THE SECRET IN THE ARCHIVES
1798 Words
The next morning, Seli barely slept.
She kept thinking about the photograph hidden inside her necklace.
Her mother standing beside President Fu’s father.
The warning written on the back.
Protect my daughter from the Fu family.
Why would her mother have written something like that?
And why had she hidden the photograph inside a necklace Seli had worn since childhood?
Seli sat on the edge of her bed and stared at the pendant.
There had to be a reason.
A knock sounded.
She quickly closed the pendant.
“Come in.”
The door opened.
President Fu stood outside.
“We're leaving.”
Seli frowned.
“Now?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“The Fu family archives.”
Seli's heart immediately began beating faster.
She remembered what Fu had said the previous night.
Some truths are dangerous.
She stood and grabbed her bag.
“Okay.”
Fu noticed the necklace around her neck.
His eyes lingered on it.
“Did you find something?”
Seli's hand immediately covered the pendant.
“No.”
Fu raised an eyebrow.
“You're lying again.”
Seli walked past him.
“Then you'll have to get used to it.”
For a moment, Fu simply stared at her.
Then, unexpectedly, a faint smile appeared on his face.
Seli turned around.
“Why are you smiling?”
“I wasn't.”
“You were.”
“Go downstairs.”
Seli narrowed her eyes.
“You're annoying.”
Fu's expression returned to its usual seriousness.
“I'm beginning to think you're getting too comfortable around me.”
Seli's heart skipped.
She quickly looked away.
“Let's just go.”
---
The Fu family archives were hidden beneath an old private estate belonging to the family.
Unlike President Fu's modern mansion, the building was quiet and old.
Seli stepped inside.
Rows of documents and photographs filled the shelves.
Fu walked ahead.
“Everything about the Fu family for the past fifty years is stored here.”
Seli looked around.
“Why have I never heard about this place?”
“Because very few people know it exists.”
They reached a locked room.
Fu entered a code.
The door opened.
Seli followed him inside.
“Where do we start?”
Fu looked at her.
“Your mother.”
Seli froze.
“You know her name?”
“No.”
“Then how are we supposed to find her?”
Fu walked toward a computer.
“We search for everyone connected to my father during the period she would have been here.”
Seli's eyes widened.
“You're serious?”
“Yes.”
They began searching.
Minutes passed.
Nothing.
Seli's hope slowly disappeared.
Then Fu suddenly stopped.
“What?”
Seli moved closer.
Fu was staring at an old file.
The name on it made Seli's heart stop.
Lin Meiyu.
Seli whispered,
“My mother.”
Fu opened the file.
Inside was an old photograph.
Seli grabbed it.
It was her mother.
But she wasn't alone.
Standing beside her was a much younger version of Fu's father.
Seli's hands trembled.
“She knew him.”
Fu continued reading.
Then his expression changed.
“What?”
Seli looked at him.
Fu turned the document toward her.
There was a handwritten note.
Lin Meiyu must leave the Fu family immediately. No one is to know about the child.
Seli stared.
“The child?”
Fu's eyes met hers.
“What child?”
Seli couldn't speak.
Her mother had never told her about any connection to the Fu family.
Fu turned another page.
Then froze.
Seli noticed.
“What is it?”
He didn't answer.
“President Fu.”
Fu slowly handed her the document.
Seli read it.
Her face went pale.
It was a birth record.
But the child's name had been removed.
Only one line remained.
Female child. Mother: Lin Meiyu. Father: Fu family bloodline.
Seli's fingers went numb.
“No.”
Fu stared at the document.
Seli shook her head.
“No, this can't be right.”
Fu looked at her.
“Your mother had you around twenty years ago.”
“Yes.”
“And my father was alive.”
Seli looked at him.
“What are you trying to say?”
Fu didn't answer.
Seli's breathing became unsteady.
“President Fu…”
Fu's face was unusually serious.
“I don't know yet.”
Seli suddenly stepped away.
“My mother would have told me.”
“Maybe she couldn't.”
“She would have!”
Her voice echoed through the room.
Fu didn't move.
Seli's eyes filled with tears.
“My mother loved me.”
“I know.”
“You don't know anything about her!”
Fu's expression softened.
Seli wiped her eyes.
“I'm sorry.”
Fu stepped closer.
“You don't have to apologize.”
Seli looked at him.
For a moment, she saw something different in his eyes.
Not the cold businessman.
Not the powerful President Fu.
Just a man trying to understand something impossible.
Then Fu noticed something.
“Seli.”
“What?”
“Your necklace.”
She touched it.
“What about it?”
“Give it to me.”
“Why?”
“Just give it to me.”
Seli hesitated.
Then removed it.
Fu turned the pendant over.
His expression suddenly changed.
He recognized something engraved on the back.
“This symbol…”
“What?”
