Chapter 8 - THE SIX-YEAR LIE
Linh pulled the car into an abandoned fishing supply warehouse on Pier 4, shutting off the engine. The silence inside the car was deafening, broken only by the sound of waves crashing against the wooden pilings outside.
Linh stared at the handwritten note in her hands, her heart feeling as though it had been carved out with an ice pick.
"Han..." Linh choked out, tears finally spilling over her lashes. "All those years... every lead I gave him... every town I searched..."
"Mom wasn't lost," Minh whispered softly, looking out at the dark harbor water. "She ran away."
Linh turned to the boy, her eyes wide with agonizing confusion. "Why? Why would she run from me? From our family?"
"She didn't run from you," Minh said. "She ran from them. Six years ago, Mom was working as a bookkeeper for a logistics firm in Haiphong. She found out the company was a front for a human trafficking ring managed by high-ranking officials. When she tried to go to the police, she realized Detective Han was on their payroll."
Linh gripped the steering wheel until her knuckles turned white.
Six years ago, when Mai went missing, Han had stepped in as the lead investigator, comforting Linh, offering personal resources, and constantly asking Linh if Mai had ever reached out or dropped clues about her location.
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Linh hadn't been searching for her sister with the help of a dedicated officer.
She had been acting as a bloodhound for the very syndicate that wanted Mai dead.
