Chapter 4 - The Man Who Was Supposed To Be Dead
I stared at the photograph in my hands.
My father's face looked exactly the same.
Older.
Tired.
But alive.
For six years, I had believed I buried him.
For six years, I had visited a grave.
For six years, I had carried the pain of losing the only person who truly understood me.
And now Daniel was telling me my father was alive.
I wanted to believe it was a lie.
I wanted to believe someone was playing a cruel game.
But the photo was real.
The building behind him was real.
The date on the corner of the image was real.
Taken three days earlier.
"Emma."
Olivia's voice pulled me back.
I looked at her.
"What if he knew?"
She understood immediately.
"What if your father knew what Daniel was planning?"
I nodded slowly.
The thought felt impossible.
But everything about my life had changed in one night.
The man I married betrayed me.
The family I trusted wanted to destroy me.
And the father I lost might have been hiding from the world.
I looked back at the letter.
The final sentence was still visible.
"Trust no one until you know why they came into your life."
My father's words.
Words written before his supposed death.
I didn't sleep that night.
I sat in my father's office until sunrise.
Every memory I had suddenly felt different.
The day he died.
The phone call.
The funeral.
The documents.
Everything.
I remembered how quickly everything happened.
The accident report arrived within hours.
The funeral was arranged within days.
The investigation was closed almost immediately.
At the time, I was too broken to question anything.
I was grieving.
I was trying to take over a company while losing the person who taught me how to run it.
But now...
I wondered who wanted me to stop asking questions.
My phone rang.
It was Daniel.
I looked at the screen for a long time.
Then I answered.
"Why?"
Silence.
His voice finally came.
"Because you deserve the truth."
I almost laughed.
"The truth?"
I looked at the documents on my father's desk.
"Is that what you call what you did?"
Daniel sighed.
"I know you hate me."
"No."
My voice was calm.
"I don't hate you."
A pause.
"I just finally see you."
That hurt him.
I could tell.
"Emma, listen to me. I never wanted things to happen this way."
"Then why did they?"
Another silence.
Finally, he said:
"Because I was trapped."
I closed my eyes.
There it was.
The excuse.
The one people always used after hurting someone.
"I had no choice."
Everyone had a choice.
Daniel continued.
"My mother made deals before I even met you."
"What deals?"
He hesitated.
That hesitation told me everything.
"You knew."
I whispered.
"You knew something was wrong."
"I knew my family wanted your company."
The words hit harder than I expected.
Not because I was surprised.
Because I realized how long he had watched me without warning me.
"You married me knowing that?"
"No."
His answer came quickly.
"I married you because I loved you."
I stayed silent.
"At first."
Those two words hung between us.
At first.
Daniel noticed.
"Emma..."
I ended the call.
I couldn't listen anymore.
Two hours later, Olivia found something.
She entered my office holding an old folder.
"Emma."
I looked up.
"What is it?"
She placed it on the desk.
"It was hidden inside the storage records from seven years ago."
I opened it.
Inside was a list of private meetings.
My father's name appeared several times.
So did Victoria Reed's.
But the last page made my blood run cold.
It was a photograph.
Not of my father.
Of Daniel.
He was standing beside Victoria.
The date was before our wedding.
Before we met.
Behind them was another person.
A man whose face was partially hidden.
I zoomed in.
"Who is that?"
Olivia shook her head.
"I don't know."
I stared at the image.
Then I noticed something.
A ring.
The man was wearing a ring.
A black stone ring with a silver line across the center.
I knew that ring.
Because I had seen it before.
On the hand of the person who signed my father's death documents.
My heart started beating faster.
"Find him."
Olivia nodded.
"Already trying."
That afternoon, I went back to Reed Industries.
Not as Daniel's wife.
Not as Emma, the designer.
As the CEO who had every legal right to enter the building.
The employees looked shocked.
Some whispered.
Some avoided eye contact.
They knew something had changed.
I walked directly to Daniel's office.
The door was open.
Inside, everything looked normal.
His expensive desk.
His awards.
His photographs.
The perfect image of a successful businessman.
A lie.
I opened his computer.
The password didn't work.
I smiled slightly.
Daniel was smart.
But not smarter than the woman who built the system protecting his company.
Within minutes, I accessed the hidden files.
And then I found it.
A folder.
Named:
"Emma Carter."
My hands froze.
Inside were documents.
Photos.
Messages.
My entire life.
He had been watching me.
Before our first date.
Before our wedding.
Before our children were born.
I opened the first document.
It was a report.
About me.
My company.
My father's inheritance.
My assets.
Everything.
The final line destroyed whatever hope I had left.
"Marriage approval recommended. Emotional attachment expected within six months."
I stared at the screen.
Marriage approval.
Not love.
Not fate.
A plan.
I clicked the next file.
There was a message.
From Victoria.
To Daniel.
"Once she trusts you completely, the shares will be easier to transfer."
My hands shook.
They didn't just want my money.
They wanted control.
I kept opening files.
More messages.
More plans.
More lies.
Then I found one file that wasn't about me.
It was about my father.
The title was:
"Richard Carter Problem."
I opened it.
The first line made my entire body freeze.
"Subject survived the accident."
I stopped breathing.
My father survived.
But someone wanted the world to believe he didn't.
I continued reading.
"Current location unknown."
"Assets transferred successfully."
"Emma remains unaware."
I closed my eyes.
My father hadn't abandoned me.
Someone had taken him away.
And Daniel knew.
I printed everything.
Every document.
Every message.
Every piece of evidence.
Then I heard footsteps outside the office.
I quickly turned off the screen.
The door opened.
Daniel stood there.
His face was pale.
He knew.
He knew I had found everything.
"You shouldn't have come here."
I looked at him.
"No."
I held up the documents.
"You shouldn't have lied to me."
Daniel stepped inside.
"Emma, please."
"Did you know my father was alive?"
His silence answered.
I felt something inside me break.
Not anger.
Not sadness.
Something colder.
"How long?"
Daniel looked away.
"Six years."
The room became silent.
"Six years?"
He swallowed.
"I thought he was dead too."
I laughed quietly.
"You expect me to believe that?"
"I was told he died."
"By who?"
Daniel didn't answer.
And that was the answer.
"By your mother?"
His eyes moved.
Just slightly.
Enough.
I walked closer.
"Daniel."
He looked at me.
"Who was the man behind my father's disappearance?"
Daniel opened his mouth.
But before he could speak, his phone rang.
He looked at the screen.
The color disappeared from his face.
I watched him answer.
A voice came through.
Daniel's expression changed.
Then he slowly looked at me.
"Emma..."
I waited.
He lowered the phone.
"Your father is here."
My heart stopped.
Then the office door behind me slowly opened.
Someone was standing there.
May you like
Someone I thought I would never see again.
And a familiar voice whispered my name.
