Chương 4
The boy's face was pale.
Daniel noticed immediately.
"You know what he was talking about."
Ethan looked down.
For a moment, he said nothing.
Then he reached into the pocket of his muddy jacket.
He pulled out a small folded photograph.
Daniel stared at it.
The boy held it tightly.
"I didn't want to show anyone."
Daniel approached slowly.
"Why?"
Ethan looked at the photograph.
"Because everyone who sees it asks questions."
Daniel crouched down.
"Maybe those questions need answers."
The boy hesitated.
Then he handed it over.
Daniel unfolded the photograph carefully.
The image was old.
It showed a woman standing in front of the same house Daniel was standing in now.
His breath stopped.
Because he recognized her.
Not from recently.
From years ago.
A person he thought he would never see again.
Ethan watched his reaction.
"You know her."
Daniel looked at the photograph.
His mind was suddenly filled with memories he had buried.
The woman in the picture had once been someone he cared about deeply.
Someone who disappeared without explanation.
Someone whose disappearance changed everything.
"Where did you get this?" Daniel asked.
Ethan swallowed.
"My mom gave it to me."
Daniel looked up.
"Your mother?"
The boy nodded.
"She said if anything happened, we had to find you."
Daniel felt the room shift around him.
"Why me?"
Ethan's eyes filled with confusion.
"She said you would understand."
Daniel looked back at the photograph.
The woman in the picture was smiling.
But behind that smile was a story nobody had told him.
A story that had somehow led two children to his doorstep.
Lily quietly spoke.
"Is she your friend?"
Daniel looked at the little girl.
He wanted to answer quickly.
He wanted to say no.
He wanted to pretend the past did not matter.
But he could not lie.
"She was someone important to me."
Ethan studied his face.
"Is she alive?"
The question hurt more than Daniel expected.
He looked at the photograph again.
"I don't know."
The boy's expression changed.
"She told us you would say that."
Daniel looked at him sharply.
"What else did she tell you?"
Ethan looked toward Lily.
The girl nodded slowly.
"She said you would be scared when you saw the picture."
Daniel felt a cold wave move through him.
"Why?"
Ethan's voice became quieter.
"Because she said you would remember what happened that night."
Daniel stood still.
The night.
There was only one night he had spent years trying not to remember.
A night when someone disappeared.
A night when everything he believed about his own life changed.
Outside, the wind moved through the trees again.
Daniel looked toward the front door.
Then toward the children.
The mystery was no longer outside his house.
It was standing right in front of him.
And somehow, after all these years, it had found its way back home.
And somehow, after all these years, it had found its way back home.
Daniel remained standing in the quiet room, unable to move.
The photograph felt heavier than it should have.
It was only a small piece of paper, but it carried memories he had spent years trying to bury.
He remembered the last time he saw her.
He remembered the unanswered calls.
He remembered the empty apartment.
He remembered believing that the truth would eventually come out.
But the truth never came.
Not until tonight.
He placed the photograph carefully on the table.
"Her name was Claire," Daniel said quietly.
Ethan watched him closely.
"She was my mother."
The words hit Daniel harder than he expected.
He looked at the boy.
Then at Lily.
The pieces started connecting in a way he did not want to believe.
"How old were you when she disappeared?" Daniel asked.
Ethan lowered his eyes.
"I don't remember much."
His fingers tightened around the edge of his sleeve.
"I remember her telling me to be brave."
Daniel sat down slowly.
The room felt smaller.
"Why did she send you here?"
Ethan looked toward the front door.
"Because she knew someone would come looking."
Daniel felt a familiar anger rising.
Not at the children.
At himself.
He had spent years wondering why Claire left.
He had blamed himself.
He had blamed circumstances.
He had blamed everything except the possibility that she had been trying to protect someone.
"Did she tell you anything about me?" Daniel asked.
Ethan nodded.
"She said you were the only person she trusted."
Daniel looked away.
Those words were difficult to accept.
Because if Claire trusted him, then why had she disappeared without telling him?
Why had she left him with nothing?
Lily climbed onto the chair beside Ethan.
"Mom said you saved her once."
Daniel looked back.
"When?"
The girl looked uncertain.
"I don't know."
She glanced at Ethan.
"She said you stopped something bad."
Daniel felt his heartbeat change.
There was only one event that matched those words.
Years ago, Daniel had uncovered a dangerous operation involving people he thought were untouchable.
He had tried to expose it.
But before he could finish, Claire disappeared.
The case vanished.
The evidence disappeared.
And everyone involved acted like nothing happened.
Daniel had spent years thinking he failed.
Now he wondered if Claire had been the one protecting him.
A sudden noise outside interrupted his thoughts.
This time, it was not a vehicle.
It was a sound from the side of the house.
A slow movement.
A footstep.
Daniel immediately stood.
The children reacted before he even spoke.
They knew that sound.
They knew what it meant.
Daniel moved toward the hallway.
"Stay here."
Ethan grabbed his arm.
"Don't go alone."
Daniel looked at him.
The boy's fear was obvious.
But so was his courage.
"You need to protect Lily."
Ethan nodded slowly.
Daniel turned off the lights and moved through the darkness.
The house was silent except for the sound of his own breathing.
He reached the side window.
Nothing.
Only the garden.
May you like
Only the wet stones reflecting the moonlight.
Then he saw something near the bushes.
