Chapter 8 - The Father Who Was Never Gone
The phone kept ringing in my hand as I stared at the name on the screen and whispered: "Dad..."
After twelve years of believing I had lost him, I answered a call from the man whose death certificate I had carried for years. Then a broken voice came through the speaker: "Faye, don't trust anyone who comes with you." I suddenly realized my father wasn't hiding from the world.
He was hiding from someone inside it.
For a few seconds, I couldn't move.
I couldn't breathe.
I couldn't even speak.
The name on the screen remained there.
Daniel Morgan.
My father.
The man I buried.
The man everyone told me was gone.
The man whose empty chair had been sitting at every family gathering for twelve years.
My hand shook as I pressed the answer button.
"Hello?"
Nothing.
Only silence.
Then...
A breath.
A real breath.
And a voice.
Older.
Tired.
But familiar.
"Faye."
My knees almost gave out.
Because no matter how much time passed...
A daughter knows her father's voice.
"Dad?"
The word came out before I could stop it.
The room became silent.
My mother covered her mouth.
Edric stepped backward.
And Thomas, standing near the hallway, looked like he had been waiting twelve years for this exact moment.
"Faye, listen to me."
I closed my eyes.
Tears appeared before I realized I was crying.
"Where are you?"
A pause.
Then my father said:
"I don't have much time."
My heart started racing.
"Are you hurt?"
"No."
Another pause.
"But someone knows you found the files."
I looked at Edric.
He looked away.
"Dad, tell me everything."
"I wish I could."
His voice cracked.
"But the first thing you need to know..."
The line became filled with static.
Then:
"Your mother did not betray me."
I looked at her.
She started crying.
I didn't know whether to believe it.
Not because I didn't love her.
Because I had spent years learning that love and truth were not always the same thing.
"Dad..."
"You have to leave that house."
My eyes moved toward the basement.
"Why?"
"Because the person who sent you there wanted you to find the evidence."
I froze.
"What?"
"The files were never hidden from everyone."
His voice became urgent.
"They were hidden from the wrong person."
I looked at Edric.
He stared back.
For the first time, I saw panic.
Real panic.
"Who?"
My father didn't answer immediately.
Then he whispered:
"The person who has been protecting Edric all these years."
The call suddenly cut.
I stared at the phone.
No signal.
No connection.
Nothing.
I immediately called back.
Nothing.
Again.
Nothing.
I looked at Thomas.
"What was that?"
He didn't answer.
"Thomas."
He finally spoke.
"Your father was right."
"About what?"
Thomas looked at Edric.
"He was never trying to escape Edric."
I waited.
"He was trying to escape the person controlling Edric."
The room went quiet.
I turned toward my mother.
She looked broken.
"Who?"
She didn't answer.
Then Chloe's voice came from behind us.
"Faye."
I turned.
She was standing in the hallway.
The nurse was behind her.
She looked weak.
But determined.
"You need to know."
I walked toward her.
"You should be resting."
She shook her head.
"I heard everything."
I helped her sit down.
"What do you know?"
She looked at my mother.
Then at Edric.
Then back at me.
"When I was younger..."
She swallowed.
"Edric wasn't scared of you."
I frowned.
"What?"
"He was scared of your father."
That made sense.
But not enough.
"Why?"
Chloe looked at the basement.
"Because your father knew something about him."
"What?"
She hesitated.
Then whispered:
"Edric wasn't the person who found me."
My blood ran cold.
"What do you mean?"
"The first person who knew what was happening..."
She looked at my mother.
"Was Mom."
The room froze.
My mother closed her eyes.
"I didn't know how bad it was."
Chloe looked away.
"You knew enough."
The pain in her voice was worse than anger.
It was disappointment.
And that was something my mother couldn't escape.
I looked at my mother.
"Tell me."
She sat down slowly.
"The night your father disappeared..."
Her voice broke.
"He wasn't running away."
"Then what was he doing?"
"He was meeting someone."
"Who?"
She looked at me.
"Evelyn Cross."
I remembered the name.
The woman connected to everything.
"The person who knew the truth."
My mother nodded.
"Your father had proof."
"Proof of what?"
She whispered:
"That Edric was only a piece."
I looked at Edric.
"You knew?"
He didn't respond.
That was enough.
I stepped toward him.
"You knew my father was alive."
His silence answered.
"How long?"
Edric finally looked at me.
"Since the beginning."
My anger disappeared.
Not because I forgave him.
Because I understood something.
This man had lived inside my family for twelve years knowing my father was alive.
Knowing Chloe was suffering.
Knowing the truth.
And he did nothing.
"You watched us."
He didn't deny it.
"I was trying to find what Daniel hid."
I laughed.
"You destroyed a seventeen-year-old girl's life for a file?"
His face changed.
For a second...
A small crack appeared.
Then it disappeared.
"You don't understand what that file contains."
"I don't care."
My voice became cold.
"You hurt my sister."
Security entered the room.
This time they weren't waiting for permission.
Edric looked at me.
"You think this ends with me?"
I didn't answer.
Because I knew he was right.
It didn't.
Not yet.
The investigators took Edric away.
But before leaving, he stopped beside me.
"You should ask Evelyn why your father trusted her more than his own family."
I stared at him.
"You don't get to talk about trust."
He smiled slightly.
"Then ask yourself why your father never contacted you for twelve years."
That sentence stayed with me.
Because it was the one question I couldn't answer.
If my father was alive...
Why didn't he come home?
Why didn't he call?
Why didn't he save us?
That night, I went to the address from the message.
I didn't go alone.
I brought backup.
I brought Thomas.
And I brought the evidence.
The building was hidden far away from the city.
Old.
Empty.
Forgotten.
Exactly the kind of place someone would choose to disappear.
The front door was unlocked.
Inside was a small room.
A table.
A chair.
A single lamp.
And a wall covered with photographs.
My father.
Evelyn.
Edric.
My mother.
Me.
Chloe.
Everyone.
Someone had been watching us.
Studying us.
Planning.
On the table was a small envelope.
My name was written on it.
FAYE.
I opened it.
Inside was one page.
My father's handwriting.
If you found this, then I know you finally learned the truth.
I stopped breathing.
The letter continued.
I wanted to come home.
Every day.
But I couldn't.
Because the person who wanted me gone was someone you trusted.
Someone who would never let you know I survived.
My hands started shaking.
At the bottom of the page was one final sentence.
I didn't leave you, Faye.
I was protecting you.
Then I heard something behind me.
A floorboard.
I turned.
The room was empty.
But the door...
The door that had been locked when I entered...
Was slowly opening.
And someone whispered my name from the other side.
"Faye..."
I reached for the door handle.
May you like
It was already unlocked from the inside.
Someone was waiting for me.
