She Promised Her Best Friend She’d Never Love His Brother — Then He Found the Photograph She Hid for Ten Years
Chapter 3
The key was hidden inside an old toolbox.
Julian found it taped beneath the lid.
The metal door opened with a reluctant groan.
Dust filled the air.
Inside were shelves covered with boxes.
Old account books.
Photographs.
Letters.
Clara’s pulse quickened.
“This wasn’t a workshop,” she whispered.
Julian shook his head.
“My father kept records here.”
They searched silently.
Then Clara found the ledger.
Most pages had been torn out.
Only one remained.
Julian leaned over her shoulder.
His expression changed.
“What is it?”
He pointed to a name.
Clara stared.
Her mother’s name.
Margaret Hayes.
“She worked for my father,” Julian whispered.
“My mother?”
“Apparently.”
Clara sat down.
Her entire childhood had been built around the belief that her mother had never known the Reeds.
That belief had just disappeared.
Julian touched the page.
“My father lied to me.”
Clara looked at him.
“Maybe he was trying to protect you.”
“From what?”
Neither knew.
Then something metallic fell from the shelf.
A small brass key rolled across the floor.
Clara picked it up.
There was a number engraved on it.
214.
Julian stared.
“That’s a storage locker number.”
“Where?”
“Union Station.”
They looked at each other.
The mystery had just become bigger.
