Chapter 7 - The Truth My Mother Buried
The photograph fell from my mother's hand when I asked: "Why were you holding the gun that night?"
She looked at me with tears in her eyes and whispered: "Because your father asked me to protect you." I suddenly realized the night my father disappeared was not the night he died.
It was the night he planned to vanish.
The room became silent.
Not the peaceful kind of silence.
The kind that comes before something breaks.
Edric stood near the front door with the same confidence he had carried for years.
The confidence of someone who believed he was always one step ahead.
But for the first time...
I saw something different in his eyes.
Concern.
Not fear.
Concern.
Like he knew the truth was finally reaching the surface.
I looked at my mother.
"Tell me."
She didn't answer.
"Mom."
Her hands were shaking.
"I never wanted you to know this way."
I laughed quietly.
"How did you want me to know?"
She looked down.
"Never."
That answer hurt more than I expected.
Because deep inside, some part of me still hoped there was an explanation.
A reason.
Something that could make twelve years of lies make sense.
But there wasn't.
There was only the truth.
And the truth had been waiting.
I turned toward Edric.
"You said she had the gun."
He nodded.
"I did."
"Why?"
"Because she was there."
My eyes narrowed.
"You were there too."
A small smile appeared on his face.
"Yes."
The way he said it bothered me.
Like he wanted me to understand something.
Like he wasn't afraid of being exposed.
"You wanted me to believe my mother killed my father."
Edric looked at me.
"No."
He paused.
"I wanted you to believe your mother betrayed him."
My mother closed her eyes.
Because that was exactly what she had done.
Not by hurting him.
But by hiding the truth.
I walked closer.
"Start talking."
She looked at Edric.
Then at me.
Then she finally broke.
"Twelve years ago..."
Her voice shook.
"Your father found out Edric was moving money through fake companies."
I nodded.
"I know."
"No."
She looked at me.
"You don't."
The room became still.
"Edric wasn't just stealing money."
She swallowed.
"He was trying to erase people."
I frowned.
"What does that mean?"
My mother walked toward the table and picked up one of the documents from the basement folder.
"These people..."
She pointed at the names.
"They weren't employees."
She looked at me.
"They were witnesses."
A cold feeling moved through me.
"To what?"
She whispered:
"To what happened before your father died."
I looked at Edric.
He didn't move.
That scared me.
Because guilty people usually reacted.
But Edric looked like someone watching a story he already knew the ending to.
"Why didn't you go to the police?"
My mother started crying.
"Because your father told me not to."
I stared at her.
"Why would he say that?"
"Because he knew they were already watching."
"Who?"
She looked at the basement.
"Everyone."
I hated that answer.
Because it sounded like every other answer.
Incomplete.
Broken.
A piece of something bigger.
I stepped closer.
"I need the whole truth."
My mother nodded.
Then she finally said the words I had spent twelve years needing to hear.
"Your father is not dead."
Everything stopped.
The sound of the house.
The movement of air.
Even my own thoughts.
I looked at her.
"What?"
Edric looked away.
And that was when I knew.
He knew.
My mother continued.
"Daniel planned his disappearance."
My voice was barely there.
"Why?"
"Because he discovered who was really behind everything."
"Evelyn?"
She nodded.
"Partly."
I looked confused.
"Partly?"
My mother sat down.
"Evelyn was trying to expose them."
"Then why did Dad write that she was the only person he trusted?"
"Because she was."
I looked at Edric.
"Then why is he here?"
My mother looked at him.
"Because Edric was afraid of Evelyn."
Edric finally spoke.
"Your mother doesn't know everything."
I turned.
"Then tell me."
He smiled.
"You think I'm the villain because that's easier."
I stepped forward.
"You hurt Chloe."
His expression changed.
"I made sure she stayed quiet."
The room froze.
My mother covered her mouth.
Even Edric seemed surprised by his own words.
Because he had finally admitted it.
The truth was out.
I looked at him.
"You just confessed."
He laughed softly.
"You think this is enough?"
The confidence returned.
"You still don't know what your father did."
My eyes narrowed.
"What did he do?"
Edric looked at my mother.
"Tell her."
She became pale.
I felt my anger rise.
"What?"
My mother whispered:
"Your father made a deal."
"A deal with who?"
She looked at me.
"With Evelyn."
I waited.
"He agreed to disappear."
The words felt impossible.
"Why?"
"Because there was someone closer than Edric."
My heart started racing.
"Closer?"
My mother nodded.
"Someone inside the family."
I looked around the room.
Everyone I trusted.
Everyone who had protected a secret.
Someone had been there.
Someone had helped hide everything.
My phone suddenly vibrated.
I looked down.
A message.
Unknown number.
This time there was no threat.
Only a picture.
My father.
Alive.
The photograph showed him standing outside a building.
Older.
Different.
But unmistakably him.
My hands started shaking.
Under the picture was one sentence.
"Your father has been waiting for you."
I looked at my mother.
She was crying.
Because she knew.
"Where?"
I whispered.
She didn't answer.
Then the phone received another message.
A location.
An address.
And one final warning.
"Come alone."
I looked at Edric.
He was no longer smiling.
For the first time...
He looked afraid.
"Faye..."
I turned toward him.
"Who sent that?"
He didn't answer.
Because he was staring at the screen.
At the address.
His face changed completely.
Then he whispered a name.
A name I had never heard before.
A name that made my mother step backward.
"That place..."
She covered her mouth.
"That's where Daniel disappeared."
I looked at the address again.
Then I saw the final line beneath it.
A sentence written by someone who knew my father.
Someone who knew me.
"Faye, if you are reading this, your father is already inside."
I reached for my coat.
Then my phone rang.
The caller ID appeared.
And I froze.
May you like
Because the person calling me...
Was my father.
