Chapter 9 - The Family That Chose The Lie
The woman standing behind the door looked at me and whispered: "Faye... your father asked me to wait until you were ready."
I stepped into the room and found a hidden archive containing the final evidence Daniel Morgan left behind. One folder had only two words written across it: "THE REAL TRAITOR." I suddenly realized my father's last secret was not about who betrayed him.
It was about who protected the person who did.
The woman standing in front of me looked older than the photograph.
But I recognized her immediately.
Evelyn Cross.
The person whose name had followed me through every hidden document.
The woman my father trusted.
The woman Edric feared.
The woman everyone seemed to blame.
For twelve years, I imagined what she would look like.
A criminal.
A mastermind.
Someone dangerous.
But standing there...
She looked tired.
Like someone who had spent years carrying a burden nobody else knew existed.
I kept my hand near my side.
Not because I wanted to threaten her.
Because I had learned something over the last few days.
The people who looked innocent could hide the biggest secrets.
And the people who looked dangerous could sometimes be the ones telling the truth.
"Are you Evelyn Cross?"
She nodded.
"Yes."
"Where is my father?"
Her expression changed.
Pain.
Not surprise.
Pain.
"He is close."
I hated that answer.
Because everyone kept giving me pieces.
Never the whole thing.
"Close isn't enough."
She nodded.
"I know."
She stepped aside.
"Come inside."
I didn't move.
"What if this is another trap?"
Evelyn looked at me.
"Then I would have done a better job hiding from you for twelve years."
That was true.
If she wanted to hurt me...
She had plenty of chances.
I entered.
The room was nothing like I expected.
No weapons.
No secret organization.
No criminal operation.
Just documents.
Photographs.
Recordings.
A timeline.
My family's entire life spread across the walls.
I walked closer.
There were pictures of my father.
My mother.
Me.
Chloe.
Edric.
And another person.
Someone I didn't recognize.
A man.
Always standing in the background.
Never in the center.
But always present.
"Who is he?"
Evelyn looked at the photograph.
"That is the person your father was afraid of."
I studied the face.
"Who?"
She didn't answer immediately.
Instead, she opened a drawer and removed an envelope.
"This is what Daniel wanted you to have when you were ready."
I stared at it.
"My father wrote this?"
She nodded.
"Three days before he disappeared."
My hands shook as I opened it.
Faye,
If you are reading this, then Evelyn kept her promise.
I stopped.
Because my father trusted her.
Not my mother.
Not Edric.
Her.
I continued.
You are probably angry.
You have every right to be.
I wanted to come home.
More than anything.
But coming home would have put you in danger.
I closed my eyes.
A tear fell.
Because those were exactly the words I needed to hear.
But they were also the words that hurt the most.
I kept reading.
The person responsible for everything is not the person you think.
Edric was never the leader.
He was a follower.
A man who was given power because he was easy to control.
My breathing slowed.
Then I reached the next line.
The person who destroyed our family was someone who knew exactly how much we loved each other.
Someone who knew your weaknesses.
Someone who knew your heart.
I looked at Evelyn.
"Who?"
She didn't answer.
Instead, she handed me another document.
The name was covered.
Only the signature remained.
My eyes moved across the page.
Then stopped.
Because I knew that handwriting.
I had seen it every day growing up.
On birthday cards.
On school forms.
On permission slips.
My hands went cold.
"No."
Evelyn looked at me.
"Faye."
"No."
I pushed the paper away.
"This isn't possible."
She didn't argue.
Because she knew.
The truth was worse when you already recognized it.
I looked at the signature again.
My mother's.
I stood up.
"She didn't."
Evelyn stayed silent.
"She couldn't."
Still silence.
I felt anger rising.
"Tell me I'm wrong."
Evelyn looked at me.
"I wish you were."
I walked away.
My mother.
The person who raised me.
The person who held my hand at my father's funeral.
The person who told me she was protecting me.
The person who cried every time I asked about him.
How could she be connected?
Then I remembered.
The gun.
The night he disappeared.
The lies.
The silence.
Everything.
I looked at Evelyn.
"Tell me what happened."
She took a deep breath.
"Twelve years ago, Daniel discovered Edric was being controlled."
"By who?"
"Your mother."
The words hit harder than anything.
I shook my head.
"No."
Evelyn continued.
"Not because she wanted power."
"Then why?"
"Because she was being threatened."
I stopped.
"What?"
"Your mother didn't start this."
She looked at me.
"She was trapped in it."
That changed everything.
"But she lied."
"Yes."
"She let me believe my father was dead."
"Yes."
"She let Chloe suffer."
Evelyn looked down.
"Yes."
The agreement hurt.
Because she wasn't defending my mother.
She was explaining her.
And sometimes explanations hurt more than excuses.
"Why?"
Evelyn walked toward the wall.
She pointed at the photograph of the unknown man.
"Because of him."
I looked closer.
"Who is he?"
Evelyn's voice became quiet.
"Your grandfather's closest friend."
I froze.
"My grandfather?"
She nodded.
"The man who helped build your father's company."
I stared at her.
"My grandfather is dead."
"Yes."
"Then why does this matter?"
Evelyn looked at me.
"Because he wasn't alone when he died."
The room became silent.
"What are you saying?"
She opened another file.
Inside was a report.
A death report.
Not my father's.
My grandfather's.
I read it.
Then noticed something.
A signature.
The same signature.
The same handwriting.
My mother's.
I looked up.
"Why would my mother sign this?"
Evelyn didn't answer.
Instead, she said:
"Because your mother wasn't protecting Edric."
My heart stopped.
"Then who was she protecting?"
Evelyn looked at me.
"Your father."
I stared at her.
Nothing made sense anymore.
"If she was protecting him, why hide him?"
"Because Daniel asked her to."
I remembered the recording.
My father's voice.
Do not trust anyone who tells you they are protecting you.
Except maybe...
He wasn't warning me about my mother.
He was warning me about someone else.
My phone suddenly vibrated.
I looked down.
A message.
From my mother.
Only five words.
"I need to tell you."
Then another message arrived.
A location.
The same place where my father disappeared.
I showed Evelyn.
Her face changed.
"What?"
She stepped closer.
"She knows."
"Knows what?"
Evelyn looked at me.
"That you found the truth."
I grabbed my coat.
"I'm going."
Evelyn shook her head.
"No."
"Why?"
"Because if she contacted you..."
She looked toward the door.
"Someone else knows too."
I stopped.
The lights inside the room suddenly went out.
Darkness.
Then my phone screen lit up.
A new message.
Not from my mother.
Not from Evelyn.
From an unknown number.
One sentence.
"Your mother is not waiting for you."
I stared at the screen.
Another line appeared.
"She is running from the person standing behind you."
My body froze.
Because Evelyn wasn't looking at the phone.
She was looking past me.
At the open doorway.
And then she whispered:
May you like
"Faye..."
"Don't turn around."
