Chapter Twenty

The resurfacing of Elena Reed, redefined 

the way things have been. She has started to discover some things she did not know about her parents. 

Sophia repeated what the text message said as she glared at the picture that was sent to her by some anonymous sender.

She could not figure out if all these messages have been coming from the same source or it is being sent from different sources.

“What business does Margaret have with Elena, and why would she be interested in her?” Sophia asked, as she looked at the house again.

“I have no idea but it is obvious that my father Knew her “Emily responded.

When they looked around, they saw another security personnel coming.

“We looked everywhere, the woman was nowhere to be found.”

“Is there anything else you found?” Emily asked and he said ”I did not find anything.”

Emiiy looked at the recent picture that was sent to her. “We need to find out what happened when this picture was taken.” She said, “We should not just guess, we need actual records.” Sophia responded as she nodded.

Emily decided to call Damian right away.

He did not pick up the first time. She called again the second time and he picked up the call.

“Hello,good evening. We found another lead.” She said,

She described everything that happened vividly. She did not leave out the recent picture.

And for some time, Damian did not say anything.

*Do not go into the house this night.” He said.

*I wanted to enter the house to see if I could get answers, but I changed my mind.” Emiiy said, as she stared at the house where all the lights had completely gone out.

“It is nice of you to change your mind. The security personnel will be outside the building watching it tonight. In the morning, a lawyer will confirm if the property has been transferred to someone else. You don't want someone to accuse you of trespassing.”

“What do you mean by trespassing?” That is the house I grew up in, for crying out loud.” She said it with a lot of disappointment.

“You don't get my point. Listen to me Emily. I know it was your childhood home, you have not been there in so many years. You have to be sure that the building doesn't have a new owner.”

“He is correct.” Sophia said as she tried to convince Emiiy who still felt disappointed.

All these long years, she had believed that the house had been destroyed. At least that was what she was told. The house that held precious memories of her father is standing right in front of her.

“I will find out what exactly Margaret did with my trust fund. That was my inheritance,” she said.

“That is a very good place to start digging.” Damian said as his voice became lower.

“I can appeal for the entire record of the trust tomorrow.” Sophia said as she looked at Emily. “That will be nice.” Emiiy said as her face lightened.

“Don't confide in anybody who suddenly wants to be your ally. Don't fall for that scheme.” Damian said as he ended the call.

“Sophia, we have to go now.” She said, as she took one final look at the house.

___

The following day, Emiiy was exhausted. She did not have the zeal nor the energy to do anything else. She was tired from all the mysteries and lies. So she decided to take a day to reflect. 

After taking a day to clear her head, the day after, Sophia came to her new apartment with a heavy file containing the complete trust records she had promised to look for. “I found the complete record,” she said as she opened the file and lays some of it on the kitchen table.

“This trust was opened just before they gave birth to you.” Sophia said. Emily did not seem pleased as she asked why Margaret had control of it.

Sophie explained to her that the court assigned Margaret to watch over you and oversee things because she was a family friend.” Sophia said. “Of everyone my parents knew, why Margaret? There is something fishy about this.” Emiiy said as she studied the documents.

“Does she also have access to the money?” She asked. “Yes, but she can not move it easily because there are regulations.” Sophia responded as she showed her a page.

“So who was the person that authorized the transfer of all my trust fund?” She asked. Sophia explained to her that it was not Margaret's signature that endorsed the transfer of her fund. Someone else had endorsed it but she doesn't know who did.

Just in that confused state, Emily's phone buzzed. She checked and saw that Ryan was the caller and she reluctantly picked it up. “Good morning, Ryan.” 

“Good morning, Emily.” Ryan said, with a weak voice. “Pardon me for not calling to check on you after you were moved to another section of the hospital. How are you recovering?” She asked. “I am doing better now.” He responded. “I just recalled that my Dad did not just hand over the key to my mother, he also gave her a file. I think it is PROJECT ECLIPSE, "he added.

*Do you know where it is now?” She asked as her heart raced. Ryan said he does not remember, however he remembered something else. He remembers overhearing his Dad telling his Mom not to allow Emily to know what her father uncovered. As soon as he said that, he realized he had shared too much and he ended the call.

After the call ended, Emily glared at the phone for ten seconds. She tried to call him back but he never picked up his call.  Sophia's phone buzzed immediately. Her reaction changed completely as soon as she picked up the phone.

“The call was from the hospital.  They have tried to reach you but they couldn't, so they called me instead because you also listed my number with them.They called to inform me  that Ryan is gone.” Sophia said. Emily screamed immediately.

“Is he dead? I just spoke to him.” She asked as her heart raced faster

“He is nowhere to be found. The security team is checking the CCTV footage as we speak. ” Sophia explained. 

How was Ryan able to disappear from a secure hospital room?