CHAPTER 5: The Man In The Photograph.

Amelia didn’t sleep.By the time the taxi stopped outside the small apartment building she’d rented months ago and never expected to use, the sky over New York had begun to lighten.She sat in the back seat for several seconds, staring at the message on her phone.Your father never betrayed the Vaughns.It shouldn’t have affected her this much.She had spent years accepting the story.Her father had made a reckless business decision.The Vaughns had lost millions.

     The Carter name had been ruined.And somehow, Amelia had been left to carry the shame.Then, five years ago, the Vaughns had offered a solution.Marriage,she had accepted.Not because she loved Damian,not then.She had simply believed it was the only way to protect what remained of her family.Somewhere along the way, she’d made the mistake of falling in love with him.And now she was paying for it,Amelia finally stepped out of the taxi,her hand instinctively moved toward her stomach.She stopped,she still hadn’t told Damian.And after what happened tonight, she wasn’t sure she ever would.Inside the apartment, Amelia dropped her handbag on the sofa,it was small compared to the Vaughn mansion.Plain,quiet,and completely hers.For the first time in years, she didn’t have to wonder whether Damian would come home,She didn’t have to wait for footsteps outside her bedroom.She didn’t have to pretend she wasn’t hurt when he walked past her without saying a word.She sat on the edge of the bed,then her phone rang,the same unknown number.Amelia stared at it,this time, she answered.

“Who are you?”No response.

“I’m not playing games,” she said. “You contacted me. Tell me what you want.”A man’s voice finally came through,low,calm,older .

“You want to know what happened to your father?”Amelia’s heart stopped for a beat.

“Yes.”

“Then stop looking for answers through Damian.”Her eyes narrowed.

“Why?”

“Because Damian doesn’t know the truth.”She stood.“What does that mean?”

“You’ve spent five years believing the wrong story.”

“Then tell me the right one.”The man was silent.

“I can’t.”Amelia’s frustration rose.

“Then why call me?”

“To warn you.”

“About what?”Another pause.

“Your divorce isn’t the end of this, Amelia.”She frowned.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“You signed away more than a marriage tonight.”The call ended.Amelia slowly lowered the phone,her mind raced.What exactly had she signed?The divorce papers had looked ordinary.Hadn’t they?She hurriedly opened the copies she’d taken from the gala,she read through them again,nothing unusual.Then she reached the final page,her eyes stopped.A clause she’d barely noticed before.All claims to marital assets shall be subject to the terms of the original Carter-Vaughn agreement,Amelia’s breathing slowed.Original agreement,the same agreement someone had searched for tonight,she grabbed her laptop.If the original agreement still existed somewhere, she was going to find it.

       Across the city, Damian stood in Sophia’s apartment.The photograph lay on the table between them,he hadn’t touched it.

“Where did you get this?”Sophia folded her arms.

“It was in my bedroom.”

“Who put it there?”

“I don’t know.”Damian looked at her.

“Who else has access to this apartment?”

“No one.”His eyes returned to the photograph,Amelia stood in the picture beside an unfamiliar man,the image was old.Maybe ten years,she looked younger.The man beside her was older, with the same sharp eyes Damian remembered from childhood photographs,Richard Carter,Amelia’s father.Damian picked up the photograph.“Where is the original?Sophia shook her head.

“There wasn’t one.”

“Then someone wanted me to see this”.Yes.Damian looked at her.

“Why?”Sophia didn’t answer immediately,then she said quietly,“Maybe because someone wants you to question everything you’ve been told.”Damian’s expression darkened.“And what exactly have I been told?”Sophia looked away.

“That’s something you should ask your father.Damian froze,his father had been dead for three years.But his words still controlled Damian’s life,the feud,the marriage.The Carter family’s downfall,everything .Damian placed the photograph back on the table.

“Who are you really, Sophia?”Her face changed,just for a second.But Damian noticed.

“I told you who I am.”

“No.”He stepped closer.

“You’ve told me what you want me to believe.Sophia’s lips parted.Before she could answer, Damian’s phone rang.Marcus,Damian answered.

“Talk.”

“We found something.”

“What?”

“The person who accessed the Carter account.”Damian waited,Marcus lowered his voice.“It wasn’t someone outside the company.”Damian’s eyes hardened.

“Who was it?”

“We traced the access.”A pause.

“Damian… it came from inside your father’s old private office.”Silence,Damian slowly looked toward Sophia,then at the photograph.Then back at his phone,someone had accessed a secret account.Someone had left a photograph of Amelia’s father.And now someone was using his father’s old office.This wasn’t about Amelia anymore.It was about the past,And somebody was making sure Damian couldn’t escape it.

       Amelia sat in the darkness of her apartment, laptop glowing in front of her.She had searched every record she could access.Nothing,no original agreement,no copy.No mention of its location.Then she remembered something.Her father had always kept important documents in one place,not at the company,not at home.A storage facility in Queens,Amelia hadn’t thought about it in years,she immediately stood.Then stopped,her phone lit up,a new message.If you go to the storage facility, don’t go alone.

Amelia stared at the screen,a second message appeared.

Someone is already waiting for you there.

Her stomach tightened,she looked toward the door.For the first time since leaving Damian, Amelia realized something terrifying.She hadn’t escaped the past.

      The past had followed her home.!