Chapter 4The Walnut Legacy

When she saw me, her eyes flickered—a brief, violent tremor—but she quickly regained her professional composure.

“Leo Carter?”

I nodded, my lips trembling too hard to speak. To meet again like this, in a scene of such horror… I didn’t know what to feel. She must have hated me for running out on our wedding.

A detective behind her draped a blanket over my shoulders and handed me a cup of hot water. “It’s okay,” he said gently. “We’re here now. You’re safe.”

Just then, my best friend, Ryan, burst through the door, having heard the news. He rushed over and threw his arms around me, sobbing.

“Leo! Are you okay? Man, you scared the hell out of me! What the hell happened here?” he cried, his words muffled against my shoulder. “I can’t get ahold of Charlotte. She loves you so much! How could something like this happen in your house?”

I leaned into him, my body still shaking uncontrollably. Ryan was the only real friend I had in this city. He was a personal trainer—upbeat, optimistic, a ray of sunshine. He was the one who had been there for me during my darkest days, the one who encouraged me to give Charlotte a chance. I clung to his arm now like it was a lifeline.

“Ryan, I’m so scared…”

Maya’s gaze swept over us, finally settling on my face. Her tone was all business. “Leo, I need you to come down to the station with us and give a detailed statement.”

“He’s the victim here! Why are you taking him anywhere?” Ryan immediately stepped in front of me, glaring at Maya.

“It’s procedure,” she said, her expression unreadable.

I was escorted to a cruiser, and Ryan insisted on coming with me. At the station, they put me in an interrogation room.

Maya questioned me herself.

“Tell me about the hidden room. And the dead man.”

I told her everything. About my grandpa’s walnuts, about the bizarre message in the mirror. The stenographer sitting next to Maya paused, looking at me like I belonged in a psychiatric ward.

Maya was silent for a long time, her fingers tapping a soft, rhythmic beat on the table.

“So, you believe your dead grandfather guided you, from beyond the grave, to discover all this?”

“I know how it sounds,” I pleaded, “but it’s the truth!”

She didn’t respond, instead changing the subject. “And Charlotte? Where is she now?”

“She said she was out of town for a conference.”

“Which conference? Where, specifically?”

I shook my head. I realized, with a sickening lurch, that I knew absolutely nothing about her travel plans.

The interrogation was paused, and they moved me to a small break room. A few minutes later, Ryan came in with a container of food, his eyes red and puffy.

“Leo, don’t worry. I’ve already called the best lawyer in the city. And I finally got through to Charlotte. She’s on her way back right now. She said she’ll handle everything.”

He opened the container. It was from my favorite takeout place. He handed me a fork. “Here, you need to eat something. You haven’t eaten all day.”

I had zero appetite, but I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. I took the fork, but just as I was about to take a bite, Maya’s phone, sitting on a table nearby where she'd left it, buzzed.

She glanced down at the screen, and her entire demeanor shifted. Her face hardened.

She looked up, her eyes like daggers, aimed directly at Ryan.

A second later, she sent a text message to my phone.

The screen lit up. I read the words.

【The trafficker’s daughter had gender confirmation surgery in Thailand a year ago. New name: Ryan.】