Chapter 6: The Box Under the Floor
The box was still there.
I knew it before I opened the closet.
Some memories don’t disappear.
They wait.
The wooden floorboard underneath the old cabinet had never been replaced.
I had hidden the box there after Marcus left.
Not because I wanted to forget.
Because I was afraid someone would find it.
Ethan watched me kneel down.
“What’s in there?””
I didn’t answer.
Because I wasn’t sure I was ready to say it out loud.
Lily stood behind him.
Waiting.
I lifted the loose floorboard.
Dust covered the small metal box underneath.
Twenty-four years.
Twenty-four years since I touched it.
Ethan helped me pull it out.
The lock was rusted.
But it opened.
Inside were letters.
Documents.
Photographs.
And one small envelope.
Ethan picked up the first paper.
“What is this?””
I looked.
A custody agreement.
But not the one I knew.
The one Marcus had hidden.
His eyes scanned the page.
“Mom…”
I looked at him.
“What?””
He handed it to me.
At the bottom was a signature.
Marcus Walker.
And next to it:
*Temporary custody transfer.*
My hands went cold.
“This…”
Lily stepped closer.
“What does it say?””
I read the document.
And finally understood.
Marcus hadn’t stolen Lily.
He had planned it.
“This says Marcus agreed to let me have full custody.””
Ethan stared.
“Then why didn’t you?””
“Because I never saw this.””
Lily looked at the paper.
“Someone hid it.””
I nodded.
“And someone wanted me to lose.””
Ethan picked up another document.
His expression changed.
“Mom.””
“What?””
He looked at the paper.
“It’s a letter.””
“To who?””
He turned it over.
The name on the front made my heart stop.
*To my daughter Lily.*
I reached for it.
But Ethan pulled back.
“Should I read it?””
I nodded.
“Read it.””
He opened the letter.
The handwriting was Marcus’s.
Lily,
If you ever find this, it means things did not go according to plan.
My breathing stopped.
Ethan continued.
Your mother will tell you she loved you. Maybe she did. But love is not enough.
I closed my eyes.
Lies.
Even after all these years.
More lies.
Ethan kept reading.
People will believe whoever tells the story first.
His voice became quieter.
That is why I have already made sure everyone knows mine.
Lily looked horrified.
“He wrote this?””
I nodded.
Ethan continued.
Your mother is emotional. She is unstable. People trust a calm person over a desperate one.
He stopped.
His hands shaking.
I took the letter.
The final lines were worse.
By the time anyone finds this, she will have lost everything.
Nobody spoke.
Because suddenly the entire picture became clear.
Marcus didn’t just hurt me.
He built a story where I was the problem.
A story where he was the victim.
A story everyone believed.
Then Ethan noticed something else.
“There’s another envelope.””
He picked it up.
This one was newer.
Not twenty-four years old.
Fresh.
“What is that?””
He opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
Not old.
Recent.
My heart stopped.
Because it showed Marcus.
Standing beside someone.
Someone I recognized.
Someone who shouldn’t have been part of this.
Ethan looked at me.
“Who is that?””
I stared at the picture.
I couldn’t answer.
Because the person standing beside Marcus was the last person I expected.
Lily looked over his shoulder.
Then she whispered:
“No.””
Her face drained of color.
“Who is it?”” Ethan asked.
Lily slowly stepped back.
“That’s…”
Her voice broke.
“That’s my grandmother.””
The room went silent.
Because Lily’s grandmother had been dead for ten years.
And yet there she was.
Standing beside Marcus.
Alive.
And smiling.
At the bottom of the photograph was a date.
Three months ago.
Ethan looked at me.
“Mom…”
I couldn’t take my eyes off the picture.
Because one terrifying thought entered my mind.
May you like
If Lily’s grandmother was alive…
Then who had been buried in her place?
