Chapter 5 - THE NAME IN THE NEWSPAPERAdrian spent the entire night searching through his father’s old records.
Grace did not sleep.
Neither did Leo.
Every sound in the mansion seemed louder now.
A door closing.
Wind against the windows.
The old pipes.
Everything made Grace look toward the hallway.
She kept seeing the photograph.
Her mother.
The Blackwood building.
The words she had never known existed.
At three in the morning, Adrian finally found something.
A locked file cabinet in his father’s study.
He had never opened it before.
The key had been hidden behind an old painting.
Inside were documents.
Financial reports.
Legal agreements.
And one folder marked:
FOUNDATION — PRIVATE.
Adrian opened it.
His heart began pounding.
There were photographs.
Grace’s parents.
Her father was identified as Daniel Morgan.
Her mother, Helen Morgan.
Both employees of the Blackwood Foundation.
Then Adrian found a letter.
He read it once.
Then again.
He couldn’t breathe.
Grace entered the study.
“Did you find something?”
Adrian looked at her.
“Yes.”
She walked closer.
“What?”
He handed her the letter.
Grace read silently.
Her face changed.
“My father discovered something.”
Adrian nodded.
According to the documents, Daniel Morgan had accused Blackwood Industries of moving money through a charitable foundation.
Millions of dollars.
The money had disappeared.
Daniel had prepared to report it.
Three days later, his family’s house caught fire.
Grace stared at the paper.
“My father knew your father?”
“Yes.”
“And then my family died.”
Adrian’s voice lowered.
“It looks that way.”
Grace suddenly backed away.
“No.”
“Grace—”
“Your father killed them.”
“We don’t know that.”
“You just said—”
“I said we don’t know.”
Grace began crying.
Adrian moved toward her.
She stepped away.
“Don’t.”
He stopped.
She looked at him.
For the first time, Adrian understood something painful.
He had spent years protecting the Blackwood name.
But Grace had lost everything because of that name.
“My grandmother lied to me.”
Grace whispered.
“She always said it was an accident.”
“Maybe she was protecting you.”
“From what?”
Adrian looked at the documents.
“From the truth.”
Grace laughed bitterly.
“And now what?”
Adrian didn’t know.
Then his phone rang.
Marcus.
Adrian answered.
“What do you want?”
“You found the file.”
Adrian froze.
“How do you know?”
Marcus laughed.
“Because I left it there.”
Adrian looked around the study.
“You broke into my father’s office.”
“I had access long before you did.”
“What happened to Grace’s family?”
Silence.
“Marcus.”
“Father was afraid.”
“Afraid of what?”
“Daniel Morgan.”
“Why?”
“Because Daniel knew too much.”
Adrian’s hand tightened.
“Did Father kill them?”
Marcus finally answered.
“No.”
Adrian froze.
“But he knew who did.”
The line went dead.
Grace watched Adrian.
“What did he say?”
Adrian looked at her.
“Someone else started the fire.”
“Who?”
He didn’t answer.
Because he suddenly remembered another name in the documents.
The chief financial officer at the time.
Richard Vale.
Richard had disappeared shortly after the fire.
Adrian searched online.
Nothing.
Then Grace whispered, “I know that name.”
Adrian looked up.
“Richard Vale?”
She nodded slowly.
“He visited my grandmother.”
“When?”
“Years ago.”
Adrian stared.
Grace looked terrified.
“I remember hiding in the kitchen.”
“What did he say?”
“I don’t remember everything.”
Grace closed her eyes.
“But he said something.”
“What?”
She whispered:
“Some children should have stayed in the fire.”
Adrian stood.
“Grace.”
Her face had gone white.
“He knew I survived.”
Adrian immediately called the police.
But before they could arrive, the lights went out again.
Grace screamed.
Adrian moved toward her.
Then the alarm began.
Leo.
They both ran upstairs.
The nursery door was open.
The crib was empty.
Grace stopped breathing.
“No.”
Adrian ran inside.
“Leo!”
Nothing.
The window was open.
Cold air moved through the room.
Grace fell to her knees.
“No, no, no.”
Adrian looked around desperately.
Then he saw a message written on the wall.
NOT EVERYTHING THAT SURVIVES SHOULD HAVE.
Grace screamed.
Adrian pulled her away.
“Call the police!”
But Grace was staring at the floor.
She pointed.
Adrian looked down.
A tiny blue sock.
Leo’s.
And beneath it—
May you like
A trail of wet footprints leading toward the window.
===
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