No one moved.
The whisper hidden beneath Amelia's recording continued to echo through the room.
**"The key isn't under Hawthorne Hall... it's beneath the oak tree."**
Silence settled over everyone.
Lily slowly lowered the cassette recorder.
The old oak tree.
The place where three children had laughed.
Where three tiny hands had linked together in a promise they never imagined would survive twenty years.
Jonathan was the first to speak.
"I searched the lake house."
"I searched the Sanctuary."
"I searched every archive Phoenix ever built."
He looked toward Lily.
"But I never searched beneath the oak tree."
Lucas frowned.
"Why?"
Jonathan smiled sadly.
"Because I couldn't."
Everyone looked at him.
He lowered his eyes.
"Every time I stood in front of that tree..."
"I rememb
