Emily looked at him.
"But Mom was alive."
"Yes."
Michael lowered his eyes.
"I discovered that years later. By then, I had lost every way of contacting her."
"Why didn't you keep searching?"
"I never stopped."
He walked toward the house.
"There's something I need to show you."
Inside, the living room was simple and filled with photographs.
One picture showed a young Margaret laughing beside the ocean.
Another showed her sitting at a café.
And another showed her holding a tiny baby.
Emily approached the photographs.
"Where did you get these?"
Michael smiled sadly.
"Your mother sent them to me before she disappeared."
He opened a drawer and removed a thick folder.
"I also kept every letter I received from her."
Emily turned around.
"Every letter?"
Michael nodded.
"Some were returned. Some arrived years late. But I never threw them away."
He placed the folder on the table.
Emily opened it.
There were dozens of envelopes.
Some were yellowed with age.
Others had been damaged by moisture.
She recognized her mother's handwriting.
Then she noticed something strange.
Several letters had never been opened.
"Why didn't you read these?"
Michael looked at the envelopes.
"Because they were delivered after I moved away. I was afraid someone had intercepted them."
Emily picked up the oldest one.
It was addressed to Michael Bennett.
The date was twenty-six years earlier.
She carefully opened it.
Inside was a short message.
Michael,
I don't know how much time I have left before Richard discovers what I have done.
I have kept the original documents safe. Alexander must never allow the Hale family to gain control of them.
But there is something more important.
Emily is your daughter.
She deserves to know you.
If I cannot come back, please find her.
Do not let her grow up believing she was unwanted.
Emily could no longer hold back her tears.
Michael sat beside her.
"I never knew she had written that."
Emily looked at him.
"She wanted us to find each other."
He nodded.
"Yes."
Then he reached into the folder and removed another document.
"This is why I believe Richard never wanted me to contact your mother."
It was a financial statement from the old Morgan development project.
Several large transfers were listed.
One of them had been authorized using Margaret's signature.
But Michael pointed to the bottom.
"Look at the date."
Emily leaned closer.
The transfer had been approved three days after Margaret disappeared.
Alexander stared at the document.
"That's impossible."
Michael nodded.
"Margaret was already gone."
Thomas examined the signature.
Then he looked up.
"This could be evidence of fraud."
Michael opened another folder.
"And this is even worse."
Inside were copies of correspondence between Richard Hale and a former company director.
The messages discussed moving funds through several private companies.
At the bottom of one page was a sentence that made everyone's blood run cold.
Once Margaret is out of the picture, the daughter will become the only remaining obstacle.
Emily felt her stomach tighten.
"The daughter..."
Michael nodded.
"You."
Alexander slowly stood.
For years, he had believed Margaret disappeared because she was frightened.
Now he was beginning to suspect that something much worse had happened.
Thomas gathered the documents.
"We need to get these authenticated immediately."
But before anyone could respond, Michael's phone rang.
He glanced at the screen.
His expression changed.
"That's impossible."
Emily looked at him.
"What?"
Michael answered.
"Hello?"
A woman's voice came through.
It was faint, but everyone in the room could hear the urgency.
"Michael, you need to listen to me. They know Emily is with you."
Michael stood.
"Who is this?"
The woman whispered something.
His face turned completely white.
Then the call ended.
Emily grabbed his arm.
"Who was that?"
Michael looked toward Alexander.
"It was Eleanor."
Alexander froze.
"That cannot be."
Michael shook his head.
"She said Richard has discovered where we are."
Thomas immediately reached for his phone.
But then Michael said something that made the room fall silent.
"She also said Margaret may still be alive."
Emily stared at him.
"What?"
Michael looked directly into her eyes.
"She said your mother was never buried."
And somewhere far away, inside the Hale mansion, Richard Hale was making a telephone call.
His voice was cold.
"Find the girl. Find the documents. And make sure nobody tells her what happened twenty-seven years ago."
He paused.
Then added:
"Especially not her mother."