the brown file
862 Words
Silent Cinderella
Chapter Three
The Brown File
At six o'clock in the morning...
The neighborhood where Selene lived was slowly coming to life.
Small delivery trucks rolled through the streets.
Factory workers hurried toward another long day.
The aroma of cheap coffee drifted from the open windows of the aging apartment buildings.
Inside the small apartment...
Selene's mother was already dressed for work.
She zipped up her worn handbag before turning to look at her daughter, who was still asleep.
Walking quietly to the bedside, she gently brushed a strand of hair away from Selene's face.
"Sleep a little longer," she whispered.
"Your first class doesn't start early."
A sad smile crossed her face.
She knew her daughter had barely slept.
Leaning down, she kissed Selene's forehead before quietly leaving the apartment.
A few minutes later...
The same black luxury car pulled up outside the building.
The man in his fifties stepped out, carrying the old brown file.
He stared at the modest apartment building for several moments.
"So..."
"This is the life you've been living."
He opened the file and pulled out an old photograph.
It showed a little girl, no older than six years old, smiling brightly while holding the hand of a tall man wearing a winter hat.
He turned the photograph over.
Written on the back, in faded handwriting, were the words:
"Selene... Alaska Winter."
The man let out a quiet sigh.
"You hid her well, John."
Just as he was about to enter the building...
His phone vibrated.
He answered immediately.
"Yes, sir."
Silence.
His expression suddenly changed.
"What?"
"..."
"He's looking for her too?"
He slowly lowered the phone.
His eyes shifted from the file to the apartment building.
Then he murmured,
"If the Consels family finds her before we do..."
"The game will be over."
Without knocking on the door...
He turned around, got back into the car, and drove away.
At Florida University...
Nobody was talking about classes.
Nobody was talking about exams.
Everyone was talking about one photograph.
In the cafeteria...
In the hallways...
Inside every classroom...
The mysterious new girl had become the center of attention.
Selene walked onto campus completely unaware of what had happened.
But she immediately noticed something strange.
Nobody was laughing today.
Instead...
Students looked at her...
Then at their phones...
Then whispered to one another.
"That's her."
"She's here."
"I wonder if she'll see him today."
A strange feeling settled in her chest.
What was happening?
Why was everyone staring at her?
On the other side of campus...
William walked across the courtyard with Ethan.
Ethan grinned.
"Did you know the page that posted your photo gained thousands of new followers overnight?"
William didn't smile.
"Tell them to delete it."
Ethan blinked in surprise.
"Delete it?"
"It's just a picture."
William stopped walking.
"Not for her."
For the first time...
Ethan realized his friend wasn't joking.
Selene stood in front of the class schedule board, trying to locate her classroom.
Suddenly...
Someone stopped beside her.
A hand appeared, holding one of her enrollment papers.
"I believe this belongs to you."
She turned around.
William.
Silence surrounded them.
Softly, she said,
"Thank you."
Those were the first words they had ever exchanged.
William offered a faint smile.
"I didn't get the chance to return it yesterday."
She carefully accepted the paper.
"Thank you... again."
She turned to leave.
Before she could take another step, William asked,
"Did you find your classroom?"
She hesitated.
Then quietly shook her head.
He pointed toward a nearby building.
"Building Three."
"Second floor."
She looked at him for a brief moment.
"Thank you."
Then she hurried away.
William watched until she disappeared into the crowd.
Their conversation did not go unnoticed.
From the third-floor balcony...
A beautiful young woman wearing an elegant red dress had witnessed everything.
Her name was...
Victoria Hayes.
The most admired girl in the College of Law.
The daughter of a member of the Consels Group's Board of Directors.
Everyone knew she considered William to be hers...
Even though he had never given her any reason to believe so.
She lowered her phone after secretly taking several pictures.
A cold smile spread across her face.
"So..."
"You dare to get close to him?"
She turned toward her friend.
"I want everything about that girl."
"Her name."
"Her address."
"Her family."
"Everything."
Her friend smiled confidently.
"Consider it done."
At the end of the day...
Selene left the university feeling emotionally exhausted.
As she approached the bus she usually took home...
She suddenly stopped.
A folded piece of paper had been tucked beneath one of the windshield wipers.
She looked around.
No one was nearby.
Slowly...
She unfolded it.
Only one sentence was written on the page.
"If you want to know the truth about your father's death... trust no one."
Her breathing stopped.
Her hands began to tremble.
She read the sentence once.
Then again.
And again.
At that very moment...
A mysterious man sat inside a black car parked across the street, silently watching her through the tinted windows.
A faint smile appeared on his face as he whispered,
"The game has finally begun."
End of Chapter Three
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