Chapter 5 - The Truth Buried With My Father
The phone fell silent.
But nobody moved.
Nobody even breathed.
The words stayed in the air.
Ask Adrien why he let your father die.
I looked at Adrien.
Not because I believed the voice.
Because I needed to know why he looked like someone had just reopened an old wound.
His hand was still near his weapon.
But he wasn't looking at the phone.
He was looking at my mother.
Elena Collins.
My mother looked away.
That hurt more than anything.
Because I had spent six years imagining this moment.
I imagined her explaining.
I imagined her apologizing.
I imagined myself being angry.
But I never imagined standing between two people who knew the truth about my family while I knew nothing.
"My father..."
My voice cracked.
"Adrien?"
He didn't answer.
"Did you know my father?"
The silence was enough.
I stepped back.
"You knew him too."
Adrien finally looked at me.
"Yes."
My chest tightened.
"Who was he?"
He didn't respond immediately.
Then my mother spoke.
"His name was Daniel Collins."
I closed my eyes.
I knew that name.
Of course I did.
But only as a memory.
A faded photograph.
A voice I barely remembered.
A man who disappeared from my life before I was old enough to understand why.
I looked at my mother.
"You told me he died in an accident."
Her eyes filled with tears.
"He did."
"That's not what he said."
I pointed at the phone.
"He said Adrien let him die."
Adrien's expression hardened.
"That man was trying to manipulate you."
"Was he lying?"
No answer.
Again.
That silence was becoming unbearable.
I walked toward Adrien.
"I need the truth."
He looked at me.
"You deserve it."
For the first time, his voice sounded tired.
Not like a mafia boss.
Like a man carrying something too heavy for too long.
"Your father worked with me."
My mother's eyes closed.
"He wasn't involved in my business."
Adrien continued.
"He was investigating it."
I froze.
"Investigating you?"
"Not me."
He looked at the photographs on the wall.
"Someone inside my organization."
The hidden room suddenly felt smaller.
My father wasn't a victim of an accident.
He had been searching for something.
Something dangerous enough to get him killed.
"What did he find?"
Adrien walked to the board.
He removed several photographs.
Behind them was another layer.
Documents.
Names.
Dates.
Bank transfers.
My eyes moved across the papers.
One name appeared repeatedly.
Victor Hale.
I didn't recognize it.
But Adrien did.
His expression changed.
"He's still alive."
My mother looked at him.
"I told you."
Adrien stared at the file.
"You said he disappeared."
"He wanted everyone to believe that."
I looked between them.
"Who is Victor Hale?"
Nobody answered immediately.
Then Adrien said:
"The man who built the network inside my organization."
I frowned.
"Network?"
"A group of people who moved information, money, and secrets without my knowledge."
I looked at the board.
"And my father found them."
Adrien nodded.
"He found evidence."
"What kind of evidence?"
My mother walked toward me.
"The kind that could destroy powerful people."
I looked at her.
"And that's why you left me?"
She stopped.
The pain on her face was real.
"I left because they came after you."
I shook my head.
"You don't understand."
My voice became quieter.
"I spent six years thinking my own mother chose to leave."
She started crying.
"I know."
"No."
I looked away.
"You don't know what that feels like."
She didn't defend herself.
She just stood there.
And somehow that made it worse.
Adrien watched us silently.
Then his phone rang.
Everyone froze.
He checked the screen.
His expression changed.
"What is it?" I asked.
He didn't answer.
He walked toward the security monitor.
A new camera feed appeared.
The mansion entrance.
A black car was parked outside.
The driver door opened.
A man stepped out.
Older.
Gray hair.
Expensive suit.
Calm expression.
My mother immediately went pale.
"No."
Adrien looked at her.
"You know him."
She whispered:
"Victor."
The name hit the room.
Victor Hale.
The man who was supposed to have disappeared.
The man who had been hiding behind everything.
The man who knew about my family.
The camera showed him walking toward the mansion.
No guards stopped him.
That was the strangest part.
Everyone allowed him inside.
Which meant one thing.
Someone had given him permission.
Adrien noticed it too.
"Lock the mansion."
The guards immediately moved.
Doors closed.
Security systems activated.
But Victor didn't rush.
He walked slowly.
Like he owned the place.
Like he had done it before.
My phone vibrated.
Another message.
I looked down.
Unknown number.
This time, there was a photograph.
My hands started shaking.
It was an old picture.
My father.
Adrien.
Victor.
And someone else.
Someone standing beside them.
A woman.
A woman I had never seen before.
But Adrien recognized her.
Because the second he saw the picture...
he stopped breathing.
"Who is she?" I asked.
Adrien didn't answer.
My mother looked at the photograph.
Then at Adrien.
And whispered:
"You never told her."
I looked at both of them.
"Told me what?"
Nobody spoke.
The footsteps outside the hidden room grew louder.
Someone was coming closer.
Victor.
Or someone working for him.
Adrien stepped in front of me.
Protecting me again.
But this time I noticed something.
He wasn't protecting me from Victor.
He was protecting me from the truth.
The footsteps stopped.
Right outside the door.
My mother grabbed my hand.
Her voice was barely audible.
"Maya..."
I looked at her.
"There's something you need to know before he comes in."
The handle slowly turned.
The door opened.
May you like
And the person standing outside was not Victor Hale.
It was my father.
