Chapter 2 - Laura Was Alive
Ethan did not remember lowering himself into the chair.
He only remembered staring at the monitor.
Laura turned her head slightly in sleep.
The movement was small.
Real.
The timestamp continued changing.
8:43:17.
8:43:18.
8:43:19.
Live.
“Where is she?”
Corinne said nothing.
Ethan looked up.
“WHERE IS MY WIFE?”
Corinne flinched.
“She isn’t your wife anymore.”
“That wasn’t the question.”
Maisie was taken upstairs by the housekeeper while Ethan called police.
Corinne tried to leave.
Ethan stopped her at front door.
“You’re staying.”
“I didn’t imprison Laura.”
“Then tell me where she is.”
“I can’t.”
“Can’t—or won’t?”
Corinne looked toward cabinet.
“You think finding her fixes everything.”
“Finding her is the beginning.”
Police examined monitor.
It connected through encrypted cellular relay.
No visible address.
Inside cabinet they also found:
Laura’s wedding ring.
Her phone.
A sealed envelope addressed to Ethan.
Three medical folders.
And a keycard labeled:
H-17.
The envelope had never been opened.
Ethan broke seal.
Laura’s handwriting.
Ethan,
If Corinne gives you this voluntarily, believe that she finally chose truth.
If you found it yourself, she waited too long.
Ethan stopped.
Corinne turned away.
He continued.
I did not leave Maisie.
I did not leave you.
I agreed to disappear for seventy-two hours.
Everything after that was decided without me.
Ethan’s hands began shaking.
He looked at Corinne.
“You told me she packed a bag.”
“She did.”
“For seventy-two hours?”
“Yes.”
“You told me she wanted a divorce.”
Corinne swallowed.
“I had a letter.”
“From Laura?”
“I thought so.”
Ethan looked back at paper.
Laura’s final line:
The first lie is in my medical file.
The second is in the cabinet.
The reason I stayed away is somewhere neither Corinne nor I understood at first.
Then beneath the folders Ethan found a photograph.
Laura leaving a private clinic.
Beside her stood Corinne.
Date:
Seven months ago.
Four months after Laura supposedly disappeared.
Ethan stared.
“You saw her.”
Corinne whispered:
“Yes.”
“You knew she was alive.”
“Yes.”
“For seven months.”
“Yes.”
Ethan stood.
“Why?”
May you like
Corinne’s eyes filled.
“Because when I found her, she didn’t remember you.”
