THE MISSING SECRET

The tension on the Beaulieu estate grew heavier in the following days. The broken window and the threatening note had been just the beginning. Strange things began to happen—papers went missing from the study, doors that had been locked were found ajar, and Katherine's sense of being watched grew stronger with each passing day.

But despite the fear lingering in the back of her mind, she refused to give up. Lucien's quiet support gave her strength, and together they threw themselves into their work, determined to uncover the truth, no matter the cost.

One afternoon, while Lucien was away attending to estate matters in the village, Katherine decided to explore the old chapel again. She felt certain that it still held secrets waiting to be uncovered. With a lantern in one hand and a notebook in the other, she retraced her steps to the crumbling ruins, her heart pounding in her chest.

The chapel was as she remembered it—quiet, eerie, and steeped in the weight of forgotten history. Dust motes swirled in the dim light filtering through the broken windows, and the air smelled of damp earth and decay.

Katherine knelt by the altar where she had found the birth certificate, carefully inspecting the surrounding area. Her fingers brushed against the rough stone, searching for any hidden compartments or loose panels.

After several minutes of searching, her hand caught on something—a small indentation in the base of the altar. She pressed against it, and with a faint click, a hidden drawer slid open.

Inside was a bundle of old letters tied with a faded ribbon.Katherine's breath caught as she carefully lifted them out, her fingers trembling. The letters were addressed to Celeste, but the sender was someone new: ETHAN

She unfolded the first letter, her eyes scanning the delicate handwriting.

My dearest Celeste,I have not forgotten the promises I made to you. You and your child deserve freedom, and I will do everything in my power to ensure it. Trust that I will come for you when the time is right.

Katherine's heart raced as she read on. The letters revealed a clandestine plan to help Celeste escape the estate with her child. ETHAN. had written of safe houses, secret routes, and allies who would assist them along the way. But there was no indication of whether the plan had succeeded—or who ETHAN. really was.

She tucked the letters into her bag and hurried back to the house, her mind racing with questions. Who was ETHAN.? And why had their involvement been hidden for so long?

When Katherine returned to the study, Lucien was already there, sorting through another box of documents. He looked up as she entered, his expression softening at the sight of her.

"Did you find anything?" he asked.

She held up the bundle of letters. "You could say that."

As she explained what she had found, Lucien's brow furrowed in thought. "ETHAN must have been someone connected to the estate," he said. "Maybe a member of the household staff—or even a family member."

"That's what I was thinking,"Katherine replied. "But there's no mention of them anywhere in the archives. Whoever they were, they went to great lengths to keep their involvement a secret."

Lucien nodded, his gaze distant. "It's possible they didn't want to risk being caught. Helping an enslaved person escape would have been dangerous—especially on an estate like this."

Katherine leaned forward, her eyes bright with determination. "Then we need to find out who they were. If they risked everything to help Celeste, they deserve to be remembered."

The next few days were consumed by their search for ETHAN's identity.They combed through family records, employee ledgers, and old letters, piecing together fragments of information that might point them in the right direction.

But their progress was slow, and the tension in the village continued to escalate. More threats appeared—notes slipped under the door, strange noises in the night, and a sense of unease that neither Katherine nor Lucien could shake.

One evening, as they sat in the study poring over their findings, Lucien suddenly spoke.

"There's something I haven't told you," he said, his voice low.

Katherine looked up, her brow furrowing. "What is it?"

Lucien hesitated, his gaze fixed on the papers in front of him. "When I was a child, my father used to tell me stories about a secret benefactor—someone who helped people escape the estate during the darkest times. He never mentioned their name, but he said they were a member of the Beaulieu family."

Katherine's eyes widened. "You think ETHAN was one of your ancestors?"

"It's possible," Lucien admitted. "But if that's true, it would explain why their involvement was kept hidden. A member of the family aiding the enslaved would have been seen as a betrayal of everything the estate stood for."

Their search took them deeper into the estate's history, uncovering long-forgotten connections and alliances. The more they learned, the more they realized that the story of Celeste and her child was just one piece of a larger puzzle—one that revealed the courage and resilience of those who had fought for their freedom against impossible odds.

But as they drew closer to the truth, the danger around them grew. One night, a fire broke out in the archives, destroying several boxes of documents before Lucien and the staff could extinguish it.

"It's not a coincidence," Lucien said grimly as they surveyed the damage. "Someone is trying to stop us."

Katherine's resolve only deepened. "Then we're getting close. They wouldn't be trying so hard to silence us if we weren't."

The breakthrough came late one night, as Katherine and Lucien sifted through a box of personal correspondence that had been salvaged from the fire. Among the letters, they found a journal belonging to Emmeline Beaulieu—a distant relative of Lucien's who had lived on the estate in the early 1800s.

The journal revealed Emmeline's secret involvement in the abolitionist movement. She had used her position within the family to aid those enslaved on the estate, working in secret to help them escape to freedom.

"She was ETHAN," Katherine said softly, her voice filled with awe. "Emmeline Beaulieu risked everything to help Celeste and her child."

Lucien's expression was a mix of pride and sorrow. "She must have known the risks—and the cost. But she did it anyway."

The discovery was a turning point, not just for their investigation but for their relationship. As they pieced together Emmeline's story,Katherine and Lucien found themselves growing closer, their shared determination and mutual respect deepening into something more.

But even as they celebrated their breakthrough, they knew that their journey was far from over. The truth about Celeste's descendants—and the legacy of the Beaulieu estate—still lay ahead, waiting to be uncovered.

And with every step they took, the shadows of the past loomed larger, threatening to consume them both.