Chapter 45 – Chasing Clues
Isabel’s POV
I hugged myself tightly, curled up on the cold, hard floor of my father’s study. The
night seemed endless, each passing hour filled with the suffocating weight of dread. The images of Lilith from my father’s hidden safe haunted me. And there were photos o‘ er young girls
too.
I kept asking myself the same question over and over: What had my father done?
My heart ached as my mind wandered to the darkest corners of possibility. Could my father, the man who had always been my hero, have committed something so unforgivable? I felt sick just thinking
about it.
When I finally drifted off, my nightmares mirrored my deepest fears. Lilith’s face was there, but younger, more innocent. “Your father has done the unspeakable. The unforgivable,” she said.
And then, other girls–so many of them–echoed her words. Unspeakable. Unforgivable.” They all looked terrified. The images swirled around me, trapping me in a whirlwind of horror until I jolted awake. My heart was pounding. I was covered in cold sweat.
Morning light filtered through the curtains, but it did nothing to lift the heavy fog of despair that clung to me. I lay there, unable to move, paralyzed by the weight of my father’s secrets. I felt utterly lost, like a child abandoned in a maze with no way out.
Then, my phone rang, piercing the silence and dragging me back to the present. It was the private investigator I had hired the day before. His voice was steady. A lifeline to cling to amid my spiraling thoughts
“I’ve dug up some information on your father’s past,” he began, his tone
parole detail you are your father sponsored multiple
one of them
The revelation was like a splash of cold water momentarily clearing the Vog from my wand Muftsple storbents eat up, clutching the phone Tight
“But Why did he keep the photove of these girls hidden in a safe?” I asked my voice trembling “And why did Emerson say my father did something terrible to Lilith?”
There was a pause on the other end, a brief mor
made my stomach drop.
t of hesitation that
” don’t have all the answers yet,” the investigator admitted. “But I did. find someone who might know more Her name is Julia Thompson. She was another student your father sponsored. She’s agreed to meet with you”
Julia Thompson. The name was unfamiliar, but it offered a glimmer of hope, a thread to pull at Maybe she could help me untangle this web of
confusion.
Later that day, I found myself standing in front of a quaint little flower shop. The scent of fresh blooms was a stark contrast to the turmoil raging inside me. The shop was warm and inviting.
I spotted a woman arranging a bouquet behind the counter. She was in her late–twenties, with kind eyes and a gentle smile.
“Julia?” I asked, my voice trembling slightly..
She looked up and nodded. She wiped her hands on her apron before stepping around the counter to greet me. “Isabel, right?”
I nodded, my throat tight with anxiety. “Thank you for agreeing to meet me”
We found a quiet comer in the shop to sit and tall. The hum of the shop around us was oddly soothing, grounding me as I prepared to ask the questions that had been tearing at my soul.
“I understand you knew my father,” I began cautiously, watching her face for any sign of recognition.
Julia smiled softly, “Yes, Mr. White was very kind to me. He sponsored my education, just like he did for Lilith and a few others”
Her words were like a balm to my wounded heart. Maybe, father wasn’t as bad as I had feared. But the mystery of the hidden photos still loomed large in my mind.
“Did you know a girl called Lilith?” I asked, holding my breath.
Julia frowned slightly, thinking back. “The name rings a bet. I didn’t know her personally, but I remember seeing her with Mr. White a lot They seemed close. But I don’t know tnuch beyond that ”
I pulled out my phone and showed her the photo of a young Lilith that i had found in my father’s safe. Julia rödded. “Yes, that’s her. She was always with him.”
A chill ran down my spine. What did that mean? Why had my father bapt these photos hidden away? Before I could ask more, Julia spoke again, her voice soft
“Miss White, if it’s convenient, could you thank your father for me? If i wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have finished my studies. He did so much for me. I owe him.”
Her words would have brought tears to my eyes if I hadn’t already cried them all out last night. But for the first time in what felt like an eternity, i managed a small smile. Maybe my father wasn’t so bad after all.
I thanked Julia for her time and left the shop. I felt a little lighter, but
Chapter 45 Chasing Clues
still weighed down by uncertainty. I knew I had to die deeper. I must find out the truth about my father and Lilith. Julia’s ..d Emerson’s stories didn’t add up. None of it made any sense!