CHAPTER TWO EPISODE 3
801 Words
EPISODE 3: THE WOMAN WHO NEVER DIED
"Say that again."
Celine stood frozen behind the locked bedroom door, her heart pounding.
George remained in the hallway.
"Your mother disappeared on the same night your father vanished," he repeated quietly. "My father told me years ago that she had abandoned her family."
"That's impossible!" Celine's voice broke. "I attended her funeral!"
George fell silent.
Celine slowly unlocked the door.
"Explain yourself."
He entered, keeping his distance as she wiped her tears.
"According to the documents I discovered, there was no official death certificate. Your father reported her missing, but the investigation was closed before it could be completed."
Celine stared at him in disbelief.
"All these years, my father allowed me to believe she was dead?"
"Perhaps he was protecting you."
"Or perhaps everyone has been lying to me!"
She turned away, struggling to control her emotions.
George wanted to comfort her, but he knew she might reject him.
"Celine, I promise I'll find out what happened."
She faced him again.
"Don't make promises you cannot keep. I trusted you once, George. Look where that has brought me."
His expression tightened.
"I know I have made mistakes, but I never wanted to hurt you."
"Then prove it."
Before he could respond, his phone rang.
Daniel, his personal assistant, was calling.
"Sir, I've found something," Daniel said urgently. "The original contract was transferred to a private storage facility six years ago. But someone accessed the vault this morning."
George stood straighter.
"Who?"
"The access record was erased. However, the security camera captured a woman entering the facility."
"Send me the footage."
"I already have."
George opened the video Daniel sent.
The recording showed a woman wearing a cream-coloured coat, carrying a black handbag. Her face was partly hidden beneath a hat.
But when she turned toward the camera, George went completely still.
Celine noticed his expression.
"What is it?"
He handed her the phone.
The moment she saw the woman's face, her knees nearly gave way.
"No..."
She enlarged the image with trembling fingers.
The woman's eyes, nose, and familiar smile were impossible to mistake.
It was the face Celine had remembered from childhood photographs.
Her mother.
The woman everyone had told her was dead.
Celine looked at George, tears gathering in her eyes.
"She's alive."
George nodded slowly.
"And she's looking for the contract."
Celine immediately grabbed her handbag.
"Where are you going?" he demanded.
"To find my mother."
"You cannot go alone. Whoever is behind this has already threatened you."
"I don't care!"
George caught her hand gently.
"Please, Celine. Let me help you."
For a moment, she looked into his eyes.
Despite everything, she still loved him. That was what frightened her most.
"One lie, George," she whispered. "If I discover you've hidden anything else from me, there will be nothing left between us."
"I understand."
He released her hand.
"Then we leave now."
Forty minutes later, George's car pulled up outside the storage facility.
Daniel was waiting near the entrance.
"Sir, the woman left approximately two hours ago," he explained. "But she dropped something near the vault."
He handed George a small silver pendant.
Celine recognised it immediately.
It was the necklace her mother had worn every day during her childhood.
She took it from George's hand and held it tightly.
"Where did you find this?"
"Near the vault door," Daniel replied.
Celine's eyes filled with fresh tears.
Her mother had been there.
She had been so close.
"Did she leave anything else?"
Daniel hesitated before handing her a folded piece of paper.
Celine opened it.
There was only one sentence.
My daughter, if you are reading this, do not trust the man you married.
The paper slipped from her fingers.
Slowly, Celine turned toward George.
He stared at the message, his face pale.
"Your mother wrote that?" he asked.
Celine nodded.
For the first time since their wedding, she saw genuine fear in her husband's eyes.
Before either could speak, Daniel's phone rang.
He answered, listened for several seconds, and then looked at George in alarm.
"Sir, there's been a problem."
"What now?"
Daniel swallowed.
"The original contract has disappeared. And the person who took it left a message addressed to Mrs Williams."
He turned toward Celine.
"The message says your father is alive."
Celine stopped breathing.
Her mother might be alive.
And now, after years of believing she had lost him forever, she was being told that her father might be alive
George reached for her hand.
This time, she didn't pull away.
But as they stood together beneath the cold fluorescent lights, Celine couldn't stop thinking about her mother's warning.
Do not trust the man you married.
And somewhere in the city, a woman who had supposedly been dead for years was watching their every move.
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