And he believes she is proof that I survived.
Protect her.
Protect yourself.
Do not trust anyone from the Sterling family.
And Mara—
There is one thing your grandfather doesn’t know.
I looked up.
“Grandpa.”
Samuel’s face was pale.
“What?”
I handed him the letter.
He read it.
His eyes stopped at the final paragraph.
“What is it?” I asked.
He didn’t answer.
“What did Ethan say?”
Samuel slowly lowered the paper.
“He says…”
His voice broke.
“He says your father left something for you.”
“What?”
“A key.”
I froze.
“A key to what?”
Samuel looked toward the metal box.
“I don’t know.”
Elena stood.
“Actually, I think I do.”
She pulled out a photograph.
It showed an old train station.
On the back was an address.
“Ethan believed your father hid the original evidence here.”
“Where?”
Elena looked at me.
“An abandoned railway warehouse outside the city.”
Samuel shook his head.
“No.”
“We have to go,” I said.
“Mara, it’s too dangerous.”
“Ethan risked everything to protect me.”
I looked down at my daughter.
“I can’t sit here while he disappears again.”
Samuel stared at me.
Then he nodded.
“I’ll go with you.”
Elena looked at him.
“You’re certain?”
Samuel picked up the metal box.
“I spent twenty-seven years running from the truth.”
He looked at me.
“I’m done running.”
PART 5 — THE TRUTH OUR FAMILY DESERVED
The warehouse was abandoned.
At least, that was what it looked like from the outside.
Broken windows.
Rust-covered doors.
Weeds growing through cracks in the concrete.
It stood beside an old railway line that hadn’t been used in decades.
Elena parked two streets away.
Samuel stayed in the car with my daughter while Elena and I approached the building.
My hands were shaking.
Not from fear.
From anger.
