CHAPTER 3: THE WOMAN WHO DISAPPEARED
CHAPTER 3: THE WOMAN WHO DISAPPEARED
The first thing I did after leaving my sister's house was buy a new phone.
Not because I was afraid Daniel was tracking me.
Because I knew men like Daniel Cross didn't need technology to control people.
They used information.
Connections.
Influence.
They knew where you worked.
Who your friends were.
What you cared about.
And then they used those things against you.
I stood inside the electronics store holding a brand-new phone in my hand, feeling strangely lighter.
It was a small thing.
A simple device.
But it represented something I hadn't felt in three days.
Freedom.
I transferred only the things I needed.
My personal contacts.
My bank information.
My important files.
But I left behind everything connected to Daniel.
The photos from our wedding.
The messages.
The memories.
Not because they didn't matter.
Because I needed to remember the truth.
Beautiful moments could exist with a dangerous person.
That was what made leaving so difficult.
People always think walking away from someone cruel is easy.
It's not.
You don't just leave the bad moments.
You leave the good ones too.
The promises.
The dreams.
The future you imagined.
And that was the hardest part.
I had to accept that the future I wanted was never real.
Only the illusion was.
After setting up my new phone, I went back to my laptop.
There was one name I couldn't stop thinking about.
Emily Parker.
Daniel's former assistant.
The woman who vanished after working beside him for four years.
People don't disappear from powerful companies without a reason.
Especially not from a company like Cross Industries.
I searched every database I could access.
Old articles.
Business records.
Public documents.
Nothing.
It was almost like Emily Parker had never existed.
But I knew better.
Someone had erased her.
And people only erase things when they are afraid someone will find them.
I spent the next several hours searching for anything connected to her.
Finally, I found a small clue.
A property record.
A house sold six months after she left Cross Industries.
The seller's name wasn't Emily Parker.
It was under a trust.
But the previous owner was listed.
Emily Parker.
The address was in a small town three hours away.
I stared at the screen.
Then I grabbed my keys.
I didn't know what I would find.
But I knew I couldn't sit still.
Not anymore.
The town was quiet.
The kind of place where everyone knew everyone's business.
Small houses.
Local shops.
People who waved when they passed each other.
Nothing like Daniel's world.
A world of luxury cars and private meetings.
I parked in front of a small coffee shop across from Emily's old house.
The house looked abandoned.
The grass was overgrown.
The curtains were closed.
But someone had recently changed the locks.
Someone had been there.
I waited.
Twenty minutes.
Forty minutes.
Then an older man walked out of the house next door.
He noticed me sitting in my car.
"Can I help you?"
I lowered the window.
"I'm looking for Emily Parker."
The man's expression changed immediately.
Not confusion.
Recognition.
"You know Emily?"
"I need to speak with her."
He looked toward the empty house.
Then back at me.
"Are you from Cross Industries?"
The question made my stomach tighten.
"No."
He studied my face.
"Then why are you looking for her?"
I hesitated.
Because I didn't know how much to reveal.
Finally, I said:
"Because I think Daniel Cross hurt her."
The man's eyes widened.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then he stepped closer.
"Who are you?"
I looked down at my wedding ring.
The symbol of the biggest mistake I had ever made.
"I'm his wife."
The man's face changed.
Fear.
Concern.
Maybe even pity.
"Oh no."
Those two words made my chest tighten.
"What?"
He looked around like he was afraid someone was listening.
"You need to leave."
"Why?"
"Because if Daniel Cross knows you're asking questions..."
He stopped.
"Then what?"
The man lowered his voice.
"Then you'll disappear too."
The air suddenly felt colder.
I stared at him.
"What happened to Emily?"
He looked toward the house.
"Emily wasn't just his assistant."
"What do you mean?"
"She knew everything."
"Everything about what?"
He swallowed.
"Daniel's business."
I waited.
But he didn't continue.
"Please," he said. "Forget you ever came here."
I wanted to.
Part of me wanted to get in my car and drive away.
Go back to my old life.
Pretend none of this happened.
But I couldn't.
Because now I knew something.
Daniel wasn't just an angry husband.
He was a man with secrets.
And those secrets had already destroyed someone before me.
"Where is Emily?"
The man shook his head.
"I don't know."
"Someone must know."
He looked at me carefully.
Then reached into his pocket.
He pulled out a folded piece of paper.
"I shouldn't give you this."
I took it.
"What is it?"
"An address."
"Emily's?"
He nodded.
"But listen to me."
His voice became serious.
"Whatever you find there..."
"Don't let Daniel know you're looking."
I looked at the paper.
Then back at him.
"Why are you helping me?"
The old man's expression softened.
"Because Emily helped my family when nobody else would."
He looked toward Daniel's world.
"And because someone needs to finally stop him."
The address led me to a small apartment on the edge of town.
The building was old.
The hallway smelled like dust and rain.
I knocked.
Nothing.
I knocked again.
Still nothing.
I was about to leave when I heard movement.
A lock turning.
The door opened slightly.
A woman's voice whispered:
"Who are you?"
I froze.
Because I recognized her immediately.
Older than her company photo.
Tired.
Different.
But the eyes were the same.
Emily Parker.
"I think you know my husband."
Her face went pale.
"Who is your husband?"
I didn't answer.
I didn't need to.
Her expression already told me.
"Daniel Cross."
The door immediately started closing.
I put my hand against it.
"Please."
Her eyes filled with fear.
"You don't understand."
"Then help me understand."
She looked behind her.
Like she expected someone to appear.
"How long have you been married?"
"Three days."
For some reason, that answer hurt her more than anything else.
She whispered:
"Three days..."
Then she looked at my wedding ring.
And said the words I would never forget.
"You're not his wife."
I frowned.
"What?"
She shook her head.
"No."
Her voice trembled.
"You're his next victim."
The hallway went silent.
And for the first time since I discovered Daniel's true nature...
I realized something.
My marriage wasn't just falling apart.
It had been designed to trap me.
And Daniel Cross wasn't trying to build a life with me.
He was trying to hide something from me.
Something so dangerous...
That a woman had spent years running from him.
Emily opened the door wider.
"Come inside."
I stepped forward.
"Why?"
She looked at me with tears in her eyes.
"Because if you want to survive Daniel Cross..."
She closed the door behind me.
"You need to know what happened to the woman before you."
And that was when I learned the truth.
I wasn't the first woman Daniel Cross tried to control.
May you like
I was only the first woman who decided to fight back.
End of Chapter 3
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