Chapter 5 - The Truth My Mother Buried
The voice behind me was impossible.
For three years, I had trained myself to accept that it was gone.
That voice.
That person.
That part of my life.
But now, standing inside the abandoned house where everyone told me my wife died, I heard her whisper my name.
"Adrian."
I couldn't move.
I couldn't breathe.
Every memory I had tried to bury came rushing back.
The nights Lily cried for her mother.
The empty chair at the dinner table.
The pictures I stopped looking at because they hurt too much.
All of it came back in one second.
I slowly turned around.
The woman standing in the doorway looked exactly like the person I remembered.
But there was something different.
Pain.
Years of pain.
Her eyes were filled with tears.
My wife's eyes.
"Adrian..."
Her voice broke.
I wanted to run to her.
Every part of me wanted to.
But another part of me was frozen.
Because love was not the only thing standing in that room.
There were lies.
Three years of lies.
"Where is Lily?"
Those were the first words that came out of my mouth.
Not "Why did you leave?"
Not "Why didn't you come back?"
Not "Why did you let me suffer?"
My daughter came first.
My wife lowered her eyes.
"She's safe."
I stepped forward.
"Where?"
"Someone brought her here."
"Who?"
She didn't answer.
And that silence made my anger return.
"Who took my daughter?"
My wife looked at me.
"I did."
The words shocked me.
"You?"
She nodded.
"I had no other choice."
I stared at her.
"You disappeared for three years."
"I know."
"You let me believe you were dead."
"I know."
"You let me bury you."
Tears rolled down her face.
"I know."
I wanted to scream.
I wanted answers.
But seeing her standing there made everything more complicated.
Because the woman I hated for leaving me was also the woman I spent three years praying was still alive.
"Explain."
She looked toward the hallway.
"Not here."
I almost laughed.
"Not here?"
I pointed around the room.
"This is where everyone said you died."
Her expression changed.
"Exactly."
I followed her eyes.
"What does that mean?"
She walked toward the old wall.
"There was never an accident."
My body became tense.
"What?"
She touched the wall.
"Your mother created a story."
The name immediately changed everything.
My mother.
Again.
Every road led back to her.
"What did my mother do?"
My wife looked at me.
"She knew everything."
I shook my head.
"No."
The answer came too quickly.
I didn't want to believe it.
Because believing it meant accepting that the woman who raised me had betrayed me.
"Your mother found out about Lily."
I frowned.
"What about Lily?"
My wife took a deep breath.
"Before I disappeared, I discovered someone was trying to gain control over your company."
I listened carefully.
"But it wasn't about money."
"Then what was it about?"
She looked toward the photograph I was holding.
"Lily."
My daughter's name sounded different coming from her.
Like it carried fear.
"Someone believed Lily was the key to controlling you."
I stared at her.
"She's a child."
"I know."
My wife's voice became softer.
"That's why I had to hide her."
I shook my head.
"You hid her from me too."
Her face broke.
"I was protecting you."
"No."
My voice became louder.
"You were protecting a secret."
She didn't argue.
That hurt more.
Because maybe she knew I was right.
Then she walked to the table.
There was a small box sitting there.
She opened it.
Inside were documents.
Photos.
And a memory card.
My heart stopped.
Another memory card.
She noticed my expression.
"This is why I couldn't come back."
I picked it up.
"What is on this?"
"The truth."
I looked at her.
"About what?"
She hesitated.
Then whispered:
"About the person who planned everything."
Before I could ask more, my phone rang.
Ethan.
I answered.
His voice came immediately.
"Adrian, where are you?"
I looked at my wife.
"Why?"
"Because I found something."
"What?"
Silence.
Then he said:
"I found out who was controlling the security system at the mansion."
My grip tightened.
"Who?"
Ethan took a breath.
"It was your mother's private account."
The room went silent.
I looked at my wife.
She closed her eyes.
Like she already knew.
"Adrian..."
Ethan continued.
"There's something else."
"What?"
"Someone accessed Lily's medical records yesterday."
My blood ran cold.
"Who?"
Another pause.
Then:
"Your mother."
I ended the call.
My wife looked at me.
"Now you understand."
I looked at the woman I had spent three years mourning.
"You knew."
She nodded.
"I knew she was watching Lily."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because the moment you knew, she would know too."
I stared at her.
"Who is she working with?"
My wife looked away.
"I don't know."
That answer bothered me.
Because she was scared.
Not confused.
Scared.
Then a noise came from outside.
A car door closing.
My wife immediately changed.
Her entire body became tense.
"Adrian."
"What?"
"You need to leave."
I looked toward the window.
"Who is here?"
She didn't answer.
"Who is here?"
Her voice became urgent.
"Someone who cannot know you found me."
I walked toward the window.
Outside, headlights appeared.
A black vehicle stopped in front of the house.
The passenger door opened.
A woman stepped out.
Even from a distance, I recognized her.
My mother.
I stepped back.
"No..."
My wife grabbed my arm.
"Adrian, listen to me."
I looked at her.
"If she sees you here, everything changes."
The front door opened downstairs.
Slow footsteps entered the house.
My mother's voice echoed through the hallway.
"Adrian."
My blood turned cold.
She knew.
She knew I was here.
My wife looked at me with fear in her eyes.
Then she whispered:
"There's one thing I never told you."
I looked at her.
"What?"
She reached into her pocket.
And pulled out an old photograph.
She handed it to me.
The picture showed my mother holding Lily as a baby.
But written on the back were five words:
"She is not your daughter."
I stared at the message.
The footsteps stopped outside the room.
The door handle slowly moved.
May you like
And my mother whispered from the other side:
"Open the door, Adrian. We need to talk about who Lily really belongs to."
