Chapter 4 - The Truth Behind My Father's Death
The lock clicked.
Once.
Then twice.
I stood frozen in the darkness of my apartment.
The red envelope was still in my hand.
Noah's handwriting stared back at me.
"MOM, GRANDPA DIDN'T DIE FROM A HEART ATTACK."
The words didn't feel real.
My father.
My father had died four years ago.
I had stood beside his hospital bed.
I had held his hand.
I had watched doctors rush in and out.
I had cried when they told me his heart had stopped.
There had been no mystery.
No investigation.
No reason to doubt.
At least that was what I believed.
Until my twelve-year-old son left me a message from a hidden account worth six million dollars.
Until a stranger named Daniel Mercer showed up with a warning.
Until someone started breaking into my apartment.
The door handle moved.
I stepped backward.
My first instinct was to run.
My second was to find Noah.
But I couldn't do either.
Not now.
Not while someone was standing between me and the only exit.
Then I heard a voice.
"Sabrina?"
I froze.
I knew that voice.
Not because it was familiar.
Because it was impossible.
The door opened slowly.
A woman stepped inside.
She turned on the hallway light.
And I saw her face.
My entire body went cold.
"Rebecca?"
She looked as shocked as I was.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Rebecca Mercer.
The woman Noah had identified in the photograph.
The woman Daniel claimed had disappeared.
The woman Ellis had told me had resigned.
She was alive.
Standing inside my apartment.
Looking at me like she had been running from something for a very long time.
"You're supposed to be dead," I whispered.
Rebecca swallowed.
"I know."
My fingers tightened around the photograph.
"What is happening?"
She closed the door behind her.
Then she locked it.
That small movement terrified me more than anything.
Because it meant she wasn't afraid of someone breaking in.
She was afraid of someone getting in.
"Where is Daniel?"
The question caught me off guard.
"He was outside."
Rebecca's expression changed.
"He came here?"
"Yes."
"Then we don't have much time."
I stared at her.
"You expect me to trust you?"
"No."
Her answer was immediate.
"I expect you to trust Noah."
That stopped me.
Everyone kept saying his name.
Everyone kept reminding me that my son was at the center of this.
But Noah wasn't here.
He was somewhere with Ellis.
The man I was beginning to fear more than I wanted to admit.
"Tell me the truth."
Rebecca looked toward the window.
Then toward the door.
Then finally at me.
"The truth is your son saved my life."
I felt my chest tighten.
"Noah?"
She nodded.
"Six months ago, he found documents in Ellis's office."
"Daniel told me."
"Daniel knows some of it."
"Some?"
Rebecca looked down.
"There are things Noah never told him."
I stepped closer.
"What things?"
She hesitated.
And that hesitation told me everything.
My son knew more than anyone realized.
"What did Noah find?"
Rebecca sat at the kitchen table.
She looked exhausted.
Like she had been carrying this secret for years.
"Ellis wasn't just hiding money."
I crossed my arms.
"Then what was he hiding?"
She looked directly at me.
"The reason your father died."
My breath caught.
The room became silent.
"Explain."
Rebecca opened her bag.
She pulled out a small folder.
Old.
Damaged.
The edges were burned.
"I worked for Ellis for seven years."
I didn't move.
"He trusted me because he thought I was loyal. He showed me things because he believed I was too afraid to do anything."
"What things?"
"Accounts. Contracts. Names."
She placed the folder on the table.
"I started copying information."
My eyes moved toward the folder.
"Why?"
"Because I realized what he was doing."
"Money laundering?"
"More than that."
Rebecca opened the folder.
Inside were printed documents.
Bank transfers.
Company records.
And a photograph.
I picked it up.
My hands started shaking.
It showed Ellis.
Another man.
And my father.
Henry Walsh.
All three standing together.
My father looked younger.
Healthy.
Alive.
"When was this taken?"
"Two weeks before he died."
I looked at Rebecca.
"My father knew Ellis?"
"Yes."
"No."
The word came out automatically.
Because my father hated Ellis.
Or at least I thought he did.
"They fought all the time."
Rebecca nodded.
"Because your father discovered what Ellis was doing."
I stared at the photograph.
"What?"
"Your father wasn't against Ellis because of money."
She paused.
"He was against him because he knew what kind of man he was."
My memory flashed back.
My father sitting at my kitchen table.
His angry expression.
His voice.
"Something is wrong with that man, Sabrina."
I had defended Ellis.
I had told my father he was being unfair.
I had chosen my husband over him.
A choice I regretted every day after my father died.
"What happened?"
Rebecca looked away.
"Your father found evidence."
"What evidence?"
"Enough to destroy Ellis."
The room felt smaller.
"Then why didn't he?"
"Because Ellis found out first."
My heart stopped.
"No."
Rebecca looked at me.
"Sabrina."
"No."
I backed away.
"You are saying Ellis killed my father?"
"I am saying your father's death was not what they told you."
Tears burned my eyes.
I hated that part of me still wanted to defend Ellis.
Because accepting the truth meant accepting something much worse.
That I had lived with a man capable of destroying my family.
That I had raised my son beside him.
That Noah had known.
And I hadn't.
"Why didn't Noah tell me?"
Rebecca's face softened.
"Because he was afraid."
"Of Ellis?"
"Of what Ellis would do if you knew."
I looked down at the photograph.
My son's handwriting was still visible on the back.
"MOM, GRANDPA DIDN'T DIE FROM A HEART ATTACK."
"He wanted me to find this," I whispered.
Rebecca nodded.
"He knew you would need proof."
"How did he know?"
"Because Noah is smarter than Ellis thinks."
A strange pain filled my chest.
Pride.
Fear.
Guilt.
All at once.
"My son shouldn't have to do this."
Rebecca looked at me sadly.
"No child should."
A loud sound came from outside.
A door closing.
Rebecca immediately stood.
"He's here."
My blood ran cold.
"Who?"
She didn't answer.
She moved toward the window and looked outside.
Her face changed.
I walked closer.
"What?"
She pulled the curtain aside slightly.
A black SUV was parked across the street.
The same kind of vehicle from the photograph.
My phone vibrated.
I looked down.
A message.
From Noah.
My hands shook as I opened it.
"Mom, if Rebecca found you, listen to her."
Another message appeared.
"Don't let Dad know she is alive."
I stared at the screen.
Then a third message came.
"Because the person helping Dad find us is someone you trust."
I looked at Rebecca.
"What does this mean?"
She didn't answer.
Instead, she looked toward the apartment door.
Then she whispered:
"Someone followed me here."
The hallway outside became silent.
Too silent.
Then someone knocked.
Three times.
Slow.
Calm.
Confident.
Rebecca's face turned pale.
I had never seen fear like that before.
"Who is it?"
She didn't speak.
The person outside knocked again.
Then a voice came through the door.
A voice I knew better than anyone.
"Sabrina."
My blood froze.
May you like
Because the person standing outside my apartment was the last person I expected to find there.
It was Ellis.
