Especially not him.
Lily would have said goodbye.
She would have hugged him.
She would have told him where she was going.
Noah knew that.
At least, he thought he did.
—
## The Grandfather Nobody Questioned
There was another person who had always made Noah uncomfortable.
His grandfather, Harold.
Harold was a stern, old-fashioned man who rarely showed emotion.
When Lily disappeared, he didn’t react like Noah expected a grandfather to react.
He didn’t spend nights searching.
He didn’t visit police stations.
He didn’t put up posters.
And whenever someone suggested that Lily might have been taken or harmed, Harold dismissed the possibility.
One sentence in particular stayed with Noah.
He had overheard Harold saying it shortly after Lily vanished.
“She probably wanted a different life.”
Noah hated those words.
Even as a child, they had made something inside him feel wrong.
Why would Harold say that?
Why was he so certain?
Why didn’t he seem surprised?
Noah never had answers.
For fifteen years, he had questions.
Then Harold died.
—
## The Funeral
Harold’s funeral was small.
The people who attended described him as strict, private, and traditional.
Noah stood beside his mother throughout the service.
He expected Margaret to be devastated.
But something strange happened.
She didn’t cry.
Not once.
Noah watched her stare toward the coffin with an expression he couldn’t understand.
It wasn’t grief.
It looked almost like fear.
Later, Noah would remember that moment and realize it had been the first time he had seen his mother look relieved that Harold was finally gone.
After the funeral, Noah approached her.
“Mom, are you okay?”
Margaret looked at him.
For a moment, she seemed as though she wanted to say something.
Then she shook her head.
“I’m fine.”
But Noah knew she wasn’t.
—
## The Old House
A few days later, Noah went with his father to Harold’s old house.
They needed to clear out the property.
The house had been closed for some time, and the moment Noah stepped inside, he was hit by the smell of dust, old medicine, and stale air.
The curtains were drawn.
Family photographs hung crookedly on the walls.
Every room seemed darker than he remembered.
Noah had visited the house many times as a child, but that day it felt unfamiliar.
Almost threatening.
Daniel began sorting through drawers and cabinets.
Noah went upstairs to Harold’s bedroom.
He opened the curtains slightly.
A narrow beam of daylight entered the room.
Then he began removing the bedding from the bed.
The sheets were old.
The blankets smelled musty.
Noah grabbed the corner of the mattress to lift it slightly.
That’s when he noticed something.
The mattress wasn’t sitting evenly on the frame.
One corner appeared slightly higher than the others.
Noah frowned.
He moved closer.
He lifted the mattress.
Underneath were several old newspapers.
He almost dropped the mattress back into place.
Then he saw something pink.
Noah stopped breathing.
He reached underneath.
His fingers touched a piece of fabric.