The frightened voice of a little girl echoed through one of the most luxurious streets in Madrid just as Daniel Brooks stepped out of a taxi in front of his large mansion.
The forty-five-year-old real-estate tycoon had returned from a business trip to Singapore a day earlier than expected. He was excited to surprise his wife Vanessa and his five-year-old daughter Emma.
Instead, he was the one who was shocked.
On the wet pavement outside the gate sat a tiny barefoot girl, picking colorful stones from puddles left by the rain. Her once-bright yellow dress was dirty and ripped at the edges. Her messy hair stuck to her thin cheeks, and she clutched a worn teddy bear missing one eye.
It was Emma.
And she was completely alone.
“Emma?” Daniel called, stunned.
The girl looked up slowly, confused for a moment. Then recognition filled her eyes. Her lips trembled and she ran toward him, almost falling as she cried.
“Daddy! Daddy, you’re back!”
Daniel lifted her into his arms—and felt a wave of horror.
She was painfully thin.
Her arms felt fragile, almost weightless. She smelled of dirt and urine. Her dress was damp from rain and sweat.
“My sweetheart… why are you outside? Where’s Vanessa?”
Emma pressed her face into his shoulder, shivering.
“Aunt Vanessa said you died in the airplane,” she whispered. “She said you’d never come back.”
Daniel’s heart started racing.
He glanced toward the mansion. All the curtains were shut, yet loud music blasted from inside along with laughter and voices.
“Emma… how long have you been here?”
“Since yesterday morning,” she answered weakly. “Aunt Vanessa told me to stay in the garden. But when it got dark I got scared, so I waited here in the front for you.”
“Since yesterday?”
She nodded.
Daniel noticed her feet—purple from the cold and covered in tiny cuts. There were bruised marks on her arms as if someone had grabbed her roughly.
He carried her to the door and unlocked it.
The moment they stepped inside, a heavy smell hit him—cigarettes, alcohol, perfume.
The living room was a disaster. Empty champagne bottles, dirty glasses, ashtrays, and clothes lay scattered across the floor: a dress shirt, an expensive tie, even a designer suit.
Loud laughter echoed from upstairs.
“What is going on here…” Daniel muttered.
Emma clung tighter to him.
“The uncles are playing with Aunt Vanessa upstairs,” she whispered. “They’re always loud when they play.”