We reached the office in less than fifteen minutes.
The front entrance was locked.
Colin tried his key.
Nothing.
“Someone changed the lock.”
Marcus walked around the side.
“There.”
A rear window was open.
I felt my stomach twist.
“Brynn?”
No answer.
We entered.
The office was dark.
Marcus moved ahead.
Colin followed.
I stayed close behind them.
Then I heard something.
A faint tapping.
From the conference room.
“Brynn?”
The tapping stopped.
We opened the door.
Empty.
A chair was overturned.
On the table sat a small envelope.
Colin picked it up.
His hands were shaking.
“It's hers.”
“What?”
“Brynn's handwriting.”
He opened it.
Inside was a photocopy of the birth certificate.
And one sentence.
I found what you wanted, Dad.
I looked at Colin.
“Where is she?”
He couldn't answer.
Then his phone rang.
The caller ID showed Brynn.
“Answer it.”
He did.
“Brynn?”
Her voice came through, whispering.
“Dad.”
“Where are you?”
“I don't know.”
“What do you mean?”
“I came into the office.”
“Where?”
“Downstairs.”
Colin looked at Marcus.
“Stay where you are.”
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“There's a man here.”
My blood ran cold.
“Put him on the phone,” Colin said.
“No.”
“Brynn, listen to me. Stay hidden.”
“He knows my name.”
I closed my eyes.
“Brynn, sweetheart, can you hear me?”
“Yes, Mom.”
“We're here.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“I saw your car.”
Marcus signaled toward the basement stairs.
We moved quietly.
“Brynn, tell me what you see.”
“Boxes.”
“What kind?”
“Old files.”
“Are you in the basement?”
“Yes.”
“Is the man there?”
“No.”
“Where did he go?”
“I don't know.”
We reached the basement door.
It was locked.
Colin tried the handle.
Nothing.
“Step away from the door,” Marcus whispered.
He forced the latch.
The door opened.
We descended.
The basement smelled of damp concrete and old paper.
“Brynn?”
A small voice answered.
“Mom.”
I found her behind a stack of boxes.
I ran to her.
She threw her arms around me.
I held her so tightly she complained that I was crushing her.
I didn't care.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Did anyone touch you?”
“No.”
Colin crouched beside us.
“Why did you come here?”
“I thought you needed the birth certificate.”
“I didn't ask you to come.”
“I know.”
“Who told you?”
She looked at him.
“Mallory.”
Colin went still.
“What did she say?”
“She called me.”
“When?”
“After we got to the hotel.”
I felt my stomach drop.
“You answered?”
“She said Dad needed the original.”
“Did she tell you where it was?”
“No.”
“Then how did you know?”
“She sent me a picture.”
“Of what?”
“The office.”
Brynn pulled out her phone.
The message was still there.
It showed Colin's desk.
On the desk was the original birth certificate.
I looked at Colin.
“That photograph was taken recently.”
He nodded.
“Someone was here.”
Brynn continued.
“I came in through the back.”
“Why didn't you tell us?”
“I thought you'd stop me.”
“Yes, we would have.”
“I know.”
Her eyes filled.
“I was trying to help.”
I softened.
“I know.”
Then Marcus noticed something.
“Wait.”
He pointed toward a box.
A file folder was sticking out.
The label read:
REYNOLDS FAMILY — ORIGINAL.
Colin opened it.
Inside were copies of my divorce papers.
Old bank statements.
Brynn's medical records.
And a photograph.
Mallory.
Ethan.
And a third person.
I stared at the photograph.
I knew him.
Not personally.
But I had seen him before.
At Colin's company.
At meetings.
At the office.
“That's David Mercer.”
Colin looked at me.
“You know him?”
“He handled the outside accounts.”
Colin took the photograph.
“He disappeared after the investigation.”
Marcus examined the back.
A date.
And a handwritten note.
Three people knew.
Only one remained silent.
Colin whispered, “Ethan.”
“No,” Marcus said.
“Why?”
“Because if Ethan were the one who stayed silent, he wouldn't have warned you.”
Colin looked confused.
Marcus turned the photograph over.
“There are three names written here.”
I read them.
Mallory.
Ethan.
David.
Then underneath:
One of them is protecting the other two.
I looked at Brynn.
“Did Mallory ever mention David?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“Did she mention Ethan?”
“Yes.”
“What did she say?”
“That he was dangerous.”
Colin stared at the photograph.
“That was a lie.”
“Maybe.”
“No.”
He pointed.
“Look at Ethan's face.”
We did.
He wasn't smiling.
He looked terrified.
Mallory was standing beside him.
David stood on the other side.
But Ethan's body was angled away from them.
As though he wanted to leave.
Marcus nodded.
“He wasn't part of the group.”
“Then why was he there?”
“Maybe because he was trapped.”
A sound came from upstairs.
A door slammed.
We froze.
Someone was inside the office.
Marcus motioned for us to stay quiet.
Footsteps crossed the floor above.
Slow.
Measured.
Then stopped.
Brynn gripped my hand.
Colin moved between us and the stairs.
A voice called down.
“Colin.”
He looked at me.
I knew that voice.
It was the man from the phone.
Ethan.
“You have something that belongs to me.”
Colin called back.
“You mean the trust?”
“No.”
“The envelope?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
Silence.
Then Ethan said:
“The original.”
Colin looked at the folder.
I understood.
The birth certificate wasn't the original he meant.
It was something else.
Something we hadn't found.
“Where is it?” Ethan asked.
Colin didn't answer.
Ethan continued.
“You have no idea what that document proves.”
I stepped forward.
“What does it prove?”
Colin turned.
“Don't.”
But I couldn't stop.
“Ethan.”
His footsteps moved closer to the stairs.
“You shouldn't have opened that envelope.”
“I did.”
“Then you know what Colin did.”
I looked at my ex-husband.
“What did you do?”
Colin's face went white.
Ethan said quietly:
“He didn't tell you why the trust was created.”
Colin whispered, “Ethan, stop.”
“He didn't tell you who the beneficiary was supposed to be.”
I looked at Brynn.
Ethan continued.
“And he definitely didn't tell you why the account existed before she was born.”
The room seemed to close around us.
I stared at Colin.
“Tell me.”
He said nothing.
“Colin.”
His eyes filled with something I had never seen there before.
Regret.
Fear.
And shame.
Finally he spoke.
“The trust wasn't created for Brynn.”
I felt the blood leave my face.
“Then who was it for?”
He looked at our daughter.
“The child we thought we'd lost.”
Brynn stared at him.
“What?”
Colin closed his eyes.
“I need to tell you what happened before you were born.”
And above us, Ethan whispered:
“Now you finally know where the real secret begins.”
Click here to continue reading: PART 9: The Secret Behind Brynn’s Name Forced Colin to Finally Explain the Child We Had Lost and the Lie That Followed Us Home
My Daughter Came Home Hiding Her Face, and One Sentence About Her Father’s New Wife Changed Everything I Thought I Knew
Part 8 of 20
