Chapter 5 — The Missing File
Chapter 5 — The Missing File
The ballroom exploded into chaos.
Guests shouted.
Security guards rushed toward the exits.
Everyone was asking the same question.
Where did Vanessa go?
Emily stood frozen in the middle of the room.
Only seconds earlier, she had been surrounded by answers.
Now she had even more questions.
Her eyes moved toward the table where Michael Reed had placed the folder.
It was gone.
The evidence.
The documents.
The proof about her father.
Everything had disappeared.
Mr. Harrison turned toward the security team.
“Lock every exit.”
The guards immediately moved.
“No one leaves this building.”
The guests looked nervous.
The charity gala had become a family scandal, and now it had turned into something much darker.
Emily looked at Charles Harrison.
“Was that Vanessa?”
Mr. Harrison shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
“But she knew about my father.”
“Yes.”
“And she ran.”
Charles looked away.
That answer was enough.
Emily walked toward the entrance.
“I’m going after her.”
A security guard stepped forward.
“Miss Carter, we need to wait until we know what happened.”
Emily looked at him.
“Someone just stole the only evidence proving who my father was.”
Her voice became stronger.
“I’ve waited my entire life for answers. I’m not waiting anymore.”
Before anyone could stop her, Michael Reed appeared from the hallway.
Everyone turned.
The folder was in his hand.
The room went silent.
“Looking for this?”
Emily stared at him.
“You took it?”
Michael sighed.
“I had to.”
Mr. Harrison stepped forward angrily.
“You caused a blackout and disappeared with family documents?”
“No.”
Michael opened the folder.
“I protected them.”
Emily looked confused.
“Protected them from who?”
Michael looked around the room.
Then he lowered his voice.
“From the person who has been trying to destroy this truth for twenty-four years.”
Everyone looked toward Vanessa’s empty chair.
Emily crossed her arms.
“You mean Vanessa?”
Michael hesitated.
“No.”
The room went silent.
“Then who?”
Michael looked directly at Charles Harrison.
“Your family.”
The words shocked everyone.
Charles stared at him.
“What are you saying?”
Michael opened the folder and removed an old legal document.
“This is Daniel Harrison’s original will.”
Charles stepped closer.
“That’s impossible.”
Michael shook his head.
“It was hidden after his death.”
Emily looked at the paper.
“What does it say?”
Michael looked at her.
“Daniel left his shares in Harrison Enterprises to his daughter.”
Her heart stopped.
“Me?”
Michael nodded.
“Yes.”
The room erupted.
Guests whispered.
Some looked shocked.
Others looked angry.
Mr. Harrison stared at the document.
“But Daniel never had a daughter.”
Michael looked at him.
“That is what everyone was told.”
Emily felt a wave of emotions.
Her entire life, she had been treated like she came from nowhere.
She had worked for everything she had.
She had built her career without knowing she was connected to one of the most powerful families in the country.
“Why hide me?” she asked.
Michael’s expression became serious.
“Because if people knew you existed, you would have become a target.”
Emily looked at him.
“A target for who?”
Michael didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, he pulled out another document.
“This.”
He handed it to her.
Emily looked down.
It was a police report.
Her hands began shaking.
The report was dated twenty-four years ago.
The same year her father died.
She read the title.
Vehicle Accident Investigation — Daniel Harrison.
But something was strange.
The report had been edited.
Several pages were missing.
“Why are pages missing?”
Michael looked at Charles.
“Because the official story was never the real story.”
Charles looked uncomfortable.
“What are you implying?”
Michael took a deep breath.
“Daniel Harrison was not killed in a simple accident.”
Everyone froze.
Emily looked up.
“Then how did he die?”
Michael lowered his voice.
“He was trying to expose someone.”
“Who?”
Michael looked toward the hallway where Vanessa had disappeared.
“Someone inside the Harrison family.”
A cold feeling moved through Emily.
Her father hadn’t abandoned her.
He hadn’t disappeared.
He had been trying to reveal the truth.
And someone had stopped him.
Suddenly, Emily’s phone vibrated.
Everyone looked at her.
She checked the screen.
A new message appeared.
Unknown Number:
“You wanted the truth about Daniel Harrison.”
A second message appeared.
“Come to the old Harrison mansion alone.”
Emily stared at the screen.
Then another message arrived.
This time, there was a photo attached.
A photo of her mother.
Claire Carter.
Alive.
Standing beside a man.
Her father.
Daniel Harrison.
Emily’s breath caught.
Impossible.
Her father had been dead for twenty-four years.
And her mother had died five years ago.
But the photo was recent.
Very recent.
At the bottom of the image was one sentence:
“Your parents’ story is not what you were told.”
Emily slowly looked up.
Someone in the room knew the truth.
Someone had been hiding it all these years.
And now…
May you like
They wanted her to find it.
To be continued…
