Chapter 10 - The Recording Richard Left Behind
The old recording device turned on by itself.
A crackling sound filled the basement.
Everyone froze.
Then a voice came through the speaker.
A voice I hadn't heard in seven years.
"Emily..."
My heart stopped.
Not because of the name.
Because of the voice.
It was Richard.
My husband.
My hands covered my mouth.
Tyler looked at me.
His eyes filled with tears.
Daniel lowered his head.
Even Frank looked away.
Nobody expected hearing Richard again.
Nobody except maybe the person who had hidden the recording.
The speaker continued.
"If you are listening to this, then something went wrong."
The basement became completely silent.
I stepped closer.
"Richard..."
My voice broke.
The recording continued.
"Evelyn, I need you to listen carefully."
I closed my eyes.
Because hearing him speak felt impossible.
It felt like he had just walked through the door.
Like I could turn around and see him standing there.
But there was only an old recording.
And years of secrets.
"I know you are angry."
A tear rolled down my cheek.
Because he was right.
"I know you feel betrayed."
I looked around the room.
At Tyler.
At Daniel.
At everyone who knew something I didn't.
"But there are things I couldn't tell you."
The recording paused.
Then Richard continued.
"I didn't hide the truth because I didn't trust you."
My breathing slowed.
"I hid it because I trusted you more than anyone."
I looked down.
The pain was still there.
But so was something else.
A question.
Why?
Why did he think protecting me meant leaving me alone with lies?
"Seven years ago, I discovered someone inside my company had been stealing from us."
Everyone looked at Daniel.
The recording continued.
"It wasn't just money."
A pause.
"It was information."
My eyebrows tightened.
"What information?"
I whispered.
Richard continued.
"The person involved knew everything about our family."
The room felt colder.
"They knew about Tyler."
"They knew about Evelyn."
"They knew where we lived."
Tyler looked toward the stairs.
Like he suddenly felt watched.
"I needed to protect my family before exposing them."
The recording paused again.
Then came the sentence that changed everything.
"That is why I asked Tyler to sign the documents."
Tyler closed his eyes.
I looked at him.
My son had spent years carrying blame.
But Richard had asked him to do something.
Not betray him.
Protect him.
"Tyler was never supposed to lose control of the company."
The recording continued.
"He was supposed to hold it until Evelyn could safely take over."
I looked at my son.
He looked shocked.
Like he was hearing this for the first time too.
"Then why did he lose it?" I asked.
Nobody answered.
Because the recording hadn't finished.
"I made one mistake."
Richard's voice became softer.
"I trusted the wrong person."
Everyone became still.
"I thought they wanted the company."
A pause.
"But they wanted something else."
I leaned closer.
"What?"
The speaker crackled.
Then Richard said:
"They wanted my wife."
A cold feeling moved through my entire body.
Nobody spoke.
Nobody moved.
The recording continued.
"The accident was not random."
Tyler covered his mouth.
Frank looked down.
Daniel closed his eyes.
I felt like the world had shifted.
The accident.
The word I had heard thousands of times.
The word doctors used.
The word everyone repeated.
Wasn't random.
"Richard..."
I whispered.
The recording continued.
"I knew I was being followed."
My hands started shaking.
"I knew someone wanted me silent."
The basement suddenly felt too small.
"That night, I arranged for Tyler to meet me because I needed him to see the truth."
Tyler looked up.
"You wanted me to know?"
The recording continued.
"But before Tyler arrived, someone came."
The speaker became distorted.
A few seconds of static.
Then:
"The person who came was someone Evelyn trusted."
Everyone looked at each other.
Someone I trusted.
My mind searched through faces.
Friends.
Family.
Business partners.
People who stood beside me after Richard died.
The recording continued.
"I couldn't tell Evelyn because she would never believe it."
The device made a strange noise.
Then Richard's final clear sentence came through.
"The person who destroyed our family is the person standing closest to her right now."
The recording stopped.
Nobody moved.
The silence afterward felt louder than the recording itself.
I looked at everyone.
Closest to me.
Who was closest?
Tyler?
My son.
Laura?
My husband's accountant.
Frank?
His business partner.
Daniel?
The man connected to the company.
Anyone could fit.
And that was the terrifying part.
Then Daniel suddenly spoke.
"Richard knew."
Everyone turned.
"What?" I asked.
Daniel looked at the recording device.
"He knew before any of us."
Frank frowned.
"You knew about this recording?"
Daniel didn't answer.
And that was enough.
My eyes narrowed.
"You knew."
Daniel looked at me.
"I knew Richard recorded something."
"How?"
He hesitated.
Then Laura stepped forward.
"Because Daniel was the one who helped hide it."
I turned.
"What?"
Daniel looked at Laura.
"You don't understand."
"No."
My voice was stronger.
"I understand that everyone keeps knowing things except me."
Daniel looked devastated.
But I didn't care anymore.
Not yet.
"Why did you help hide my husband's message?"
Daniel was silent.
Then he said:
"Because Richard asked me to."
Everyone froze.
I stared at him.
"Why would he ask you?"
Daniel looked at Tyler.
Then at me.
"Because he knew the person closest to you would come after this recording."
A chill moved through me.
"The person closest to me?"
Daniel nodded.
"And Richard knew exactly who it was."
My eyes moved around the room.
Then the recording device suddenly clicked again.
Everyone turned.
It wasn't finished.
A second file had started playing.
This time, Richard's voice sounded different.
More urgent.
More afraid.
"Evelyn..."
I stepped closer.
The speaker crackled.
"If you are hearing this second recording, it means I was right."
A pause.
Then his final words came.
"Do not trust Tyler."
My heart stopped.
The basement went silent.
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And before anyone could explain why Richard had said my son's name...
The basement door slammed shut from above.
