CHAPTER 3 — The Warehouse of Lies
The private investigator didn't leave.
He parked across the street from the abandoned warehouse and switched off the engine.
The building looked deserted.
Broken windows.
Rusted metal doors.
No company sign.
No security cameras visible from the outside.
Yet expensive luxury cars came and went every few minutes.
Something about the place felt wrong.
He lifted his camera.
Focused the lens through a cracked second-floor window.
Then froze.
Inside...
Metal shelves stretched from floor to ceiling.
Each shelf held rows of silicone pregnancy bellies.
Small ones.
Large ones.
Different skin tones.
Different stages of pregnancy.
Some were still sealed in plastic.
Others were hanging from hooks.
It looked less like a warehouse...
And more like a factory built entirely around deception.
The investigator immediately called Ethan.
"I found it."
Ethan's voice sharpened.
"What did you find?"
"You need to see this yourself."
"Tell me."
"No."
A long pause.
"You wouldn't believe me."
Thirty minutes later...
Ethan arrived.
The investigator quietly handed him a pair of binoculars.
"Second floor."
"Left side."
Ethan looked through the cracked window.
His entire body stiffened.
Rows.
Dozens of them.
Maybe hundreds.
Artificial pregnancy bellies.
His throat tightened.
"What... is this place?"
The investigator shook his head.
"I don't know."
"But your sister-in-law isn't the only customer."
He zoomed in again.
A bulletin board stood against the far wall.
Covered with photographs.
Each photograph showed a wealthy man.
Beside each man...
A smiling woman.
Some women appeared genuinely pregnant.
Others...
Wore the exact same loose designer dresses Vanessa loved.
The investigator slowly adjusted the focus.
Then pointed.
"There."
Ethan looked.
His blood ran cold.
Nathan.
His brother's smiling face stared back from the board.
Someone had circled it in red marker.
Beneath it...
A handwritten note.
Target Confirmed.
Ethan lowered the binoculars.
His heart pounded.
"This isn't just Vanessa."
The investigator nodded.
"No."
"I think this is organized."
Ethan looked back toward the warehouse.
Someone...
Had planned everything.
Long before Nathan ever met Vanessa.
At that exact moment...
Inside the warehouse...
Vanessa walked through a steel door.
The same man from the café greeted her.
"You're late."
"I had dinner with Nathan's family."
He smirked.
"Still fooling them?"
Vanessa forced a smile.
"They believe every word."
He opened a locker.
Inside hung more silicone pregnancy bellies.
Some looked brand new.
Others had labels attached.
20 Weeks
28 Weeks
34 Weeks
Vanessa removed the one she was wearing.
The man inspected it carefully.
"No damage."
"Good."
He handed her another.
"This one is larger."
"You'll need to switch."
Vanessa hesitated.
"I don't like this."
"You don't have a choice."
"If the pregnancy doesn't progress..."
"People will notice."
Vanessa quietly accepted it.
Outside...
The investigator captured everything through a telephoto lens.
Every exchange.
Every face.
Every box.
Every numbered label.
Then...
A loud engine echoed across the parking lot.
A black SUV entered through the main gate.
Everyone inside the warehouse immediately straightened.
The atmosphere changed.
The workers became silent.
Vanessa looked nervous.
The mysterious man whispered,
"He's here."
A tall man stepped out of the SUV.
Perfectly tailored suit.
Silver hair.
Cold eyes.
No smile.
Everyone addressed him the same way.
"Mr. Black."
He walked slowly through the warehouse.
Inspecting every station.
Every employee.
Every file.
Then his eyes landed on Vanessa.
"How's our investment?"
Vanessa lowered her head.
"Nathan believes everything."
Mr. Black nodded once.
"And Ethan?"
Vanessa hesitated.
"He..."
"...keeps watching me."
The older man's expression darkened.
"I warned you."
"Brothers are always the problem."
He stepped closer.
"If Ethan becomes suspicious..."
"Remove him."
Vanessa looked shocked.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean exactly what I said."
"If he gets too close..."
"He disappears."
Outside the window...
Ethan heard every word.
A chill ran through his body.
This wasn't simply a fake pregnancy anymore.
Someone was threatening lives.
The investigator quietly lowered his camera.
"We need the police."
Ethan didn't answer immediately.
His eyes remained fixed on Mr. Black.
"No."
The investigator looked at him in disbelief.
"What?"
"We don't have enough."
"We have photos."
"We have recordings."
"We have the warehouse."
Ethan slowly shook his head.
"They'll destroy everything before the police arrive."
The investigator frowned.
"So what do we do?"
Ethan answered calmly.
"We find out who Mr. Black really is."
Meanwhile...
Nathan sat alone inside the nearly finished nursery.
He carefully assembled the crib.
Every screw tightened by hand.
Every corner checked twice.
He smiled as he imagined placing his newborn inside.
His phone rang.
Vanessa.
"Hi, sweetheart."
Her voice sounded unusually soft.
"What are you doing?"
"Building the crib."
A brief silence followed.
Then she whispered,
"I don't deserve you."
Nathan laughed gently.
"Where did that come from?"
"I just..."
"...love you."
Nathan smiled.
"I love you too."
Outside the nursery door...
Nathan's mother overheard the conversation.
She smiled proudly.
"They're going to be wonderful parents."
Neither of them knew...
Vanessa was making that phone call from inside a warehouse filled with lies.
Late that evening...
Ethan returned home.
He locked himself inside his office.
Spread dozens of photographs across the desk.
Vanessa.
The fake ultrasounds.
The warehouse.
Mr. Black.
The silicone bellies.
Then one photograph caught his attention.
A file lying open on Mr. Black's desk.
The camera had accidentally captured part of a page.
Ethan enlarged the image on his computer.
Most of it remained blurry.
Except for one line.
Operation Heir.
His pulse quickened.
That wasn't the name of a pregnancy.
It sounded like a plan.
A very expensive one.
Someone wasn't trying to fake a baby.
Someone was trying to steal an inheritance.
For the first time...
Ethan realized Nathan wasn't the real target.
May you like
He was merely the doorway...
To something much bigger.
