CHAPTER 3 — THE WOMAN WHO NEVER DIED
CHAPTER 3 — THE WOMAN WHO NEVER DIED
The entire Hawthorne mansion went silent after Lily spoke those words.
“She is still inside this house.”
Nobody knew what to say.
The guests who had spent the evening laughing beneath crystal chandeliers now stood frozen in fear.
The charity gala had become something else.
A crime scene.
A battlefield.
A place where every person inside the mansion had a secret they wanted to protect.
Elena stared at Lily.
The little girl’s face showed no doubt.
No confusion.
No hesitation.
She truly believed her mother was somewhere inside the estate.
Elena gently lowered herself to Lily’s level.
“Tell me her name.”
Lily looked around nervously.
Then she whispered:
“Claire.”
A strange reaction moved through the room.
Several guests exchanged uncomfortable looks.
Elena noticed.
They knew that name.
Victor Hawthorne noticed too.
And his reaction was even more revealing.
His face turned pale.
“Who told you that name?”
His voice was sharper than before.
Lily immediately stepped behind Elena.
Elena looked at Victor.
“Why does that name scare you?”
“It doesn’t.”
“Then why did you just look like you saw a ghost?”
Victor said nothing.
That silence answered the question.
Daniel moved closer.
“Elena, you need to understand something.”
She turned toward him.
“I’m listening.”
Daniel glanced around the room.
Noticing all the cameras.
All the guests.
All the people watching.
Then he lowered his voice.
“The Hawthorne family has been through enough.”
Elena almost laughed.
“Through enough?”
She pointed toward Lily.
“A child was hidden inside a wall.”
“And you’re worried about the family reputation?”
Daniel’s expression hardened.
“You don’t know what you’re dealing with.”
Elena studied him carefully.
Those words sounded less like a warning.
And more like a confession.
Before she could respond, Lily suddenly pulled on her hand.
“There’s something else.”
Elena looked down.
“What?”
Lily reached beneath her dirty shirt.
Slowly, she removed a small folded piece of paper.
The paper was old.
Yellowed.
Almost falling apart.
Elena carefully opened it.
Inside was a handwritten note.
Only one sentence was written.
"If Lily is found, trust the woman with the broken heart."
Elena stared at the words.
She felt a strange feeling in her chest.
Because everyone in the room knew something about Lily’s mother.
But nobody knew about Elena’s past.
Nobody knew she had spent years trying to recover from the disappearance of her own younger sister.
Nobody knew that was the reason she dedicated her life to helping missing children.
And nobody knew Elena had a scar on her heart that never healed.
The phrase suddenly felt personal.
The woman with the broken heart.
Who else could that be?
Victor stepped forward.
“Give me that note.”
Elena folded the paper and placed it behind her.
“No.”
The billionaire’s expression darkened.
“That belongs to my family.”
Elena shook her head.
“No.”
“It belongs to Lily.”
The room became tense.
Then something unexpected happened.
The mansion lights suddenly went out.
A scream came from the ballroom.
Glass shattered.
People started moving in panic.
Security rushed through the hallway.
Elena immediately grabbed Lily.
“Stay close to me.”
In the darkness, someone whispered near her ear.
A voice she did not recognize.
“Do not trust anyone wearing a Hawthorne ring.”
Elena spun around.
But nobody was there.
The lights returned seconds later.
Everyone was exactly where they had been.
Except one person.
Victor Hawthorne’s younger brother, Marcus.
He was gone.
And sitting on the floor where he had been standing was a single object.
A photograph.
Elena picked it up.
Her hands started shaking.
The photo showed a young woman.
A woman with blonde hair.
Standing in the Hawthorne garden.
Holding a baby.
The baby was Lily.
But that wasn’t what shocked Elena.
It was the date printed on the back.
Eight years ago.
Three days after Claire Hawthorne supposedly died.
Elena turned the photograph over.
There was another message.
"Claire was alive after the funeral."
Her breathing became uneven.
She looked toward Victor.
The billionaire looked terrified.
Not angry.
Not confused.
Terrified.
Because someone had just proven the impossible.
Claire Hawthorne did not disappear eight years ago.
She had been alive.
And someone inside the Hawthorne family knew it.
Lily looked up at Elena.
“Can you find my mommy?”
Elena looked at the photograph.
Then at the mansion surrounding them.
A place filled with hidden rooms.
Hidden secrets.
And hidden enemies.
“Yes.”
She held Lily’s hand tighter.
“I will find her.”
But Elena didn’t know the truth yet.
Finding Claire would not reveal the biggest secret.
It would reveal something much worse.
Because Claire Hawthorne had not been hiding from the family.
She had been hiding from someone inside it.
Someone powerful enough to erase a person from history.
Someone who was still inside the mansion.
Watching Elena.
May you like
Waiting for her next move.
TO BE CONTINUED — CHAPTER 4: THE SECRET ROOM UNDER THE STAIRCASE
