Chapter 4 - THE SAFE WASN'T THE ONLY THING THEY STOLE
Jake spent the next hour searching the mansion.
Every room.
Every drawer.
Every locked cabinet.
The deeper he looked, the worse it became.
Emily's phone was found inside Tyler's bedroom.
Her laptop was hidden inside Diane's office.
A small box containing her wedding ring was inside the safe.
Jake stared at it.
Emily had been wearing that ring every day since their wedding.
“Why was this in the safe?”
No one answered.
Then he found the basement.
The door had a new lock.
Jake broke it open.
Inside was a small room.
A mattress.
A chair.
A water bottle.
And a camera mounted in the corner.
Emily stood at the doorway.
She stopped breathing.
Jake turned toward her.
“You were here?”
She nodded slowly.
“When?”
Emily looked at the floor.
“Whenever I tried to leave.”
Jake's face hardened.
Tyler appeared behind them.
“It wasn't a prison.”
Jake turned.
Tyler swallowed.
“She was emotional. She kept trying to run into the street.”
Jake walked toward him.
“Because you locked her inside.”
“She needed to calm down!”
Jake's eyes became colder.
“You took her phone.”
Tyler said nothing.
“You changed her passwords.”
Silence.
“You sent me fake messages.”
Diane appeared at the top of the stairs.
“Jake, you're being irrational.”
Jake turned toward her.
“Where is the footage?”
Diane's face changed.
“What footage?”
“The cameras.”
For the first time, she looked afraid.
Jake had spent six months in dangerous places.
He knew how to find hidden cameras.
He knew how to trace deleted files.
He knew how to follow evidence.
And by midnight, he had found everything.
The footage showed Emily begging to leave.
Tyler dragging her back.
Diane standing nearby.
The arguments.
The threats.
The nights Emily cried alone.
And the moment she collapsed after being pushed against a table.
Jake watched the footage without moving.
Emily stood behind him, trembling.
“Don't watch anymore.”
Jake's eyes stayed on the screen.
“I need to know.”
“You don't.”
He finally turned around.
His face was filled with pain.
Not anger.
Something worse.
Guilt.
“I was out there thinking you didn't love me anymore.”
Emily's eyes filled with tears.
“And I was here thinking you had forgotten me.”
Jake stepped toward her.
“I should have known.”
Emily shook her head.
“They made sure you couldn't.”
Jake gently touched her bruised hand.
His voice dropped.
“But I believed them.”
Emily looked at him.
“And now?”
Jake looked toward Diane and Tyler.
May you like
His expression became terrifyingly calm.
“Now I believe the evidence.”
