Chapter 6 - The Truth My Mother Left Behind
"Elena... if you can hear this, it means they found you..."
My entire body froze.
I knew that voice.
I had spent fourteen years trying to remember it.
The sound of my mother's laugh.
The way she said my name.
The way she used to whisper goodnight when I was afraid of thunderstorms.
But I never imagined I would hear her voice again like this.
From a hidden room.
Inside my father's house.
On a computer he never wanted me to find.
The video continued.
The screen showed my mother sitting in a room I didn't recognize.
She looked different.
Not older.
Just tired.
Like someone who had been carrying a secret too heavy for one person.
She looked directly into the camera.
"If you are watching this, Elena, I need you to listen carefully."
My eyes filled with tears.
The officer stood beside me.
Nobody interrupted.
Not even my father.
Because for the first time, he couldn't control what was happening.
My mother's voice continued.
"You were always stronger than I wanted you to be."
She paused.
"I wanted you to have a normal life."
I covered my mouth.
Because that was something only my mother would say.
She never wanted me to become a soldier.
She wanted me to become a doctor.
She wanted me to travel.
She wanted me to have a family.
She wanted me to have everything she never had.
But something changed.
Something took that away.
The video shook slightly.
My mother looked toward the side, like she was checking if someone was nearby.
Then she lowered her voice.
"Elena, there are things about your father's company that you were never supposed to know."
My heart tightened.
Company?
I looked at my father.
His expression had completely changed.
The officer noticed.
"You know what she's talking about?"
My father said nothing.
The officer didn't look away.
"Mr. Vale."
Still nothing.
The video continued.
"Richard told me he could fix it."
My mother's voice trembled.
"But some things cannot be fixed."
The screen flickered.
A document appeared.
A contract.
A list of names.
Dates.
Payments.
I leaned closer.
I didn't understand everything.
But I understood enough.
My father's name appeared multiple times.
So did another name.
A name I had never seen before.
"Who is that?" I whispered.
The officer looked at the screen.
"Do you recognize that person?"
I shook my head.
"No."
My mother continued.
"Richard believed he was protecting the family."
A pause.
"But he was protecting himself."
My father suddenly moved.
"No."
Everyone turned.
He stared at the screen.
Not angry.
Terrified.
"Turn it off."
The officer immediately stepped between him and the computer.
"Do not move."
My father stopped.
My mother continued speaking.
"If Richard has found this video, then he already knows I left a copy."
I felt a chill.
A copy.
This wasn't the only one.
My father heard it too.
His face changed.
"Where is it?"
The words escaped him.
Everyone looked at him.
The officer slowly turned.
"Where is what?"
My father realized his mistake.
But it was too late.
My mother had already exposed the fear.
The video continued.
"I knew Richard would search this room."
My mother looked directly into the camera.
"So I hid the real evidence somewhere he would never look."
The screen went black for a second.
Then another image appeared.
A small silver necklace.
My necklace.
The one my mother gave me when I was twelve.
The one I thought I lost the night she died.
My breath caught.
"No..."
The officer looked at me.
"What is it?"
I touched my neck.
Because I was still wearing it.
I had worn it every day since I joined the military.
My mother always told me:
"Keep this close. It will remind you who you are."
I never knew there was something hidden inside.
The video showed my mother holding the necklace.
"Elena, if you still have this, you need to open it."
My hands started shaking.
The officer looked at the necklace.
"Can it open?"
I nodded slowly.
"I don't know."
But I did know.
Deep inside.
I had always felt there was something different about it.
A small piece of metal under the pendant.
Something I never questioned.
Because it belonged to my mother.
The officer carefully examined it.
"There is a compartment."
The room went silent.
My father stepped back.
"No."
That single word told me everything.
He knew.
He had always known.
"You knew about this?"
I looked at him.
My voice was barely a whisper.
"You knew my mother left me something."
My father didn't answer.
And that hurt more than if he had lied.
The officer opened the pendant carefully.
Inside was a tiny piece of paper.
Folded perfectly.
My fingers trembled as I unfolded it.
Only one sentence was written.
One sentence.
In my mother's handwriting.
"Do not trust the person who raised you."
I stopped breathing.
The room became silent.
Because everyone knew what that meant.
My eyes slowly lifted toward my father.
He looked away.
Not because he was innocent.
Because he couldn't deny it anymore.
The officer took the note.
"We need to understand who this refers to."
My mother appeared again on the screen.
The video had resumed.
"There is one more thing you need to know, Elena."
I looked back.
My mother's face filled the screen.
"The person who helped me hide this truth..."
She paused.
"...was someone you still believe is dead."
My blood ran cold.
Dead.
Someone dead.
Someone connected to my mother's final days.
The officer looked at me.
"Do you know anyone who fits that description?"
I couldn't answer.
Because there was only one person.
One person who had disappeared the same night my mother died.
Someone everyone told me was gone forever.
My mother's voice became quieter.
"Elena, if you are seeing this, then he found you."
The video glitched.
My father suddenly looked toward the window.
Like he heard something.
The officer noticed.
"What is it?"
Nobody answered.
Then the house lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
The computer screen went black.
And a new message appeared.
Not from the video.
Not from the computer.
From somewhere else.
One sentence.
One name.
My father's face turned white.
Because the message was not for me.
May you like
It was for him.
"Richard, you failed to bury the truth."
