chapter 2: A Stranger's Secret
618 Words
Amelia couldn't take her eyes off the photograph.
Her father's face stared back at her from the page.
Richard Carter.
The man she had spent three years believing was dead.
She looked at Adrian again.
"Where did you get this?"
Adrian remained silent.
"Answer me."
He glanced around the office before lowering his voice.
"Not here."
Amelia closed the folder.
"You walk into my workplace, tell me my dead father is alive, and then refuse to explain?"
"I know how this sounds."
"You have no idea how this sounds."
Adrian sighed.
"Your father disappeared because someone wanted him gone."
Amelia's stomach tightened.
"Who?"
"I don't know."
"Then why should I believe anything you're saying?"
Adrian reached into his pocket and placed a small key on her desk.
Amelia stared at it.
"Your father gave this to me."
She picked it up.
There was a tiny number engraved on it.
807.
Amelia froze.
She knew that number.
"Room 807," she whispered.
Adrian nodded.
"Rosewood Hotel."
The same place connected to the mysterious message she had received the night before.
She suddenly felt dizzy.
"Why would my father give you this?"
"Because he trusted me."
"Why?"
Adrian looked directly into her eyes.
"Because three years ago, I helped him escape."
Amelia stepped backward.
"Escape from who?"
Adrian's expression darkened.
"People who are still looking for him."
Before Amelia could ask another question, Lily appeared beside her desk.
"Amelia, are you coming to lunch?"
She stopped when she noticed Adrian.
"Who's this?"
Amelia quickly closed the folder.
"No one."
Adrian gave Lily a brief look.
Then he turned back to Amelia.
"Tonight. Eight o'clock."
He walked away.
Lily watched him leave.
"Okay..."
She looked at Amelia suspiciously.
"Who was that?"
"I don't know."
"You definitely know something."
Amelia looked down at the key in her hand.
"I think my father is alive."
Lily's smile disappeared.
"What?"
Before Amelia could explain, her phone vibrated.
She looked at the screen.
Unknown Number
This time there was only one message.
Don't go to Rosewood Hotel tonight.
Amelia's heart began pounding.
A second message appeared.
If you do, you won't leave alone.
She quickly locked her phone.
Lily noticed her expression.
"What happened?"
"Nothing."
But Amelia knew that wasn't true.
---
That evening, Amelia stood outside Rosewood Hotel.
Rain fell softly around her.
She looked up at the building.
Three years ago, she had walked through those doors believing her life was finally beginning.
Tonight, she was returning because she believed someone had been hiding the truth from her.
She entered the hotel.
The receptionist looked at her strangely.
"Room 807?"
Amelia nodded.
The receptionist hesitated before handing her a key card.
"Someone is already waiting for you."
Amelia's heart skipped.
"Who?"
The receptionist shook her head.
"He didn't give me a name."
Amelia walked toward the elevator.
When the doors opened on the eighth floor, the hallway was completely silent.
She slowly approached Room 807.
Her hand reached for the door.
Before she could open it, she heard a voice from inside.
"Amelia..."
She froze.
She knew that voice.
It was impossible.
Her hand began to shake.
She slowly opened the door.
And there, standing in the darkness, was the man she had spent three years believing she had lost forever.
Her father.
Richard Carter.
He looked older.
Tired.
But alive.
Amelia couldn't speak.
Richard looked at her with tears in his eyes.
"You shouldn't have come."
Amelia stepped inside.
"Why?"
Richard looked toward the window.
"Because now they know where you are."
A loud sound came from the hallway.
Someone had stopped outside the door.
Richard's face suddenly changed.
"They found us."
The lights went out.
And the door handle began to turn.
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