Chapter 6 - The Truth Hidden In My Father's Office
My father's phone kept ringing.
Nobody moved.
The sound echoed through the silent wedding hall like a warning.
He stared at the screen.
His face had lost all color.
I had never seen my father look afraid before.
Not when he lost business deals.
Not when he faced angry employees.
Not when he had to make difficult decisions.
But now, standing in front of his entire family, he looked like a man who knew the past had finally caught him.
"Who is it?"
My voice broke the silence.
My father didn't answer.
He just kept staring at the name on the screen.
Ethan stepped closer.
"Answer it."
My father looked at him.
"No."
The word came out immediately.
Not hesitation.
Fear.
Ethan's eyes narrowed.
"Why?"
My father put the phone in his pocket.
"Because you don't understand what you're doing."
I felt anger rise inside me.
"No."
Everyone looked at me.
"That's the same thing you've been saying for years."
I stepped forward.
"You keep telling everyone they don't understand."
I pointed toward the phone.
"You keep saying you're protecting people."
I looked at my mother.
"You kept my brother's existence a secret."
Then I looked at my father.
"You let me believe I lost him."
My voice shook.
"And tonight, I found out you were also trying to take something else from me."
The room was completely silent.
Emily stood near the stage, no longer looking like a bride.
Her makeup was perfect.
Her dress was expensive.
But none of it mattered anymore.
Because everyone finally saw what was underneath.
Fear.
Daniel looked at my father.
"You need to answer that call."
My father shook his head.
"You don't know who you're dealing with."
Ethan laughed quietly.
A sad laugh.
"Neither did you."
My father looked at him.
"What does that mean?"
Ethan stepped closer.
"It means you thought you were controlling the situation."
He looked around the room.
"But you were never the one in control."
A chill moved through me.
"What are you talking about?"
Ethan looked at the letter in my hand.
"The person who wrote that message knew everything."
I looked down at the paper.
The handwriting.
The warning.
The words.
If you are reading this, it means they failed to stop the truth.
"Who wrote it?"
Ethan didn't answer.
Instead, he looked at my father.
"Dad."
My father's expression changed.
Like he already knew what question was coming.
"Tell her."
My father closed his eyes.
"No."
My heart sank.
"Tell me what?"
Ethan looked at me.
"The person who wrote that letter was the first person who discovered the fraud."
My breathing stopped.
"Fraud?"
Daniel opened the folder.
"Your father's company had missing funds."
I looked at my father.
"How much?"
Daniel hesitated.
"Millions."
The room erupted with whispers.
My mother covered her mouth.
Emily looked shocked.
But I noticed something.
She wasn't surprised.
She was scared.
That was different.
I turned toward her.
"You knew."
Her eyes immediately met mine.
"No."
But her voice was weak.
"You knew something."
"I didn't know everything."
That answer was enough.
I felt my stomach turn.
"How long?"
Emily looked away.
"Claire..."
"How long did you know?"
She didn't answer.
My father stepped in.
"Don't blame her."
I stared at him.
Of course.
Even now.
Even after everything.
He protected her.
Not me.
Ethan shook his head.
"You still don't get it."
My father looked at him.
"Get what?"
"That your choices are the reason this happened."
The words hit hard.
My father looked broken.
"I was trying to fix it."
Ethan's expression softened.
"You were trying to hide it."
Nobody spoke.
Because everyone knew.
There was a difference.
Fixing something meant facing the damage.
Hiding something meant protecting yourself.
Daniel placed another document on the table.
"This is the transaction record."
My father immediately looked at it.
His expression changed.
"What is this?"
Daniel looked at him.
"The transfer that happened eight years ago."
I froze.
"Eight years ago?"
The same year Ethan disappeared.
The same year everything changed.
I looked at Ethan.
"What happened that night?"
For the first time, he looked away.
And I knew the answer was painful.
"I found these records."
His voice became quieter.
"I discovered someone was moving money through accounts connected to the company."
"Who?"
Ethan looked at the crowd.
Then at my father.
"The person who called him tonight."
Everyone became silent.
My father's phone vibrated again.
He looked at it.
This time, he answered.
"Hello?"
Nobody could hear the other person.
But we could hear my father's reaction.
"No."
A pause.
"That's impossible."
Another pause.
Then his face changed.
Like he had just heard something that destroyed the last piece of hope he had.
"Where did you get that?"
I watched him listen.
Then he slowly looked at me.
The phone lowered slightly.
"Claire."
I froze.
"What?"
My father swallowed.
"The person calling says they have proof."
"Proof of what?"
He looked at Ethan.
Then at me.
"Proof that Ethan wasn't the only one who disappeared."
The words made no sense.
"What?"
My father's hand tightened around the phone.
"There was someone else."
Nobody moved.
Daniel stepped forward.
"Who?"
My father didn't answer.
He looked terrified.
Then the voice on the phone said something.
Something that made my father's knees almost give out.
He dropped into the nearest chair.
My mother rushed toward him.
"What did they say?"
My father looked up slowly.
His eyes were filled with regret.
"Your sister..."
Everyone turned toward Emily.
She stepped backward.
"No."
My father whispered:
"Your sister wasn't the only child they were protecting."
Emily's face went pale.
"What are you talking about?"
Nobody answered.
Then Daniel's phone received a new message.
He checked it.
His expression changed instantly.
He turned the screen toward me.
There was a photograph.
An old photograph.
Taken eight years ago.
My hands started shaking when I saw it.
Because standing beside Ethan in the picture was someone I recognized.
Someone who had been at our family events.
Someone who had always been close to my father.
Someone who had been sitting at my sister's wedding only minutes earlier.
May you like
And beneath the photograph was one sentence:
"Ask your father why he never told you about your real brother."
