a's

staff, according to Claire. But that morning, I volunteered to deliver a tray of tea

here to s

e to find

mother's erased history in this place. She'd once walked these halls. I needed proof. And something tol

e faint hum of a ventilation unit and the scent of old leather and lemon polish. The momen

t's where the ghosts live. Dusty memories an

t was locked. But years of fixing the locks in our crumbli

ic

sounded as the

r-to-ceiling cabinets and drawers, and stacks of labeled boxes. Th

have mu

s for anything label

abinet marked Clos

embled as I p

ed alphabetically. Si

er

te Si

My mother's name, in neat script, printed on a

too young to have carried so much sorrow.

to 1999. Hired as a private assistan

en I f

r-clipped t

le sealed at the reques

old ran dow

al

h

st few pages-only to fin

refile it, I heard foot

fr

e followed my entran

mi

he folder in my hands,

silent to each other. A heavy

arked his query when he

fingers to slow my rapid h

hed. "That's

kno

is gaze locked on mi

htened.

nclair Trust. You said you didn'

t want this. I didn't want to

lence. His sight shifted from my face to the

d. Then no

ng in his stance shifted-just slightly. "

ieter than I expecte

is arms. "A

to tell her side? Why I had to grow up watchin

es dimming just a little. "You thi

eye. "No. But pretending this

r long

he whispered. Searching too deeply will lead to disc

eady d

inuing toward the exit, whe

ning around. Whenever someone encounter