Chapter 6 - The File That Revealed The Betrayal
The apartment was completely dark.
Daniel Harrison stood frozen beside the desk, staring at the laptop screen.
The folder was still there.
"THE PERSON DANIEL LOVES MOST."
The words burned into his mind.
Someone had created that folder.
Someone had been watching.
Someone wanted him to open it.
But someone also knew exactly how to hurt him.
The lights suddenly flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then returned.
Sophie immediately moved closer to Daniel.
"Dad?"
Daniel looked at his daughter.
The fear in her eyes forced him to stay calm.
"It's okay."
But he knew it wasn't.
Nothing about this was okay anymore.
Thomas walked toward the apartment door.
"Nobody move."
Daniel looked at him.
"What are you doing?"
"Checking if we're alone."
Thomas slowly looked through the security monitor beside the entrance.
The screen showed the hallway.
Empty.
No movement.
No one outside.
But Thomas still looked uneasy.
"That's worse."
Daniel frowned.
"Why?"
"Because whoever did this wanted us to know they were here."
Lily stood near the table.
Her face was pale.
"They found us."
Daniel turned toward her.
"Who?"
Lily didn't answer.
She looked at the laptop.
"They always find people who try to expose them."
Daniel walked back to the desk.
For years, he had been a man who controlled situations.
He made decisions.
He solved problems.
People came to him when things went wrong.
But now he was standing inside his own apartment with a dead wife, a hidden daughter-like secret, and enemies he couldn't see.
He hated feeling powerless.
Daniel clicked the folder.
Inside was one file.
No name.
Only a date.
The date was five years ago.
The night Emma died.
Daniel opened it.
A video appeared.
The screen showed a parking garage.
The image quality was poor.
But Daniel recognized the location.
Harrison Industries headquarters.
His hands became cold.
Because the timestamp showed the video was recorded three hours before Emma's accident.
The video started.
Emma appeared on screen.
She was standing beside a car.
She looked nervous.
Daniel felt his chest tighten.
Even after five years, seeing her face still felt impossible.
She looked around before speaking.
"If you're watching this, then something went wrong."
Daniel stopped breathing.
Emma continued.
"I don't know who I can trust anymore."
A shadow appeared behind her.
Someone was walking toward the camera.
Daniel leaned closer.
"Who is that?"
Nobody answered.
Emma continued.
"I found the person who changed Andrew Carter's records."
Daniel looked at Lily.
She covered her mouth.
"My father's records..."
Thomas nodded slowly.
The video continued.
"I thought it was about money at first."
Emma looked down.
"But it's bigger than that."
She held a folder in her hand.
"The company has been hiding something for years."
The person behind her moved closer.
Daniel couldn't see the face.
Only the outline.
Emma suddenly looked frightened.
Someone had noticed the camera.
The video ended.
Daniel stared at the blank screen.
"That's it?"
Thomas nodded.
"That's all we recovered."
Daniel looked at him sharply.
"We?"
Thomas looked away.
Daniel immediately noticed.
"Who helped you?"
Silence.
Then Thomas answered.
"Emma."
Daniel froze.
"What?"
"She wasn't alone."
Daniel stood up.
"You said she disappeared."
"She did."
"Then how could she help you?"
Thomas looked at him.
"Because she planned everything before she vanished."
The room became quiet.
Daniel felt a strange mixture of anger and hope.
His wife had been alive.
She had been planning.
She had known something terrible was coming.
But she had left him behind.
"Why didn't she trust me?"
Lily answered softly.
"She did."
Daniel looked at her.
"Then why?"
"Because she knew you would come after her."
That sentence hurt.
Because Lily was right.
If Emma had told Daniel the truth, he would have searched.
He would have fought.
He would have destroyed anyone who stood in his way.
And maybe that was exactly what Emma wanted to prevent.
Daniel looked at Sophie.
His daughter was sitting quietly.
Too quietly.
He walked toward her.
"Are you okay?"
Sophie nodded.
But she wasn't smiling.
Daniel sat beside her.
"I promise I won't let anything happen to you."
Sophie looked at him.
"Dad?"
"Yes?"
"Is Mom alive?"
The question hit harder than anything else.
Daniel didn't know what to say.
For five years, he had taught Sophie that her mother was gone.
Now he wasn't sure what was true anymore.
"I don't know."
Sophie looked down.
"But you think she is."
Daniel looked at her.
Children had a way of seeing the truth adults avoided.
"Yes."
Sophie whispered:
"I knew."
Daniel froze.
"What?"
"I knew Mom wasn't gone."
His heart stopped.
"Sophie."
"Sometimes I felt like she was still close."
Daniel didn't know how to respond.
Because a part of him felt the same.
For five years, he had felt Emma's presence everywhere.
In their house.
In her favorite places.
In small memories.
He always thought it was grief.
Maybe it wasn't.
Suddenly, Thomas's phone rang.
He checked the screen.
His expression changed.
"What?"
Daniel stood immediately.
"What happened?"
Thomas didn't answer.
He looked at Lily.
Then at Daniel.
"Someone accessed the files."
Daniel walked closer.
"Who?"
Thomas turned the phone around.
A notification appeared.
"Remote access detected."
Below it was an account name.
Richard Harrison.
Daniel felt the room disappear.
His father.
Again.
"No."
Thomas looked at him.
"Daniel."
"My father didn't access this."
But even as he said it, he knew he didn't believe himself.
The evidence was too much.
The footage.
The warning.
The messages.
The connection to Emma.
Daniel grabbed his phone.
He called Richard.
One ring.
Two rings.
Three.
The call connected.
"Daniel."
His father's voice sounded calm.
Too calm.
Daniel closed his eyes.
"Where are you?"
A pause.
Then Richard answered.
"At home."
Daniel looked at Thomas.
"Why did you access Emma's files?"
Silence.
For the first time, Richard didn't immediately answer.
Then:
"You finally found them."
Daniel's blood ran cold.
"You knew?"
"Daniel..."
"No."
His voice became harder.
"You knew my wife was investigating you."
Another silence.
Then Richard sighed.
"I was hoping you would never see those files."
Daniel felt betrayed.
"Why?"
His father's voice became quieter.
"Because if you saw the truth, you would hate me."
Daniel looked at Sophie.
Then Lily.
Then Thomas.
"Tell me."
Richard didn't answer.
"Tell me what happened to Emma."
A long pause.
Then Richard whispered:
"Your mother wasn't the only person who disappeared that night."
Daniel froze.
"My mother?"
He had never mentioned his mother.
Not once.
Richard continued.
"Emma found out what happened to her."
Daniel couldn't move.
His mother had died when he was young.
At least, that's what he had always been told.
"What are you talking about?"
Richard's voice changed.
Fear.
Real fear.
"Daniel, listen to me carefully."
The line became distorted.
"If you want to find Emma, you need to go to the old Harrison estate."
Daniel grabbed the phone tighter.
"Why?"
Richard whispered:
"Because the person who knows where Emma is..."
A loud sound interrupted the call.
Like someone entering a room.
Richard suddenly went silent.
"Father?"
No answer.
Then a woman's voice came through the phone.
A voice Daniel hadn't heard in five years.
A voice that should not have existed.
"Daniel?"
His entire body froze.
Because he knew that voice.
May you like
It was Emma.
Then the call disconnected.
