Chapter 9
943 Words
Chapter 9 — The Woman Who Looked Like Him
“She looks like you.”
Alexander stared at Lily.
For several seconds, he didn't say a word.
Emily looked between them, confused.
“What does she mean?”
Alexander's expression had become unreadable.
“Lily, where did you see her?”
Lily pointed toward the hallway.
“She was downstairs.”
“Did she tell you her name?”
Lily shook her head.
“What did she say to you?”
“She said Daddy was keeping a secret.”
Alexander's jaw tightened.
Emily noticed the reaction immediately.
“Alexander, what secret is she talking about?”
He looked at her.
“I don't know.”
“You don't know?”
“I said I don't know.”
His voice was sharper than usual.
Emily stepped back.
She wasn't convinced.
Lily suddenly reached for Emily's hand.
“She said I should come with her.”
Emily crouched beside her.
“Why did you go?”
“She said Daddy wanted me.”
Alexander closed his eyes briefly.
Someone had used his name to convince his own daughter to leave the room.
That person knew exactly how Lily trusted him.
Then Lily added something else.
“She had Daddy's picture.”
Emily frowned.
“What picture?”
Lily pointed toward the desk.
“The one with the lady.”
Emily followed her finger.
There was a framed photograph of Alexander with Victoria.
Alexander walked toward it and picked it up.
“That's impossible.”
Emily looked at him.
“What?”
“This photograph hasn't been here for years.”
He turned it over.
Something was taped to the back.
Emily's eyes widened.
Alexander removed the tape and pulled out a folded piece of paper.
He opened it.
His face changed.
“What does it say?”
He handed the paper to Emily.
There was only one sentence.
You should have told her the truth.
Emily looked at Alexander.
“Who wrote this?”
“I don't know.”
“But someone clearly knows what happened.”
Alexander remained silent.
Emily felt frustrated.
“Every time I ask you something, you tell me you don't know. Every time I discover something, you tell me to stay out of it.”
“I am trying to protect you.”
“From what?”
Alexander looked at her.
“From my family.”
Emily stared at him.
Before she could respond, footsteps sounded outside the room.
Mrs. Grace appeared at the door.
“Sir, your parents are here.”
Alexander's expression changed immediately.
“My parents?”
“They said they need to speak with you.”
Emily glanced at him.
“About Lily?”
Mrs. Grace hesitated.
“About everything.”
A few minutes later, Alexander's parents entered the mansion.
His mother looked worried.
His father looked unusually serious.
The moment Lily saw them, she ran toward Alexander's mother.
“Grandma!”
His mother hugged her tightly.
“Sweetheart, are you all right?”
Lily nodded.
Alexander's father looked at him.
“We need to talk.”
Alexander crossed his arms.
“About what?”
His father glanced at Emily.
“Not in front of her.”
Emily immediately understood.
She turned to leave.
But Alexander stopped her.
“She stays.”
His father frowned.
“Alexander—”
“She deserves to know if this concerns her.”
Emily looked at him in surprise.
His father sighed.
“Then perhaps it is time.”
Everyone became silent.
Alexander's mother looked down at Lily.
“There is someone you haven't met.”
Emily's heart began beating faster.
“Who?”
Alexander's father looked directly at him.
“Your sister.”
Emily froze.
Alexander didn't move.
His mother looked away.
Emily stared at Alexander.
“You have a sister?”
He finally nodded.
“I did.”
The way he said it made Emily's stomach twist.
“Did?”
His father spoke quietly.
“She disappeared years ago.”
Emily's eyes widened.
“Disappeared?”
“She was eighteen,” Alexander said. “One night, she left home. We never found her.”
Emily remembered Lily's words.
She looks like you.
“Do you think the woman Lily saw is your sister?”
Alexander didn't answer.
His mother suddenly began crying.
“She looks exactly like him.”
Emily felt a chill.
Alexander's father stepped closer.
“And that's why we believe she may have returned.”
Alexander shook his head.
“No.”
“Alexander—”
“She has been gone for years.”
His father looked at him.
“Then explain how someone who looks exactly like you entered your house without being caught on camera.”
Nobody spoke.
Then a security guard rushed into the room.
“Sir!”
Alexander turned.
“What happened?”
“We found something outside the east gate.”
“What?”
The guard held up a small handbag.
“Victoria's.”
Alexander took it.
Inside was a photograph.
He pulled it out.
His face immediately went pale.
Emily looked over his shoulder.
It was a picture of two young children.
Alexander and a girl who looked almost exactly like him.
On the back of the photograph was a handwritten message:
She's coming for everything you have.
Alexander slowly looked up.
And Emily realized something terrifying.
The person they were searching for might not be trying to take Lily.
She might be trying to destroy Alexander's entire life.
Next Chapter
Alexander begins searching for his missing sister, but a shocking discovery suggests that she may have been connected to Victoria long before Emily ever entered the mansion.
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