Chapter 2: What the Basement Was Never Meant to Give Up
Diana didn't answer.
She just stared at the key like it was something that shouldn't exist anymore.
"William, put that down.
It's nothing."
"It's not nothing," I said.
"Maya found it hidden behind a brick wall.
In our basement.
Why would you hide a key, Diana?"
She looked at Maya then.
Not with anger.
With something colder.
"She was snooping where she doesn't belong."
Maya grabbed my hand.
"I wasn't snooping, Daddy.
I was looking for my old toys.
The ones that went missing."
I looked at Diana.
"What toys?"
Diana's jaw tightened.
"I donated them.
She has too much."
"You donated my mom's bear," Maya whispered.
"The one Grandma gave me before she d*ed."
The air went out of the room.
I turned the key over in my hand.
The engraving wasn't decorative.
It was a number.
A unit number.
Storage.
Off-site.
I had never rented a storage unit.
"Whose name is this unit under?" I asked quietly.
Diana finally looked away.
That was when my phone buzzed.
A notification from our joint bank account.
A withdrawal.
Twelve thousand dollars.
Three days ago.
While I was away.
---
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What William found inside that storage unit exposed a secret Diana had been building for years.
Click the link below to read the full story — the truth is worse than anyone expected.
