Chapter 4 - The House of Secrets
By midnight, the neighborhood was completely dead.
My parents and Vanessa were being held at the police precinct for further questioning regarding Lily’s toxicology report.
Their massive suburban mansion sat dark and empty.
I used my old spare key to slip through the back door, turning off the alarm system before it could beep.
The house smelled like expensive vanilla candles and bleach.
I crept up the carpeted stairs, my flashlight beam shaking in the darkness.
The entrance to the attic was hidden in the ceiling of my father’s walk-in closet.
I pulled the cord, and the wooden ladder descended with a loud creak.
Dust choked my lungs as I climbed into the suffocating heat of the roof space.
It was filled with old furniture and forgotten holiday decorations.
But in the far corner, hidden behind a stack of moving boxes, I found a heavy steel filing cabinet.
It was locked with a modern digital padlock.
I thought about my father’s obsession with dates.
I typed in the date of Nora’s supposed death: 11-04-99.
The lock clicked green and popped open.
Inside, there were dozens of manila folders, each labeled with a child's first name.
My hands shook as I pulled out the folder marked "Nora."
Inside was a ledger detailing massive bank transfers from offshore accounts.
Next to the bank statements was a signed contract.
May you like
My parents hadn't buried Nora.
They had sold her to a wealthy, anonymous buyer overseas for two million dollars.
