Chapter 81 - The Room of Clocks
The security door opened only halfway.
Beyond it waited a circular room unlike anything Daniel expected.
Dozens of antique clocks covered the walls.
Large clocks.
Pocket watches.
Marine chronometers.
Railway regulators.
Every one displayed a different time.
None appeared broken.
Each ticked with perfect precision.
At the center stood a glass display case.
Inside rested Daniel's original overseas employment contract.
The one he had signed fifteen years earlier.
Samuel immediately recognized the signature.
"It's authentic."
Daniel stared in disbelief.
"I thought the original stayed with the company."
"It didn't."
A small envelope rested beside the contract.
Addressed simply:
Read Before Judging Yourself
Daniel opened it carefully.
Inside was a single handwritten page.
> Daniel,
>
> If you are reading this, you have already discovered enough lies to begin doubting your own choices.
>
> Don't.
>
> The decision to leave was yours.
>
> The reasons you were given were not.
No signature.
Only the same blue ink Victor Hayes had used for years.
Lily quietly noticed another detail.
Every clock had been set differently...
Except one.
A small brass travel clock showed the exact minute Daniel's plane had departed fifteen years earlier.
May you like
Its second hand had never moved since.
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