Chapter 4 - The Night Someone Tried To Erase The Past
The Carter property had been empty for years.
Sarah had only gone there because Ethan had found an old storage key among their mother's things.
They hoped the house might contain something useful.
Instead, they found the back door open.
"Ethan," Sarah whispered.
He stepped in front of her.
"Stay behind me."
The house smelled like dust and damp wood.
Their mother had lived there before everything fell apart.
Sarah still remembered the yellow kitchen.
The cracked blue tiles.
The small sewing room upstairs.
They entered.
Nothing seemed disturbed.
Then Sarah noticed the sewing room door.
Open.
She ran.
The old worktable had been overturned.
Drawers had been pulled out.
Fabric had been ripped from shelves.
The sketchbooks were scattered across the floor.
"Someone was looking for something," Ethan said.
Sarah knelt.
"Mom's journals."
She searched wildly.
One was missing.
The thick black notebook she'd never seen anyone touch.
Then footsteps sounded downstairs.
Ethan grabbed Sarah's arm.
"Run."
A window in the sewing room was open.
They climbed onto the porch roof.
Behind them, the door slammed.
Someone shouted.
Sarah climbed down first.
By the time they reached the street, the house was burning.
Michael's car screeched to a stop.
He jumped out.
"Sarah!"
She turned.
"Michael."
He ran toward them.
"Are you hurt?"
"No."
"Ethan?"
"I'm fine."
Michael stared at the burning house.
"Who did this?"
"We don't know."
Police arrived.
Firefighters followed.
Sarah stood in the rain, watching her mother's home disappear.
She didn't cry.
Michael stayed beside her.
Hours later, the fire was controlled.
The police found signs of forced entry.
They also found one thing that had survived.
A metal box beneath the sewing room floor.
Sarah opened it.
Inside was a USB drive.
A cassette tape.
And a sealed envelope.
The envelope had her name.
Sarah Carter.
Her hands shook as she opened it.
Inside was a letter from her mother.
"My Sarah,
If you're reading this, then something I hoped would stay buried has come back.
There are people who believe money can turn theft into history and silence into truth.
Don't let them.
The Midnight Garden was mine.
But I did not lose it because I wasn't talented enough.
I lost it because I trusted the wrong people."
Sarah stopped reading.
Michael stood several feet away.
She kept going.
"Richard Brooks promised me protection.
He promised my work would be credited.
Instead, he sold the rights, forged documents, and threatened me when I objected.
I wanted to fight.
Then you were born.
And I chose you.
I never regretted that choice.
But one day, if you have the strength, take back what was stolen."
Sarah lowered the letter.
Ethan put his arm around her.
Michael's jaw tightened.
Richard Brooks had died five years ago.
But his name was still alive in every piece of evidence.
Michael took the USB drive.
"We need to know what's on this."
Sarah looked at him.
"You don't get to decide."
"I know."
She handed it to him.
"Then let's find out together."
They went to Michael's penthouse because the hotel was too exposed.
Claire brought a secure laptop.
The USB contained scans, audio files, and financial ledgers.
The audio was the most important.
Clara's voice filled the room.
Young.
Angry.
Afraid.
"I'm recording this because if anything happens to me, someone needs to know."
Sarah closed her eyes.
Her mother's voice continued.
"Richard isn't acting alone."
Michael leaned forward.
A second voice appeared.
Michael recognized it immediately.
His father.
Daniel Brooks.
Sarah looked at him.
"My father?"
Michael nodded slowly.
The recording continued.
Daniel's voice was cold.
"Nobody is going to believe you."
Clara answered.
"Then why are you afraid?"
Silence.
Then Daniel said,
"Because you know what we did."
The recording ended.
Sarah stared at Michael.
"What did your family do?"
Michael looked as if the question had struck him.
"I don't know."
"But your father does."
"My father is dead."
"Convenient."
He flinched.
Sarah immediately regretted the word.
But pain had already filled the room.
Michael stood.
"I will find out."
Sarah nodded.
"Not for the company."
He looked at her.
"For her."
That was the first moment Sarah believed him.
Not completely.
But enough.
The next morning, however, everything changed.
Someone leaked Sarah's private sketchbook online.
The post claimed she had stolen original Brooks designs.
Thousands of comments appeared within hours.
"Fraud."
"Attention seeker."
"She targeted the billionaire."
"She slept her way into the company."
Sarah read until her hands shook.
Michael called.
She didn't answer.
Then the atelier's legal department suspended her.
The letter arrived by courier.
Immediate termination pending investigation.
Reason: unauthorized possession of confidential design materials.
Sarah stared at the paper.
Someone had framed her.
And they had done it perfectly.
Michael stormed into the boardroom.
"Who authorized this?"
The legal director answered.
"The board."
"On what evidence?"
"Her sketches."
Michael slammed a folder down.
"You know those sketches predate our current collection."
"We know nothing."
"You'll know when I finish."
Across the table, one man remained calm.
Daniel Reed.
Chief Financial Officer.
Vanessa Reed's older brother.
He looked at Michael and smiled.
"We should be careful, Michael."
Michael stared at him.
"About what?"
"About confusing personal feelings with corporate judgment."
Michael's face hardened.
"This has nothing to do with feelings."
Daniel smiled.
"Then prove it."
Michael realized something.
May you like
The enemy wasn't outside his company.
It was sitting at the table.
Related Stories
