FINDING YOU , LOVING ME

THE BEGINNING

CHAPTER 13

The Beginning

Mia's POV

The photograph wouldn't leave my mind.

My father was alive in it.

That was enough to change everything.

For years, I had accepted that he was simply part of my past.

Now I had proof that someone had seen him.

Someone had photographed him.

And someone wanted me to find him.

But there was one question I couldn't answer.

Who was the person who started everything?

Ethan and I sat on a bench outside the school the next morning.

Neither of us had much to say.

Finally, Ethan broke the silence.

"We need to talk to Elena."

I nodded.

"She might know who that message was talking about."

"But we don't know where she is."

I looked at the photograph.

"Then we find her."

---

After school, we returned to the old house.

The door was unlocked.

"Elena?" I called.

No answer.

The house was empty.

We searched the rooms carefully.

Everything looked untouched.

Except for the study.

A drawer was open.

Inside was a notebook.

I picked it up.

The first page contained a list of names.

My father's name.

Ethan's father's name.

Adrian's name.

And one more name.

Daniel Reyes.

I looked at Ethan.

"Who's Daniel?"

His face became pale.

"My grandfather."

I stared at him.

"Your grandfather?"

"He died before I was born."

I looked back at the notebook.

"Why would his name be here?"

Ethan flipped through the pages.

There were dates beside each name.

Then he stopped.

"Look."

Beside Daniel's name was a date.

1999.

The same year written on the key to the archive room.

I remembered the letter.

The old documents.

The hidden door.

Everything seemed connected.

"What happened in 1999?" I asked.

Ethan shook his head.

"I don't know."

We searched the rest of the notebook.

Near the end was a sentence:

"The truth began with Daniel."

I stared at it.

"That's it."

"What?"

"The person who started everything."

Ethan looked at me.

"My grandfather."

---

That evening, Ethan took me to his house.

His mother was surprised to see us.

"Mom," Ethan said, "we need to ask you something."

She looked at me.

Then at the notebook.

Her expression changed.

"Where did you get that?"

"Elena's house."

She slowly sat down.

"What do you know about Daniel?"

She was silent.

Then she said,

"Your grandfather started the bookstore."

I blinked.

"What?"

"The Book Nook belonged to him."

Ethan looked shocked.

"But I thought it belonged to Mrs. Clara."

"She manages it now."

His mother looked at the notebook.

"Daniel built the bookstore from nothing."

"Then what happened?"

"He partnered with another businessman."

"Who?"

She hesitated.

"Adrian's father."

I exchanged a look with Ethan.

"So this goes back even further."

His mother nodded.

"They started the business together."

"What happened between them?"

"Money."

She sighed.

"Adrian's father wanted control of everything. Daniel refused."

"And that's when the problems started?"

"Yes."

She looked at me.

"But there was something else."

"What?"

"Daniel discovered that his partner had been hiding money."

My eyes widened.

"So this is the same thing that happened years later."

"Exactly."

Ethan looked confused.

"Then why didn't anyone expose him?"

"Because Daniel disappeared."

The room went silent.

I stared at her.

"Disappeared?"

She nodded.

"Just like your father."

I felt a chill.

"Are you saying this happened twice?"

"Yes."

"And both times, people disappeared after discovering the same secret?"

She nodded.

"That's why your father became involved."

---

Suddenly, Ethan's phone rang.

He looked at the screen.

Unknown number.

He answered.

"Hello?"

A distorted voice spoke.

"You're looking in the wrong place."

Ethan frowned.

"Who are you?"

No answer.

Then:

"Daniel wasn't the first."

The call ended.

I looked at Ethan.

"What does that mean?"

He shook his head.

"I don't know."

Then his phone received another message.

A photograph.

An old family picture.

It showed Daniel standing beside several people.

I recognized two of them.

Adrian's father.

And Mrs. Clara.

But there was one person in the middle.

A woman.

I stared at her.

Something about her face felt familiar.

Then I noticed the handwriting on the back.

"She was there from the beginning."

I looked at Ethan.

"Who is she?"

His mother took the photograph from us.

The moment she saw it, she stood up.

Her face went pale.

"Where did you get this?"

"Someone sent it."

She looked at the woman.

Then whispered:

"That's Elena."

I froze.

"Elena?"

His mother nodded.

"But that photograph was taken in 1999."

I stared at the picture.

Elena looked much younger.

And suddenly, everything we thought we knew about her changed.

She hadn't simply become involved years later.

She had been there from the beginning.

And if she knew the truth about Daniel, our fathers, and Adrian—

then she had been carrying the secret for nearly three decades.

I looked at Ethan.

"We need to find her."

He nodded.

"But this time..."

He looked at the photograph.

"We need to ask her what she knows about 1999."

Because maybe the story hadn't started with our parents.

Maybe it had started long before we were born.

And maybe our entire childhood had been part of a secret that began before we even existed.