Chapter 6 - The Father I Never Knew
The video froze on the screen.
A man's face.
A man's warning.
A man's eyes staring directly into the camera.
My father.
Michael Hayes.
The man I had spent my entire life believing was dead.
I sat there without moving.
I didn't know what emotion I was supposed to feel.
Anger.
Relief.
Betrayal.
Hope.
Maybe all of them at once.
Because the truth was no longer hidden.
It was standing right in front of me.
My father was alive.
And he had been watching me.
For years.
I replayed the video.
Again.
The same moment appeared.
Michael stepping out of the car.
Michael looking directly into the hidden camera.
Michael leaving me a message.
"If you are watching this, they already know you're looking."
I looked at Vanessa.
For once, she didn't have an answer.
Her confidence was gone.
"Did you know about this?"
She shook her head.
"No."
I studied her face.
I wanted to believe her.
But believing people was what had brought me here.
"How do I know you're telling the truth?"
She looked away.
"You don't."
That answer surprised me.
Because it was honest.
"I spent years trying to find Michael."
She looked back at me.
"Why?"
"Because I needed to know why he abandoned me."
Her expression softened.
"He didn't abandon you."
I laughed bitterly.
"That's easy for you to say."
"No, Adrian."
Her voice became serious.
"He spent his entire life trying to get back to you."
I stared at her.
"What?"
Vanessa took a breath.
"There are things you don't know."
"Then tell me."
She looked at Rosa.
Rosa nodded slowly.
Like she knew this moment had finally arrived.
Vanessa sat down.
"The night Michael disappeared, he wasn't running away."
She paused.
"He was trying to protect you."
I crossed my arms.
"From who?"
Vanessa looked at the folder.
"From people inside your father's company."
My eyebrows tightened.
"Richard?"
She shook her head.
"No."
"Then who?"
"The board members."
The room went quiet.
I had spent years believing my adoptive family protected me.
But now I was learning there had been threats around me before I was old enough to understand them.
"What happened that night?"
Vanessa looked at Rosa.
"You tell him."
Rosa looked nervous.
But she finally spoke.
"Your biological father discovered that several executives were moving money through illegal accounts."
I listened carefully.
"He collected evidence."
"What kind of evidence?"
"Enough to destroy powerful people."
I looked at the old photograph.
"So they tried to silence him."
Rosa nodded.
"Yes."
"But they failed."
Her eyes filled with sadness.
"Not completely."
I frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Rosa looked at me.
"Michael survived."
I already knew that.
"But everyone else thought he was dead."
"Because someone wanted everyone to think that."
I stood up.
"Who?"
Nobody answered.
And that silence told me the answer was bigger than I expected.
My phone vibrated.
A message from Daniel.
I found the storage location connected to the key Vanessa gave you.
I opened it.
There was an address.
Then another message.
Adrian, you need to see this before you go there.
A video appeared.
I opened it.
The footage showed my mansion.
But this time, it wasn't from my security system.
It was from outside.
A car parked near the gate.
A person sitting inside.
Watching the house.
I moved closer.
The person turned slightly.
My face became cold.
It was Michael.
Again.
Watching.
Waiting.
"He was near me this whole time."
Vanessa looked at the screen.
"He wasn't watching you."
I turned.
"What?"
"He was watching for them."
"For who?"
Before she could answer, the lights in the mansion suddenly turned off.
Every room went dark.
My daughters screamed upstairs.
I ran immediately.
"Lily!"
"Daddy!"
I reached their room.
They were holding each other.
"It's okay," I said.
I turned on the flashlight from my phone.
"Stay with me."
Rosa rushed upstairs behind me.
"What happened?"
I looked toward the hallway.
The security system had been disabled again.
But this time, there was something different.
A message appeared on the wall-mounted control panel.
Not from my system.
Not from Daniel.
A handwritten note had been placed over the screen.
Three words.
"Stop searching, Adrian."
My stomach tightened.
Someone had been inside the house.
While we were there.
I checked every room.
Nothing.
No broken windows.
No forced doors.
Whoever entered knew exactly how to move.
They knew the cameras.
They knew the alarms.
They knew our routines.
They knew my family.
I called Daniel.
"Someone got into the house."
His voice became urgent.
"What?"
"Check every camera."
"I already am."
"And?"
Silence.
Then:
"Adrian..."
"What?"
"There's one camera still active."
"Where?"
Daniel hesitated.
"Your father's old study."
My eyes moved toward the end of the hallway.
A room I rarely entered.
A room Richard Cole had always told me never to touch.
The room where he kept old documents.
The room I thought belonged to my past.
I walked toward it.
Rosa followed.
"Adrian, wait."
I stopped.
"Why?"
Her face was pale.
"Because Richard never wanted you to open that door."
I stared at her.
"Why?"
She whispered:
"Because that room contains the reason you were adopted."
My hand moved toward the doorknob.
I opened it.
The room was dark.
Dust covered the furniture.
Old boxes filled the shelves.
But one thing immediately caught my attention.
A light was blinking.
A small red camera light.
Someone had installed a camera here too.
I stepped inside.
The camera turned toward me.
Then the monitor beside the desk turned on.
A video started playing automatically.
Richard Cole appeared on the screen.
Older.
Tired.
Afraid.
My adoptive father.
He looked directly into the camera.
"Adrian, if you are watching this..."
He paused.
His eyes filled with regret.
"...then Michael failed to protect you."
I froze.
The video continued.
"There is something you need to know about the night we brought you home."
My breathing stopped.
Richard looked away from the camera.
Like he was afraid someone was listening.
Then he said one sentence.
A sentence that changed everything.
"You were never adopted to become my son."
The screen flickered.
Static covered his face.
Then one final message appeared.
"The person who ordered your father's disappearance is inside your family."
Behind me, the study door slowly closed.
I turned around.
May you like
The handle moved.
Someone was standing outside.
