Chapter 6 - The Truth I Was Never Supposed To Remember
The voice behind me was mine.
Not someone else's.
Not a stranger's.
Mine.
I slowly turned around.
Nobody was standing there.
Only the old mirror on the wall.
For a moment, I couldn't understand what I was seeing.
Then I noticed the reflection.
A small recording device was attached behind the frame.
My own voice came from it again.
"If you found this, then you finally discovered what you did to your own family."
The room became completely silent.
Victoria looked at me.
My father looked away.
Richard lowered his head.
And suddenly, I understood something.
They weren't afraid of the box.
They were afraid of what was inside it.
I grabbed the recording device and pressed the button.
My own voice continued.
"Alexander, if you're hearing this, something went wrong."
My breathing slowed.
The voice sounded younger.
Seven years younger.
More confident.
Before everything changed.
"I don't know who will find this message. Maybe me. Maybe someone else."
A pause.
"If it's me, then I need to remember."
I looked at everyone.
"Remember what?"
Nobody answered.
The recording continued.
"There is someone inside our family who has been moving money from employees for years."
My eyes moved toward the documents.
Rosa.
The stolen payments.
The fake signatures.
The same crime.
"But the money was never the real problem."
The recording paused.
"The money was only a distraction."
My fingers tightened around the device.
"What does that mean?"
My father finally spoke.
"Alexander..."
I turned toward him.
"No."
My voice was quiet.
"But you're going to explain."
He looked at me.
"I tried."
"You tried?"
I laughed without humor.
"You disappeared."
His face showed pain.
"I disappeared because I found out the truth."
"Then tell me."
Nobody moved.
My father took a deep breath.
"Seven years ago, you discovered someone was using our company to create fake accounts."
I stared at him.
"And?"
"You confronted them."
"Who?"
My father didn't answer.
I already knew.
The silence gave me the answer.
But I needed to hear it.
"Who?"
Richard stepped forward.
"Alexander."
I looked at him.
"You know."
He nodded.
"I do."
My heart sank.
"Then say it."
Richard looked toward Victoria.
Then toward my father.
Finally, he said:
"Your mother."
The words felt impossible.
My mother's name.
A person who had been gone for ten years.
A person I remembered as kind.
Warm.
The center of our family.
"No."
Richard didn't look away.
"She wasn't the person you thought she was."
My hands shook slightly.
"Careful."
My voice became cold.
"You are talking about my mother."
"I know."
"Then prove it."
Richard reached into the envelope.
He pulled out another document.
"This is from your mother's private account."
I took it.
The account records were old.
But the numbers were clear.
Large transfers.
Hidden companies.
Payments to unknown people.
I looked at the dates.
The transfers started before my father's disappearance.
I looked up.
"Why would she do this?"
Nobody answered.
Then Victoria spoke.
"Because she believed the family belonged to her."
I turned toward my sister.
"What are you saying?"
Victoria looked exhausted.
"Mom didn't want to lose control."
The room felt smaller.
"Control of what?"
"Everything."
She walked closer.
"She believed father was giving too much power to you."
I stared at her.
"Me?"
Victoria nodded.
"After you took over the company, she thought you were destroying what she built."
I looked at the documents again.
"So she stole from employees?"
"No."
Victoria's voice became quieter.
"Someone convinced her to start."
That caught my attention.
"Someone?"
My father looked at Richard.
Richard nodded.
"Your mother wasn't working alone."
I looked between them.
"Who was with her?"
Nobody answered.
The silence was unbearable.
Then my phone vibrated.
Another message.
This time, not from an unknown number.
A saved contact.
A name I hadn't seen in years.
Mom.
My entire body froze.
That was impossible.
My mother's number had been disconnected years ago.
Everyone saw my face change.
"What is it?" Victoria asked.
I showed them the screen.
A message had arrived.
One sentence.
"I know what they told you."
My fingers went cold.
Another message appeared.
"But they never told you what happened the night your father disappeared."
I looked at my father.
He looked terrified.
Not surprised.
Terrified.
"She can't be alive."
Nobody responded.
The phone rang.
The same name appeared.
Mom.
The room went completely silent.
I stared at the screen.
Nobody moved.
Finally, I answered.
"Hello?"
For several seconds, there was only breathing.
Then a woman's voice.
Older.
Tired.
But familiar.
"Alexander."
I closed my eyes.
Because I knew that voice.
It was impossible.
But I knew.
"Mom?"
Victoria covered her mouth.
My father took a step back.
The woman on the phone whispered:
"I'm sorry."
My grip tightened.
"Where are you?"
A pause.
Then:
"Far away from the people who wanted me gone."
I looked at my father.
"Who wanted you gone?"
Silence.
Then she said:
"Your father knows."
My eyes moved toward him.
"Is that true?"
My father didn't answer.
That was enough.
The woman continued.
"Alexander, you need to listen carefully."
Her voice became urgent.
"The person you are looking for is not Harrison."
I froze.
"What?"
"The person who stole from those employees..."
A pause.
"...is the person standing closest to you right now."
Everyone looked at each other.
My heart started beating faster.
I looked around the room.
My father.
Victoria.
Richard.
The three people who knew the most.
The three people who had been hiding things from me.
The woman on the phone whispered:
"Do not trust anyone in that room."
Then the call ended.
I stood there holding the phone.
Nobody spoke.
Then Richard looked toward the hallway.
His face changed.
"What?"
I followed his eyes.
At the end of the corridor was a shadow.
Someone had been listening.
Someone had heard everything.
The figure slowly stepped forward.
May you like
And when the light revealed the person's face, I realized the one person I never suspected had been standing outside the door the entire time.
It was Rosa.
