Chapter 4 - The Secret File Inside The Drive
"Emma..."
The voice came from inside the closet.
My entire body froze.
For one second, I couldn't move.
I couldn't even breathe.
Toby grabbed my hand.
His fingers were shaking.
The closet door opened slowly.
A figure stepped out of the darkness.
And when the light from the hallway touched the person's face, I almost collapsed.
It wasn't Daniel.
It wasn't Rachel.
It was someone I never expected to see.
"Mom..."
Toby whispered.
I stared at the woman standing in front of us.
Her eyes were filled with tears.
Her face looked older than I remembered.
But I knew her.
Because she had been part of my life before Daniel.
Before the marriage.
Before everything.
"Linda?"
My voice barely came out.
The woman standing in front of me was Linda.
My former coworker.
My closest friend.
The person who had disappeared from my life twelve years ago.
The person Daniel told me had moved away and started a new life.
But she wasn't gone.
She had been here.
Inside my house.
Watching.
Waiting.
"Emma, listen to me."
Linda stepped forward.
I immediately pulled Toby behind me.
"No."
My voice shook.
"You don't get to appear in my bedroom at two in the morning and tell me to listen."
Her face broke.
"I know."
"How long have you been here?"
She looked down.
"Long enough."
My stomach twisted.
"What does that mean?"
Linda looked toward the hallway.
Then back at me.
"It means Daniel was never planning this alone."
I already knew.
But hearing it from her made it real.
Toby stepped forward.
"You knew?"
Linda looked at him.
"I tried to stop it."
Toby laughed bitterly.
"By hiding in our closet?"
Her eyes filled with guilt.
"I needed proof."
I stared at her.
"Proof of what?"
Linda reached into her coat pocket.
She pulled out a small envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
She handed it to me.
I looked down.
And my heart stopped.
It was a picture of Daniel.
But he wasn't alone.
He was sitting across from a man I didn't recognize.
On the table between them were documents.
Insurance documents.
The date on the photo was from eight months ago.
Eight months before tonight.
Linda watched my reaction.
"That was when I realized something was wrong."
I looked at her.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
She looked away.
"Because Daniel knew I was suspicious."
"How?"
"Because I was the one who discovered the first policy."
My fingers tightened around the photo.
"The first policy?"
Linda nodded.
"The $24 million policy wasn't the beginning."
A cold feeling spread through me.
"Then what was?"
She took a deep breath.
"Emma, before Daniel married you, he already knew exactly who you were."
I frowned.
"What are you talking about?"
Linda looked at Toby.
Then at me.
"He didn't meet you by accident."
The room went silent.
I felt like the floor had disappeared beneath me.
Fourteen years.
Fourteen years of memories.
Our first date.
Our wedding.
Our son.
Everything suddenly felt like it belonged to someone else.
"No."
I whispered.
"That's impossible."
Linda shook her head.
"I wish it was."
She looked at the flash drive in Toby's hand.
"Did he copy the files?"
Toby nodded.
Linda's expression changed.
"Then we need to leave now."
"Why?"
Her eyes moved toward the bedroom door.
"Because if Daniel knows you have that drive, he won't wait until morning."
The words barely left her mouth when we heard footsteps.
Coming upstairs.
Slow.
Heavy.
Daniel.
Everyone froze.
Linda turned off the bedroom light.
The room became dark again.
We moved away from the door.
The footsteps got closer.
One step.
Two steps.
Three.
Then stopped.
Right outside.
Nobody spoke.
Nobody breathed.
The door handle moved.
Slowly.
Daniel opened the door.
But he didn't walk in.
He stood there.
Watching.
I couldn't see his face clearly.
Only his silhouette.
Then he said:
"I know you're awake, Emma."
My heart nearly stopped.
Toby looked at me.
Daniel continued.
"You always did have a habit of hiding when you were scared."
The way he said it made my skin crawl.
He knew.
He knew everything.
I reached for Toby's hand.
Linda moved closer to us.
Then Daniel spoke again.
"But what I don't understand..."
A pause.
"Is why Linda is still alive."
My eyes widened.
I looked at Linda.
Her face turned pale.
Daniel stepped into the room.
The hallway light revealed his expression.
There was no anger.
No panic.
Only disappointment.
Like we had ruined a plan he had spent years building.
"You should have stayed away."
Linda stared at him.
"You destroyed her life."
Daniel smiled slightly.
"No."
He looked at me.
"I gave her the life she wanted."
I felt sick.
"The life I wanted?"
My voice rose.
"You lied to me for fourteen years."
Daniel looked at me calmly.
"You think this is about money?"
I didn't answer.
Because I didn't know anymore.
Daniel walked closer.
"The insurance money was only part of it."
Toby stepped forward.
"What else?"
Daniel looked at him.
And for the first time, I saw something in his eyes.
Fear.
Not fear of us.
Fear of what Toby had found.
"You shouldn't have opened that folder."
Toby held up the flash drive.
"This one?"
Daniel's expression changed.
A small crack appeared in his perfect control.
Linda noticed it too.
"What's on that drive?"
Daniel didn't answer.
That told us enough.
I looked at Toby.
"What did you find?"
He hesitated.
Then slowly opened his phone.
"I didn't tell you everything."
My heart sank.
"What do you mean?"
Toby looked at Daniel.
"I found a video."
Daniel's face changed completely.
A video.
A secret he didn't want us to see.
"When?"
Toby swallowed.
"Last week."
Daniel took a step forward.
"Give me that phone."
"No."
For the first time, Toby didn't sound afraid.
Daniel stopped.
My son continued.
"The video was hidden inside a folder named after Mom."
I looked at him.
"What was in it?"
Toby looked at me.
Then he pressed play.
The screen lit up the dark room.
A woman's face appeared.
An older woman.
Someone I hadn't seen in years.
My mother.
But that was impossible.
Because my mother had been dead for seven years.
My hands started shaking.
The video was old.
The quality was poor.
But her voice was clear.
"Emma, if you are watching this..."
She looked terrified.
"...it means Daniel finally found out you know the truth."
I stopped breathing.
Toby looked at me.
Linda covered her mouth.
And then my mother's voice said something that destroyed everything I believed about my past.
"Daniel was never the person who saved you."
A pause.
"He was the person I was trying to protect you from."
The video suddenly glitched.
The screen went black.
Then a new message appeared on Toby's phone.
From Daniel's laptop.
A file had just been opened remotely.
The file name was:
May you like
"Emma's Original Identity."
And someone was already accessing it.
