Chapter 8 - Daniel's BetrayalEthan could barely speak.
The name in the journal belonged to his father.
Daniel Reed.
Emma stared at the page.
“No.”
Hannah took the journal.
The signature was real.
Claire looked confused.
“Why would Daniel order your disappearance?”
Emma shook her head.
“He wouldn't.”
Margaret looked at the page.
Then she smiled sadly.
“It is not what you think.”
Ethan looked at her.
“Explain.”
Margaret pointed to the handwriting.
“Daniel wrote this after the plan was already in motion.”
Hannah frowned.
“What plan?”
Margaret explained.
Daniel had discovered Victor's network.
He knew Emma was being watched.
He created a fake order claiming Emma should disappear.
Victor intercepted it.
Victor believed Daniel had betrayed Emma.
But the order was actually designed to fool him.
Emma was secretly moved to another location.
Daniel had saved her.
Ethan looked relieved.
“Then why did he disappear?”
Margaret hesitated.
“Because Victor discovered the deception.”
Claire asked.
“Where is Daniel?”
Margaret whispered.
“I don't know.”
Ethan stared at her.
“You said he was dead.”
“I believed he was.”
Emma stepped closer.
“If Daniel is alive, he knows where the evidence is.”
The journal contained another clue.
A mountain address.
Ethan recognized it.
His father's old winter house.
They drove there before dawn.
The house was empty.
But a fire was still burning.
A chair sat beside the fireplace.
On the table was a note.
You are finally asking the right questions.
Ethan picked it up.
The handwriting was Daniel's.
Then another note fell from beneath it.
Victor's.
The message was simple.
He is alive.
But if you find him, Lily will pay the price.
Hannah immediately pulled Lily closer.
Emma looked toward the dark forest.
“We have to find Daniel first.”
Suddenly a branch snapped outside.
Ethan turned.
A man stood between the trees.
May you like
Then the man stepped into the moonlight.
Daniel Reed was alive.
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