Chapter 7 - The Name of the Dead Man
The phone kept ringing.
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
Because the name appearing on Grace's screen belonged to someone who wasn't supposed to exist.
My father.
Richard Harrison.
Dead for twelve years.
I stared at the screen.
The room felt like it was shrinking around us.
Grace's hand trembled.
Adrian looked at the phone like he was seeing a ghost.
Claire whispered:
"That can't be real."
But it was.
The name was there.
The call was still coming through.
I stepped closer.
"Answer it."
Grace looked at me.
"Elias..."
"Answer it."
Her finger hovered over the screen.
For a moment, I thought she would refuse.
Then she pressed accept.
Nobody spoke.
The speaker was silent.
Then a voice came through.
Older.
Weaker.
But familiar.
"Elias."
My entire body froze.
Because there are some voices you never forget.
Even after years.
Even after death.
"Father?"
The line went quiet.
Then he answered.
"You're finally asking the right questions."
I couldn't move.
My father was alive.
Or someone was pretending to be him.
Either possibility was impossible.
"Where are you?"
A pause.
"That doesn't matter."
My anger rose.
"No."
My voice became colder.
"You don't disappear for twelve years and tell me what matters."
Silence.
Then my father's voice softened.
"I deserved that."
I looked at Adrian.
He was staring at the phone.
Not with anger.
With pain.
Because he had lost our father too.
"Why did you let me believe you were dead?"
My father's voice changed.
"Because I needed everyone to believe it."
"Everyone?"
"Everyone."
I looked toward Grace.
Then Daniel's name appeared in my mind.
"Was Daniel involved?"
The silence that followed told me everything.
"Yes."
My jaw tightened.
"Why?"
My father's voice became lower.
"Because Daniel discovered something about our family."
"What?"
A pause.
Then:
"The truth about Adrian."
I looked at my brother.
Adrian looked back at me.
My father continued.
"When Adrian found the documents, he wasn't trying to expose Daniel."
"He was trying to protect you."
I closed my eyes.
All these years.
I thought Adrian abandoned me.
I thought he left me alone.
But he was protecting me.
"From what?"
The answer came slowly.
"From someone inside your own family."
Nobody spoke.
The basement suddenly felt colder.
I looked at Grace.
She looked terrified.
Not surprised.
Terrified.
And that told me something.
She knew more.
"Father."
My voice sharpened.
"Who?"
The line crackled.
Then my father said:
"Don't trust the person who stayed beside you after I died."
My heart stopped.
Because there was only one person who had stayed beside me after my father died.
One person who helped me rebuild.
One person who knew every weakness I had.
Daniel.
But something bothered me.
The message in the basement said:
The person you trust most is not Daniel.
So who was it?
Before I could ask, the call suddenly cut.
I stared at the phone.
"No."
I immediately called back.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Adrian walked toward me.
"He warned us."
I looked at him.
"About what?"
He pointed toward the screen.
The recording from my father was still frozen.
The final message remained.
Someone standing beside you.
My eyes moved slowly around the room.
Grace.
Adrian.
Claire.
Three people.
Three secrets.
One betrayal.
I walked back to the desk.
"We need to find everything in this room."
Nobody argued.
For the next hour, we searched every file.
Every drawer.
Every hidden compartment.
The basement wasn't just a secret room.
It was an archive.
Someone had spent years collecting information.
There were files on Daniel.
Files on my companies.
Files on my father.
And one file that made me stop.
Grace Harrison.
I stared at it.
Grace noticed.
"Elias..."
I opened it.
Inside were photographs.
Documents.
Messages.
But the first page was the thing that shocked me.
A handwritten note.
Not from my father.
Not from Daniel.
From Grace.
I looked at her.
"You wrote this?"
She didn't answer.
I read the first line.
"If Elias ever finds this, it means I failed."
My chest tightened.
I continued.
"I tried to protect him."
The next sentence was crossed out.
But still readable.
"I tried to protect him from the truth about me."
I looked up.
Grace was crying.
"Explain."
She sat down.
"I was going to tell you."
"You keep saying that."
"I know."
Her voice broke.
"But I was afraid."
"Afraid of Daniel?"
She shook her head.
"No."
A pause.
"Afraid of what you would think of me."
That surprised me.
"Why?"
She looked at the file.
"Because I wasn't supposed to meet you."
The room went silent.
"What does that mean?"
Grace took a deep breath.
"Before I knew you, I knew your family."
My eyes narrowed.
"How?"
"My father worked for yours."
I stared at her.
"What?"
"He knew about the documents."
"What documents?"
"The ones your father hid."
Adrian stepped closer.
"What was your father doing?"
Grace looked at him.
"Trying to expose the people who controlled Daniel."
My head was spinning.
"Then why marry me?"
The question escaped before I could stop it.
Grace looked at me.
And the pain in her eyes was worse than any answer.
"Because at first, I was supposed to get close to you."
Nobody spoke.
Then she whispered:
"But I fell in love with you."
The words hurt.
Because I believed her.
That was the worst part.
I believed her.
"And after that?"
She wiped her tears.
"After that, I tried to leave everything behind."
"But you couldn't."
She shook her head.
"No."
"Why?"
"Because Daniel found out who my father was."
My expression changed.
"Your father?"
She nodded.
"Your father's closest friend."
The room went silent.
"Your father knew my family."
"Then why didn't he tell me?"
Grace looked away.
"Because he was trying to protect both of us."
I turned back to the files.
There were too many missing pieces.
Too many people hiding things.
Then Claire suddenly spoke.
"Wait."
We all looked at her.
She was holding a small envelope.
"I found this inside the folder."
She handed it to me.
My name was written on it.
Not Elias.
Something else.
A name I had never seen.
I opened it.
Inside was a birth certificate.
My hands froze.
Because the name listed as my mother was not my mother.
I looked at Adrian.
Then Grace.
Then Claire.
"What is this?"
Nobody answered.
Then another paper fell out.
A note.
Three words.
"Ask your brother."
I looked at Adrian.
He looked confused.
"I don't know."
But before I could respond, every monitor in the basement turned on at once.
A live camera feed appeared.
It showed the mansion entrance.
Someone was standing outside.
Waiting.
The camera zoomed closer.
And I saw the face.
A face I had seen in old family photographs.
A face that belonged to someone who had been missing for twelve years.
Adrian whispered:
"That's impossible."
The person on the screen slowly raised their head.
Looked directly into the camera.
May you like
And said:
"Elias... you were never supposed to find out who your real family was."
