Chapter 3 - THE BABY ISN’T EVAN’S
The words remained suspended in the underground room.
Your baby isn’t Evan’s.
I stared at my mother.
For several seconds, I couldn't understand what she had said.
Then I laughed.
It was a small, broken sound.
“No.”
My mother covered her face.
“Emily…”
“No.”
I looked at the black screen where Evan’s face had disappeared.
Then I looked back at my mother.
“You’re lying.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You’re lying!”
My voice echoed through the tunnel.
My father stepped toward my mother.
“Tell me exactly what you know.”
She shook her head.
“I don’t know everything.”
“Then tell us what you do know.”
My mother looked at me.
Seven months earlier, I had discovered I was pregnant.
I remembered that day.
I remembered sitting in the bathroom with the pregnancy test in my hand.
I remembered crying.
Not because I was unhappy.
Because I was terrified.
Evan had been away on a business trip.
And there had been another man in my life.
Someone I had never told my husband about.
Someone I had promised myself I would never see again.
My father watched my face change.
“Emily?”
I couldn't speak.
My mother saw the truth.
“You know who the father is.”
My knees weakened.
My father caught me.
“Sit down.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
My mother whispered:
“His name is Daniel.”
My father went completely still.
I closed my eyes.
Daniel.
The name I had buried.
The name I had never said aloud since my wedding day.
My father's voice was quiet.
“Who is Daniel?”
I opened my eyes.
“Someone I knew before Evan.”
“Did you love him?”
I swallowed.
“Yes.”
My mother began crying.
I stared at her.
“How did you know?”
She looked away.
“Evan found out.”
My blood ran cold.
“What?”
“He found out before the wedding.”
My father turned toward her.
“You knew?”
My mother nodded.
“Evan showed me messages.”
“What messages?”
“Between Emily and Daniel.”
I felt sick.
“Those messages were from before I met Evan.”
“I know.”
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
My mother started crying.
“Because Evan threatened me.”
My father’s face hardened.
“With what?”
She looked toward the tunnel.
“He said he would destroy the family.”
My father laughed bitterly.
“He did that anyway.”
A soldier suddenly rushed into the room.
“General!”
“What?”
“We found a second exit.”
“Where does it lead?”
The soldier hesitated.
“To the old military storage facility.”
My father immediately understood.
The Whitmore family had owned the land for decades.
But the facility had been abandoned.
Or so everyone believed.
“Evan has been using the old base,” my father said.
The soldier nodded.
“We found fresh tire tracks.”
My father turned to me.
“We’re leaving.”
I grabbed his arm.
“Dad, what about Daniel?”
My father looked at me.
“We find him.”
I shook my head.
“What if he’s dead?”
No one answered.
Because everyone in that room was thinking the same thing.
The women on the wall.
The disappearances.
The red marks.
Evan's plan.
And now Daniel.
My father ordered the soldiers to search the facility.
We left the tunnel through the second exit.
The old military building stood beneath the trees, covered in vines and rust.
The main door was locked.
One soldier forced it open.
Inside, the air smelled of dust and gasoline.
Then we heard a sound.
A faint knocking.
My father stopped.
“Did you hear that?”
Everyone went silent.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
It came from beneath the floor.
The soldiers began searching.
They found a hidden hatch.
My father opened it.
A narrow staircase descended into darkness.
At the bottom was a room.
And inside that room was a man tied to a chair.
I recognized him immediately.
Daniel.
He was thinner than I remembered.
His face was bruised.
But he was alive.
His eyes opened.
When he saw me, he whispered:
“Emily?”
I ran toward him.
My father caught me.
“Wait.”
A soldier checked the room.
No traps.
No explosives.
Finally, they cut Daniel free.
He collapsed into my arms.
For one moment, the entire world disappeared.
Then Daniel looked at my stomach.
His eyes filled with tears.
“You kept the baby.”
I couldn't breathe.
My father heard him.
He looked at me.
“Emily.”
I closed my eyes.
Daniel whispered:
“I thought Evan killed you.”
My father stared at him.
“Tell me everything.”
Daniel looked toward the door.
“He has been planning this for years.”
“Why?”
“Money.”
My father’s jaw tightened.
Daniel continued.
“Evan knew Emily would inherit everything.”
My father nodded.
“I know.”
“No. You don’t.”
Daniel looked at me.
“He knew she was pregnant before she did.”
I felt cold.
“How?”
“He had someone following you.”
My father turned toward the soldiers.
“Who?”
Daniel shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
He looked at me.
“But the day you found out you were pregnant, Evan already knew.”
I remembered that day.
Evan had come home early.
He had looked at me.
And said:
“You’re pregnant.”
I had been shocked.
I had thought he was guessing.
Now I understood.
He had known.
Daniel gripped my hand.
“I tried to warn you.”
I looked at him.
“You sent the messages?”
He nodded.
“I contacted your mother.”
My mother began crying.
“I never received them.”
Daniel looked at her.
“You did.”
My mother went pale.
Evan had intercepted them.
The room became silent.
Then a phone began ringing.
Everyone turned.
It was my mother's phone.
The screen displayed one word.
EVAN.
My father looked at her.
“Answer it.”
She shook her head.
My father nodded to a soldier.
The soldier answered and put it on speaker.
Evan’s voice filled the room.
“Emily.”
I froze.
“How did you get this number?”
“Your mother gave it to me.”
My mother began sobbing.
Evan continued:
“You found Daniel.”
My father stepped forward.
“Where are you?”
Evan laughed.
“Closer than you think.”
The call ended.
A second later, every light in the facility went out.
May you like
And Daniel whispered:
“He’s here.”
