Chapter 5 - The Secret Behind My Father’s Name
The old recording started playing when I pressed the damaged button and whispered: "Dad... what were you trying to protect us from?"
A hidden audio file opened with my father's voice and a warning recorded twelve years earlier. "Faye, if you are hearing this, it means I failed to keep the truth away from you." I suddenly realized my father had never disappeared by accident.
He had left a message.
For me.
I listened to the recording three times.
Not because I didn't understand the words.
Because I couldn't accept them.
My father's voice.
The same voice I remembered from childhood.
The same voice that used to wake me up for school.
The same voice that told me everything would be okay when my mother cried.
Except this time...
He sounded afraid.
"Faye."
The recording continued.
"If you found this, then someone finally stopped hiding the truth."
I looked at Thomas.
He was standing across from me, silent.
"You knew about this."
He didn't deny it.
"I knew your father was trying to protect you."
I shook my head.
"No."
My voice became harder.
"You knew he was in danger."
Thomas looked down.
"Yes."
That answer hurt more than a lie.
Because he wasn't pretending.
He was admitting it.
My father had trusted him.
And he had watched everything happen.
I pressed play again.
The recording continued.
"I need you to understand something. The people involved in this are not who you think they are."
Static interrupted his voice.
Then:
"Do not trust anyone who tells you they are protecting you."
I looked at my mother.
She immediately looked away.
My stomach tightened.
Because that sentence wasn't just a warning.
It was an accusation.
My father knew.
He knew someone close to us would hide the truth.
The recording continued.
"Faye, I know you will want answers. I know you will want justice. But before you do anything..."
A pause.
Then my father's voice became quieter.
"Find Evelyn Cross."
The room went completely silent.
I stopped the recording.
"Who is Evelyn Cross?"
Thomas didn't answer.
I looked at him.
"Thomas."
He slowly sat down.
"I was hoping you would never hear that name."
"Why?"
He looked at me.
"Because Evelyn Cross was the reason your father started investigating."
I waited.
"And she was the reason he disappeared."
My hands tightened.
"Who was she?"
Thomas looked toward the hospital hallway.
Like he was checking if someone was listening.
"She worked with your father."
"At the company?"
"No."
He paused.
"Before that."
I didn't understand.
"Before?"
Thomas nodded.
"Your father wasn't investigating money transfers."
I stared at him.
"What?"
"He was investigating a network."
The word sounded too big.
Too dangerous.
"What kind of network?"
Thomas looked at me.
"One that moved money, documents, and identities."
I remembered the financial transfer.
The fake signatures.
The documents.
The hidden messages.
Suddenly everything connected.
Not enough to make sense.
But enough to know this was bigger than Edric.
"Why would my father get involved?"
Thomas sighed.
"Because Evelyn Cross came to him."
"With what?"
He looked at the folder.
"Proof."
I opened it again.
There were more documents hidden behind the financial reports.
One was a photograph.
A woman standing beside my father.
I didn't recognize her.
She appeared to be in her forties.
Professional.
Serious.
Behind them was the same office from the previous photograph.
I turned it over.
There was writing.
"She knows where the money came from."
Below it was another sentence.
"She knows why Daniel had to disappear."
My heart stopped.
My father didn't just leave clues.
He left a trail.
And someone had been following it.
Including Edric.
I walked back into Chloe's room.
She was awake.
The moment she saw my face, she knew I had learned something.
"You found her."
I stopped.
"Who?"
Chloe looked nervous.
"Evelyn."
I moved closer.
"How do you know that name?"
She looked at the floor.
"Because I heard Edric say it."
"When?"
"Years ago."
My chest tightened.
"Chloe, tell me everything."
She took a deep breath.
"When I was little, I woke up one night."
Her voice became quieter.
"Edric was arguing with Mom."
"What did they say?"
"I don't remember everything."
She closed her eyes.
"But I remember one thing."
"What?"
She looked at me.
"He said, 'If Evelyn talks, we're all finished.'"
I felt a chill.
"Why didn't you tell anyone?"
Chloe laughed sadly.
"Who would believe me?"
The answer broke something inside me.
Because she was right.
She had been surrounded by adults who chose silence.
But not anymore.
I sat beside her.
"You should have never carried this alone."
She looked at me.
"I knew you would come back."
My eyes filled.
"I should have come sooner."
"No."
She shook her head.
"You came."
That was all that mattered to her.
But not to me.
Because I kept thinking about the months she spent afraid.
The nights she spent believing nobody would save her.
And every second I wasn't there.
Later that day, I met with investigators.
The evidence against Edric was growing.
The recordings.
The documents.
The financial trail.
But there was one problem.
Everything connected back to the same question.
Why was my father involved?
And why did Edric still have access to information from twelve years ago?
I returned to the folder.
Something caught my eye.
A small note hidden between two pages.
My father's handwriting.
Only three words.
"Under the house."
I stared at it.
"What?"
The investigator looked confused.
"What did you find?"
I showed him.
He frowned.
"Your childhood home?"
I nodded.
That house.
The one where my father died.
The one where my mother still lived.
The one where Edric had spent years controlling everything.
A place full of memories.
And apparently...
Secrets.
I knew I had to go there.
But before leaving, I checked on Chloe.
She was sleeping.
I placed a security officer outside her room.
Then I received another message.
Unknown number.
I expected another threat.
Instead, it was a picture.
My childhood home.
Taken moments ago.
I stared at the image.
Someone was standing outside.
Watching.
Then another message appeared.
"Your father hid the truth under the floor."
My breathing slowed.
Because beneath the message was a second line.
A name.
Not Edric.
Not Evelyn.
Someone else.
Someone I had trusted my entire life.
May you like
The message said:
"Faye... ask your mother why she was the last person to see your father alive."
