Chapter 2: The Name on the Screen
Ryan couldn't move.
He knelt down slowly, his eyes fixed on the little girl.
She couldn't have been older than four or five.
Thin.
Pale.
A small blanket wrapped around her shoulders.
"What's your name?" he asked softly.
She whispered, "Emma."
Ryan stood up and turned to his wife.
"Who is she?"
His wife, Claire, pressed herself against the doorframe.
Her face had gone white.
"Ryan, I can explain—"
"Who.
Is.
She."
Claire's voice broke.
"She was never supposed to be part of your life.
I was protecting you.
I was protecting all of us."
"Protecting me?" He stepped closer.
"There is a child living inside our wall, Claire.
Our daughter has been sneaking her food.
How long has she been here?"
Claire looked at the floor.
"How long?"
"Seven months."
The number hit him like a wall.
He turned back to Emma.
The little girl was watching him with wide, careful eyes — the same dark eyes he saw every morning in the mirror.
Then his phone buzzed on the dresser.
A name lit up the screen.
A name Ryan hadn't heard in five years.
A name Claire saw — and her hand flew to her mouth.
The full truth is darker and more heartbreaking than anyone expected.
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