The Mysterious Nerd

Chapter - 18: The Truth Unveiled

The road blurred before me as I drove toward Rohan's place, my mind spinning with questions about Alana, or whoever she really was. The burner phone, the UK connection—it all pointed to something deeper, something hidden in her past that I couldn't yet wrap my head around. Every time I thought I had her figured out, she slipped through my grasp like sand.

Just as I was starting to sink into my thoughts, my phone rang. I glanced down at the screen and saw Emily's name. She had been just as concerned as I was after we realized Alana hadn't come home.

"Emily," I answered, trying to keep my voice steady.

"Noah, there's something you should know," she said, her voice laced with urgency. "I didn't think it was important before, but now... it might help."

"What is it?" I asked, gripping the steering wheel tighter, waiting for her to drop another bombshell on me.

"Well, a while ago, when I was cleaning Alana's room, I found something. A photo. It looked like a family picture. There was this couple, and a young girl who looked a lot like a younger version of Alana. I didn't think much of it at the time, but maybe it's connected to all of this."

My heart skipped a beat. A family photo? This could be the key to uncovering who she really was. "Can you send me a picture of it?" I asked, hopeful that it might offer some clues.

"Of course," she replied. There was a pause, then Emily spoke again, her voice softer this time. "Noah, I just want you to know... Alana's like family to me. She's been through a lot, and if you can help her—if you can keep her safe—I'd be so grateful."

"I promise, Emily," I said quietly, the weight of her words heavy on my shoulders. "I'm not giving up on her."

I hung up the call just as Emily sent over the photo. I glanced at it briefly as I waited at a red light. The girl in the picture—Alana, or should I say Lilly—was smiling, her eyes full of innocence. The couple beside her must have been her parents. I stared at the image, my chest tightening with a mixture of confusion and dread. What had really happened to them? And why had she kept this hidden for so long?

When Nathan and I finally reached Rohan's house, he was visibly surprised to see us. "Noah, Nathan... I wasn't expecting you guys to drop by."

"It's urgent," I said, handing him my phone with the photo on display. "Alana's missing, and I think this might help us figure out who she really is."

Rohan's eyebrows shot up as he examined the picture. "Come inside," he said, his voice suddenly serious. "I'll see what I can dig up."

Nathan and I followed him into his office, a room filled with an array of computer screens, some smaller, others massive, displaying streams of information that I couldn't make sense of. Rohan took a seat in front of his main computer, plugged in the photo, and began running searches across various databases.

Minutes passed in silence, the tension in the room thick enough to cut with a knife. I watched the screen intently, hoping for something—anything—that would explain Alana's disappearance and the mystery surrounding her.

Then, Rohan's face went pale. He leaned back in his chair, shaking his head in disbelief. "No... that's impossible."

My stomach dropped. "What do you mean?"

Rohan turned to face us, his expression grim. "The people in the photo... that's Kenneth and Charlotte Ethans."

Nathan and I exchanged confused looks. "Who?" Nathan asked.

Rohan exhaled, running a hand through his hair. "Kenneth and Charlotte Ethans were the heads of the Ethans empire in the UK. Their family is practically royalty over there—old money, enormous influence. They died in a car accident about a decade ago, leaving everything to their only daughter... Lilly Ethans."