Chương 2
"You don't understand."
"Then explain it."
"I was trying to protect you."
Emma let out a painful laugh.
It was quiet and broken.
"Protect him?"
Rachel looked at her.
"I had no choice."
Emma stared back.
"You always had a choice."
The wind moved through the grass.
The sound of leaves filled the silence.
Daniel felt like he was standing in the middle of a life he no longer recognized.
His sister was alive.
His wife was hiding something.
And the home he trusted was built on a secret someone had tried to bury forever.
He carefully pulled the soil away from Emma's shoulder.
Every movement was slow.
Every second felt impossible.
"Emma," he whispered.
"Who did this to you?"
Emma looked into his eyes.
Her voice became softer.
But the fear in it grew stronger.
"The person who buried me..."
She stopped.
Daniel waited.
Rachel stopped breathing.
"...was someone you call family."
Daniel felt the world around him become strangely quiet.
The distant sounds of the neighborhood disappeared beneath the weight of Emma's words.
Someone he called family had buried her.
Someone he trusted had tried to erase his sister from his life forever.
He looked at Rachel again, searching her face for the truth he had somehow missed all these years.
"Rachel," he said slowly.
"Tell me she's wrong."
Rachel's eyes filled with tears.
For a moment, she looked like she wanted to speak.
Like she wanted to finally release something she had carried for years.
But fear stopped her.
"I didn't bury her," Rachel whispered.
Daniel's expression hardened.
"But you know who did."
Rachel looked down.
That silence was enough.
Daniel stood up slowly.
The anger on his face was not loud.
It was worse.
It was controlled.
"Who?"
Rachel shook her head.
"You need to get Emma inside first."
"No."
Daniel looked back at his sister.
"She has been outside in this ground for who knows how long."
His voice broke slightly.
"She almost died."
Emma watched him carefully.
She could see the pain in his eyes.
Not just because of what happened to her.
Because he was realizing the people around him had been lying for years.
Rachel stepped forward.
"Daniel, please."
He turned toward her.
"Please what?"
"Please don't do this out here."
"Why?"
His voice dropped.
"Because someone might hear?"
Rachel looked away.
That reaction confirmed everything.
Daniel felt a painful pressure in his chest.
The woman he loved was afraid of the truth coming out.
The woman he lost was afraid of someone finding her again.
And somehow, those two fears were connected.
He knelt beside Emma again.
"We're getting you out."
Emma nodded weakly.
Daniel carefully began removing the soil around her.
His hands moved faster as panic took over.
Every handful of dirt felt like another reminder of how close he had come to losing her forever.
Emma coughed softly.
Daniel immediately stopped.
"Are you okay?"
She nodded.
"No."
Her voice was barely audible.
"But I will be."
Daniel looked at her.
That was the same answer she always gave when things were falling apart.
When their parents fought.
When their father disappeared for days.
When their mother cried alone.
Emma had always been the one who said everything would be okay.
Even when it wasn't.
After several painful minutes, Daniel managed to free one of her arms.
Then the other.
He pulled his jacket off and wrapped it around her shoulders.
Rachel watched from a few feet away.
Her face was pale.
"Daniel."
He ignored her.
He carefully helped Emma sit up.
The movement caused her to wince.
He noticed.
"What did they do to you?"
Emma looked at the ground.
"They wanted information."
Daniel froze.
"What information?"
Emma looked toward the house.
"The same thing your father spent his whole life hiding."
Daniel followed her eyes.
The house suddenly felt different.
The place where he grew up.
The place where he celebrated birthdays.
The place where he brought Rachel after they got married.
It no longer felt like home.
It felt like a locked room filled with secrets.
"My father has been dead for three years," Daniel said.
Emma looked at him.
"Death doesn't erase what people leave behind."
Daniel helped her stand.
She could barely support herself.
He held her tightly.
For the first time in five years, his sister was standing beside him again.
But the reunion felt more like a nightmare than a miracle.
"Who knew you were alive?" he asked.
Emma hesitated.
"Your mother."
Daniel stared at her.
"Mom?"
Emma nodded.
"She knew."
"That's impossible."
"She visited me."
The words hit him harder than anything else.
"Visited you where?"
Emma looked at Rachel.
Daniel noticed.
Again.
The two women were connected.
Again.
"Where?" he repeated.
Emma swallowed.
"An old property your father owned outside town."
Daniel remembered it immediately.
The abandoned farmhouse.
The place his father never allowed anyone to enter.
He had always thought it was because the building was unsafe.
Now he wondered what else had been hidden there.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Emma looked at him with sadness.
"Because I tried."
Daniel went still.
"What?"
"I tried calling you."
"When?"
"The first week."
His face changed.
"I never got any calls."
"I know."
Emma's voice became quieter.
"Because someone answered them before they reached you."
Daniel looked toward Rachel.
Rachel immediately shook her head.
"No."
But her voice lacked confidence.
"I didn't know about the calls."
Emma looked at her.
"You knew enough."
Rachel's eyes filled with tears.
"I was trying to protect him."
"From what?"
Daniel demanded.
Rachel opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
Then a sound interrupted them.
A car door closing.
Everyone froze.
The backyard became silent again.
Another set of footsteps approached from the side of the house.
Daniel instinctively moved in front of Emma.
Rachel's face changed.
The fear returned.
"Who is that?" Daniel whispered.
Rachel didn't answer.
She didn't need to.
The expression on her face said everything.
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The footsteps grew closer.
A man's shadow appeared against the porch light.
