
Traffic came to a standstill.
Before the kidnappers could reach us, two off-duty police officers dining inside the restaurant tackled one of the attackers to the ground.
The others jumped back into their SUVs and sped away.
Within minutes...
Sirens filled the streets.
Detectives sealed off the area.
Lily refused to let go of my hand.
"I don't want to lose you again," she whispered.
Again.
That single word shattered me.
Detective Olivia Grant arrived shortly afterward.
She listened quietly as Margaret handed over every letter Emma had written.
Forensic officers immediately began examining them.
One detective suddenly looked up.
"These envelopes were never mailed."
"What?"
"The postmarks are fake."
"They were intercepted before reaching the postal system."
My heart sank.
Someone had been stopping every letter before it ever reached me.
Olivia turned toward me.
"Who handled your personal correspondence six years ago?"
Only one name came to mind.
Victoria.
For six years...
She had managed my calendar.
My mail.
My legal documents.
Even communications from the investigators assigned to Sarah's disappearance.
She had controlled everything.
Detective Grant immediately requested search warrants.
Less than an hour later...
Police entered Victoria's downtown apartment.
Inside, they found an entire locked room.
Shelves lined from floor to ceiling.
Every birthday card I had written for Sarah.
Every reward poster.
Every letter from Emma.
Every private investigator's report.
None of them had ever reached me.
Then came the final discovery.
Hidden inside a fireproof safe...
Was a small velvet box.
Inside rested a gold pendant engraved with Hartwell Global's original family crest.
Beneath it lay a handwritten note.
Payment received. The child has been relocated. Mrs. Hartwell suspects nothing. Destroy all remaining evidence after transfer.
Signed with only two initials:
V.C.
Detective Grant stared at the note.
"This is enough for conspiracy."
I slowly sat down.
The woman who had comforted me through six years of grief...
Had been the one feeding my nightmare.
Just then, a forensic technician rushed into the room holding another folder.
"Detective..."
"You need to see this."
Inside were old surveillance photographs.
One image showed Victoria meeting secretly with a silver-haired man outside a private airport.
I recognized him instantly.
My late husband's business partner.
The man who inherited half our company after my husband died.
His name...
Was Jonathan Mercer.
And suddenly...
Everything finally made sense.
Sarah had never been kidnapped for ransom.
She had been removed...
May you like
Because someone wanted control of a billion-dollar empire.
To Be Continued in Part 5...
