Chapter 2 - The Silent Asylum
The cathedral was immediately evacuated by frantic security guards.
Ethan and Lucy sat alone in the empty front pew with the evidence spread across the wooden bench.
Lucy pointed a trembling finger at the back of the cancelled check.
It was made payable to a private psychiatric facility located in the remote northern mountains.
The signature endorsing the back of the check belonged undeniably to Victoria.
She had been secretly funneling massive amounts of Ethan’s money to this hidden hospital.
Ethan picked up the old photograph that Lucy had found in Victoria’s locked desk.
It showed Victoria standing outside a heavily barred window.
Looking through the glass from the inside was a woman with Olivia’s exact face.
The timestamp on the photograph proved it was taken long after Olivia’s supposed funeral.
“She has been keeping my mother locked away in that place for nine years,” Lucy cried softly.
Ethan crushed the photograph in his fist, his heart breaking under the weight of the massive betrayal.
He promised his daughter that they would drive to the facility tonight and bring Olivia home.
He pulled out his cell phone to input the address printed on the back of the check.
A breaking news alert suddenly flashed across his bright screen.
The headline made his blood run completely cold.
The private psychiatric facility in the northern mountains had caught fire earlier that afternoon.
The news anchor reported that the building was currently burning entirely to the ground.
Ethan grabbed his car keys and dragged Lucy toward the cathedral exit.
They ran outside just as a black sedan sped aggressively out of the church parking lot.
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The driver of the fleeing car rolled down the tinted window.
Victoria tossed a small, burning matchbook onto the wet pavement before speeding away.
