Chương 7
Officer Hayes walked back into the evidence room with the folder pressed tightly against his chest.
His face was different now.
Not confused.
Not surprised.
Concerned.
Ethan noticed immediately.
Children noticed changes adults tried to hide.
"What happened?" Ethan asked.
Hayes looked at Rebecca, then at Clara.
He knew whatever he said next would change everything again.
"We found another file."
Clara stood slowly.
"Another file about what?"
Hayes placed the folder on the table.
"About Victor Russo's first major business deal."
Rebecca's expression changed.
She already knew there was something important hidden in Victor's past.
But she did not know how deep it went.
Hayes opened the folder carefully.
Inside was an old photograph.
A photograph taken almost twenty-five years earlier.
A young Victor Russo stood beside another man outside a construction building.
Ethan looked at the picture.
"Who is that?"
Hayes stared at the name written below the photograph.
"Thomas Miller."
Rebecca froze.
The room became completely silent.
"That is impossible."
Her voice was barely above a whisper.
Clara looked at her sister.
"Who is Thomas Miller?"
Rebecca looked down.
"Someone who was supposed to be dead."
Ethan felt a chill.
Everyone connected to Victor seemed to carry a secret.
A missing person.
A hidden identity.
A story nobody wanted revealed.
Hayes continued.
"Thomas Miller was listed as missing twenty-five years ago."
Rebecca touched the photograph with shaking fingers.
"He was my father."
Ethan looked at her.
His grandfather.
A person he had never met.
"What does he have to do with Victor?"
Hayes turned the page.
"According to these records, Thomas Miller helped Victor build his first company."
Rebecca shook her head.
"My father hated Victor."
Hayes nodded.
"That is what makes this strange."
He pointed at another document.
"Because three days before Thomas disappeared, he transferred ownership of several properties to Victor Russo."
Clara stepped closer.
"He was forced."
Everyone looked at her.
She continued.
"Victor was already dangerous back then."
Rebecca looked at her sister.
"How do you know?"
Clara hesitated.
Because the answer revealed another secret.
"Because I was there."
Rebecca's eyes widened.
"What?"
Clara swallowed.
"I was younger, but I remember."
The room became heavier.
"Victor came to our house the night our father disappeared."
Rebecca stared at her.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I was afraid."
Clara's voice cracked.
"I was a child."
Ethan watched the sisters.
Two women who had spent years carrying pain alone.
Two people who had been victims of the same man.
Hayes closed the folder.
"We need to find out if Thomas Miller is connected to the current investigation."
Rebecca looked at the photograph again.
"He's alive."
Everyone turned toward her.
"What?"
Rebecca pointed at the picture.
"My father had a scar on his left hand."
Hayes looked closer.
The image was old, but the detail was visible.
A small mark near the thumb.
"You are saying he survived?"
Rebecca nodded slowly.
"I believe Victor hid him too."
Ethan looked confused.
"Why would Victor hide so many people?"
Nobody answered immediately.
Then Clara spoke.
"Because people who know the truth are dangerous to him."
The investigation expanded overnight.
The police searched every company connected to Victor.
They uncovered hidden properties.
False names.
Private facilities.
Records that showed a pattern stretching back decades.
But the biggest discovery came from an abandoned warehouse outside the city.
A place Victor had purchased years earlier and never publicly used.
Inside, investigators found old files.
Photographs.
Personal belongings.
Evidence that people had been watched and controlled for years.
Among the items was a small wooden box.
Inside was a child's drawing.
A drawing of a family.
A mother.
A father.
And a little girl holding a red balloon.
Rebecca recognized it immediately.
"That is mine."
Her voice shook.
She picked up the paper carefully.
"I drew this when I was six."
Ethan looked at her.
"Why did he keep it?"
Hayes looked around the warehouse.
"Because Victor did not just collect money."
He looked at the evidence surrounding them.
"He collected people."
The words stayed with everyone.
Victor had spent years building a world where everyone around him was trapped.
Employees feared him.
Enemies disappeared.
Families lost loved ones.
But now his carefully hidden history was coming apart.
At the police station, Victor finally lost his patience.
He slammed his hand against the table.
"You are making a mistake."
The detective across from him remained calm.
"We are investigating."
"You are destroying everything based on the word of a child."
The detective looked at him.
"No."
He placed a photograph on the table.
"We are investigating because that child was the only person who listened."
Victor stared at the image.
Ethan standing beside the broken coffin.
For a moment, something unexpected appeared on Victor's face.
Regret.
But it disappeared quickly.
"You think he is special."
The detective said nothing.
Victor leaned forward.
"He is exactly why people like me survive."
The detective frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Victor smiled slightly.
"Because everyone underestimates children."
Back at Rebecca's temporary room, Ethan sat beside his mother.
The world outside had changed completely.
Reporters waited outside.
People called him brave.
People called him a hero.
But Ethan did not feel like a hero.
He felt like a child who finally got his mother back.
"Are you staying this time?"
Rebecca looked at him.
The question hurt.
Because she knew what he was really asking.
"Yes."
She held his hand.
"No matter what happens, I am staying."
Ethan nodded.
Then he looked at Clara.
"You saved her too."
Clara smiled softly.
"No."
She shook her head.
"You did."
Ethan looked down.
"I was just scared."
Rebecca smiled.
"Being scared does not mean you are not brave."
That night, for the first time in seven years, Ethan slept beside his mother.
No locked doors.
No questions.
No wondering if she was gone forever.
But before morning came, Officer Hayes received a call.
May you like
A call from the investigation team searching Victor's hidden properties.
The caller sounded nervous.
