Chapter 9 - The Price Of Protecting Elena Brooks
"Ask your father who your real mother was."
The message stayed on my screen.
I read it once.
Then again.
Then a third time.
But the words didn’t change.
My real mother.
A phrase that should have meant nothing.
Except it did.
Because everyone around me looked terrified.
My father.
Adrian.
Victoria.
Even Daniel.
That was when I understood.
The message wasn’t a question.
It was a warning.
I slowly lowered my phone.
Nobody spoke.
The restaurant that had been filled with whispers and movement was now completely silent.
I looked at my father.
"Dad."
He didn’t answer.
That hurt more than I expected.
Because even after everything...
Even after learning he was alive.
Even after learning he had hidden the truth from me.
A small part of me still hoped he would choose me.
Choose honesty.
Choose me over the secrets.
But he looked away.
And that was my answer.
"Who was she?"
My father closed his eyes.
"Elena..."
"No."
My voice was calm.
Almost too calm.
"I need to know."
Adrian watched me carefully.
I could see him wanting to say something.
But he stayed silent.
For once, he let me decide.
My father looked at the photograph in my hand.
The picture of me as a child.
The picture with the words:
"She was never yours."
His face broke.
Not completely.
Just enough.
Enough for me to see the pain underneath.
"Your mother’s name was Isabella."
I waited.
But he stopped there.
I stared at him.
"That’s it?"
He swallowed.
"No."
The room became colder.
"She wasn’t supposed to be part of this world."
I looked at the people around me.
"Apparently everyone is part of this world except me."
My father looked down.
"You were born into something dangerous."
I almost laughed.
"That’s what everyone says when they want to justify lying."
Nobody disagreed.
My father nodded slowly.
"Your mother knew the truth about Brooks-Hayes Holdings."
"What truth?"
He looked at Daniel.
Then Marcus.
Then Adrian.
"Your mother discovered that the company wasn’t just a company."
I frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Marcus answered.
"It was built on information."
I looked at him.
"What kind of information?"
He didn’t blink.
"Information powerful enough to destroy people."
The answer made no sense.
And yet somehow, it did.
Because every person who had entered my life in the past few hours was connected to secrets.
Companies.
Documents.
Hidden accounts.
Disappearances.
Everyone was fighting over something.
Something my father and mother had tried to hide.
"What did my mother know?"
My father’s voice became quieter.
"She knew who was responsible for everything."
I looked at him.
"Everything?"
He nodded.
"The theft. The betrayal. The attempt on my life."
My heart stopped.
"Attempt?"
My father looked at me.
"Your mother was the reason I survived."
I stared.
"Then why did you let me believe you were dead?"
The question finally came out.
The question I had carried for five years.
My father looked broken.
"Because they came after you."
I froze.
"Who?"
Nobody answered.
Then Adrian did.
"The same people who tried to kill your father."
I turned toward him.
"You knew?"
His eyes met mine.
"I knew there was a threat."
"How long?"
Silence.
That was enough.
My chest tightened.
"How long have you known?"
Adrian didn’t lie.
"Since before we met."
The words hurt.
Not because he knew.
Because he had been carrying it alone.
But I was tired of understanding everyone except myself.
"You all decided my life for me."
Nobody moved.
"You decided what I could know."
My voice shook.
"You decided what I could handle."
I looked at Adrian.
"Even you."
His expression changed.
A small crack in the man who always looked impossible to break.
"Elena."
I stepped back.
"I don’t know who you are."
That sentence hurt him.
I saw it.
And somehow that hurt me too.
Because Adrian Moretti had become the one person I thought was different.
The one person who showed up.
The one person who didn’t ask me to pretend.
But he had still hidden something.
Marcus watched us silently.
Almost like he expected this.
Daniel suddenly laughed.
A quiet, bitter laugh.
"Now you understand."
Everyone looked at him.
He looked at me.
"We were all protecting ourselves."
I stared at him.
"You don’t get to say that."
His face changed.
"I lost everything too."
I shook my head.
"No."
I looked at him.
"You chose this."
That hit him.
Because it was true.
Daniel had choices.
He just made the wrong ones.
Victoria stepped forward.
"There’s more."
I closed my eyes.
Of course there was.
There was always more.
"What?"
She looked at Marcus.
Then my father.
Then me.
"Your mother didn’t die."
The world stopped.
Again.
I looked at her.
"What?"
My father’s face changed.
Victoria continued.
"She disappeared."
I couldn’t breathe.
"My mother is alive?"
Nobody answered.
And that silence was worse than a yes.
I turned toward my father.
"You let me believe both of you were gone?"
Tears filled his eyes.
"I thought it was the only way to keep you safe."
"Safe?"
My voice broke.
"I spent five years grieving."
My father whispered:
"I know."
"No."
I shook my head.
"You don’t know."
Because he didn’t.
Nobody knew.
They knew secrets.
They knew plans.
They knew danger.
But they didn’t know what it felt like to wake up every morning missing someone who wasn’t actually gone.
Adrian stepped closer.
"Elena."
I looked at him.
And for a second, I wanted to trust him.
I wanted to believe he was different.
But then I remembered.
The message.
The warning.
The secrets.
"What else?"
His expression tightened.
"What?"
"What else haven’t you told me?"
He didn’t answer.
And that was the moment I knew.
There was another secret.
One he didn’t want to say.
My phone vibrated again.
Everyone looked at it.
Another message.
This time, a video file.
No name.
No number.
Just one word.
"Watch."
My hands shook as I opened it.
The screen loaded.
A dark room appeared.
A woman sat in a chair.
Her face was hidden.
But her voice...
Her voice made my entire body freeze.
Because I knew that voice.
I had heard it in old recordings.
In the few memories I had left.
My mother.
"Elena."
I covered my mouth.
The woman on the screen continued.
"If you’re watching this, it means your father failed to protect you."
My father closed his eyes.
The woman’s voice became softer.
"But there is one thing you need to know."
The video paused.
Then she said:
"Adrian Moretti is not the man you think he is."
I slowly turned toward Adrian.
For the first time that night...
He looked afraid.
Not of Marcus.
Not of Daniel.
Not of anyone else.
Of me.
The video continued.
And my mother whispered:
"Because he was the one who betrayed us."
May you like
The screen went black.
And behind me, someone unlocked the restaurant door.