Fu stared at it.
“My father used this symbol.”
Seli's heart sank.
“Why would my mother have it?”
Fu didn't answer.
Suddenly, footsteps sounded outside.
Both of them turned.
Fu immediately moved in front of Seli.
“Stay behind me.”
The door opened.
Han rushed inside.
“President Fu.”
Fu's expression hardened.
“What happened?”
“We have a problem.”
“What?”
Han looked at Seli.
Then at Fu.
“Someone broke into the main archives.”
Fu's eyes narrowed.
“When?”
“About ten minutes ago.”
“Was anything stolen?”
Han hesitated.
“Yes.”
“What?”
“A file.”
Fu's expression became cold.
“Which file?”
Han looked at Seli.
“Your father's old records concerning Lin Meiyu.”
Silence.
Seli's heart dropped.
“Someone knew we were looking for my mother?”
Han nodded.
“We believe so.”
Fu immediately reached for his phone.
“Check every security camera.”
“We're already doing it.”
“Find the person.”
“Yes, sir.”
Han turned to leave.
Then stopped.
“There is one more thing.”
Fu looked at him.
“What?”
Han lowered his voice.
“The person who broke into the archives left a message.”
Seli felt a chill.
“What message?”
Han looked at her.
“It was written specifically for you.”
Seli's heart pounded.
“What does it say?”
Han hesitated.
Fu's expression hardened.
“Tell her.”
Han finally spoke.
“Ask President Fu why his father wanted you hidden.”
Seli slowly turned toward Fu.
Fu didn't move.
“President Fu…”
He remained silent.
“You knew?”
“No.”
“Then why does someone think you know?”
“I don't.”
Seli stared at him.
She wanted to believe him.
But suddenly, everything felt different.
The necklace.
Her mother.
The hidden birth record.
The Fu family.
The mysterious person following her.
And now this message.
Seli stepped backward.
“I need to go.”
Fu immediately caught her arm.
“Where?”
“Somewhere away from your family.”
“Seli.”
“Your family has been connected to my mother for years!”
Fu's expression hardened.
“That doesn't mean I'm responsible.”
“I know.”
She pulled her arm away.
“But I don't know who I can trust anymore.”
Fu stared at her.
Something flashed in his eyes.
Hurt.
But Seli didn't notice.
She turned toward the door.
Then suddenly stopped.
Her hand moved to her stomach.
A sharp wave of discomfort passed through her.
Fu immediately noticed.
“Seli?”
She tried to steady herself.
“I'm fine.”
But her face had gone pale.
Fu caught her before she could stumble.
“Sit down.”
“I'm okay.”
“Stop saying that.”
His voice was unusually worried.
Seli looked at him.
For a moment, she forgot everything else.
Fu carefully helped her into a chair.
His hand remained around hers.
Neither of them spoke.
Then Seli looked down.
Fu's hand was resting beside hers.
And she suddenly noticed something.
A faint scar on his wrist.
Her eyes widened.
She had seen that scar before.
Not on President Fu.
On the man from that night.
Seli's entire body went cold.
She slowly looked up.
“President Fu…”
“What?”
Her voice trembled.
“Where did you get that scar?”
Fu glanced at his wrist.
“This?”
“Yes.”
He looked at her.
“It's old.”
“How did you get it?”
Fu frowned.
“I don't remember.”
Seli's heart stopped.
“You don't remember?”
“No.”
“When?”
Fu's expression changed.
“Why are you asking?”
Seli couldn't speak.
She remembered the dark room.
The man's voice.
The silver watch.
The silver cufflink.
And now this scar.
One by one, the pieces were coming together.
Seli looked at President Fu.
“Was it you?”
Fu froze.
“What?”
“The man from that night.”
His face became unreadable.
Seli's eyes filled with tears.
“Was it you?”
Fu stared at her.
He didn't answer.
Seli stepped closer.
“President Fu, look at me.”
He did.
And in that moment, she saw something in his eyes.
Recognition.
Fear.
Then Fu whispered:
“I think it was.”
Seli's heart shattered.
She stepped backward.
Fu immediately reached for her.
“Seli—”
“Don't touch me.”
He stopped.
Seli covered her mouth as tears slipped down her face.
The man she had been searching for.
The father of her unborn child.
The man she had unknowingly brought into her life.
Had been standing in front of her all along.
President Fu looked at her.
His voice was barely audible.
“Seli…”
She shook her head.
“Don't.”
Then Han's phone suddenly rang.
He answered.
His face changed.
“President Fu…”
Fu turned.
“What?”
Han's voice trembled.
“The DNA laboratory just called.”
Fu went still.
“The results are ready.”
Seli's eyes widened.
Fu looked at her.
Neither of them moved.
Then Han said the words that changed everything:
“President Fu… the baby is yours.”
To Be Continued…
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