Chapter 13 - The Person Standing Beside My Daughters
The scream came again.
Not from a recording.
Not from a memory.
From upstairs.
My daughters.
My entire body reacted before my mind could process what was happening.
I ran.
Not walked.
Not moved carefully.
Ran.
The same man who had spent years calculating every decision, every risk, every possible outcome disappeared in that moment.
There was only one thought.
My daughters.
Behind me, I heard footsteps.
Victor.
Marcus.
Elise.
All of us moving toward the nursery.
The hallway seemed longer than ever before.
The same hallway where I had walked only days ago believing I understood my life.
The same hallway where I had discovered a nanny dancing with yellow gloves and saved my daughters from sadness without even realizing it.
Now every shadow felt dangerous.
Every sound felt like a warning.
I reached the nursery door.
It was open.
My heart stopped.
Because I knew I had closed it.
I always closed it.
A father learns small things.
The exact position of a crib.
The sound of a child waking.
The little details nobody else notices.
The door was open.
Someone had been inside.
I pushed it wider.
“Maisie!”
“Rosie!”
The room was not empty.
The twins were standing inside their crib, crying.
But they were not alone.
A woman stood beside them.
My body froze.
For one terrifying second, I thought it was Isabella.
The same posture.
The same way of holding herself.
The same gentle movement.
Then reality returned.
It wasn’t Isabella.
It was someone else.
An older woman.
Gray hair.
Tired eyes.
Holding one of my daughters’ blankets.
She turned toward me.
And whispered:
“Daniel.”
I immediately moved forward.
Victor stepped in front of me.
“Stay back.”
The woman looked at him.
Then smiled sadly.
“I knew you would still be protecting him.”
Victor froze.
That sentence changed everything.
Because she knew Victor.
Not just his name.
His role.
His relationship with me.
“Who are you?”
My voice was cold.
The woman looked at my daughters.
Then back at me.
“My name is Clara Hale.”
Nobody moved.
Marcus’s face changed instantly.
“No.”
The woman looked at him.
“Yes.”
I looked between them.
“Who is she?”
Marcus stepped forward slowly.
“She’s Richard Hale’s sister.”
The room went silent.
The person standing beside my daughters...
Was connected to the man who had destroyed everything.
I immediately reached for the security alert button.
But Clara spoke.
“Before you do that…”
Her voice broke.
“Please understand something.”
I stopped.
Not because I trusted her.
Because something about her voice sounded familiar.
Not dangerous.
Broken.
“I knew Isabella.”
That got my attention.
Everyone’s attention.
“How?”
Clara looked at the twins.
“She saved my life.”
I stared.
Again.
Everyone had a story.
Everyone had a connection to my wife.
Everyone knew a version of Isabella that I never saw.
“She helped me when my brother abandoned me.”
Marcus looked away.
“Clara…”
She turned toward him.
“You knew.”
Marcus didn’t answer.
“You knew Richard was destroying himself.”
Still silence.
My eyes narrowed.
“What is happening?”
Clara looked at me.
“Your wife was trying to stop a tragedy.”
“What tragedy?”
She looked at the hidden camera.
Then at the security system.
Then back at me.
“The one that has already started.”
A chill moved through me.
“You’re saying Richard is not behind this?”
“No.”
The answer was immediate.
“He is.”
A pause.
“But he is not the only one.”
Everyone became still.
I stepped closer.
“Who else?”
Clara looked at Victor.
Then Marcus.
Then Elise.
Then finally me.
“Someone who loved Isabella.”
The words felt familiar.
Too familiar.
The person responsible is not the one who hates us.
It is the one who believes they love us.
I looked at Marcus.
He looked back at me.
Both of us understood.
“Who?”
Clara closed her eyes.
“She never told me the name.”
My patience disappeared.
“Everyone keeps saying they don’t know.”
My voice rose.
“But somehow everyone knows enough to hide things from me.”
Clara looked hurt.
“Daniel—”
“No.”
I pointed toward my daughters.
“My wife died. Someone was watching my family. Someone changed her medical records. Someone invaded my home.”
My voice shook.
“And every person connected to her keeps telling me they were protecting me.”
The room became silent.
“Protecting me from what?”
Nobody answered.
Then Rosie reached toward Clara.
Everyone noticed.
Even me.
The baby who cried around strangers...
Was reaching for her.
That confused me.
Because my daughters had always been able to sense people.
They rejected anyone who made them uncomfortable.
But Rosie wasn’t afraid.
She was calm.
Clara slowly moved away.
“I’m sorry.”
She looked at the baby.
“I shouldn’t have come.”
“Why did you come?”
She looked at me.
“Because Isabella asked me to.”
My heart stopped.
“When?”
“Before she died.”
I stepped forward.
“Another promise?”
Clara nodded sadly.
“Yes.”
I closed my eyes.
I couldn’t believe it.
Another person.
Another secret.
Another piece of Isabella’s plan.
“What did she ask you to do?”
Clara reached into her bag.
She removed an old notebook.
The cover was worn.
The pages were yellow.
She placed it on the table.
“This belonged to Isabella.”
I looked at it.
“What is it?”
“Her private journal.”
My breathing stopped.
“You had my wife’s journal?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because she wanted me to keep it safe.”
“Why not leave it with me?”
Clara looked at me.
“Because the last thing Isabella wrote was about you.”
My stomach tightened.
“What did she write?”
Clara looked down.
“She wrote that the hardest thing she ever did was lie to the man she loved.”
The words hurt.
I opened the notebook.
The first pages were normal.
Thoughts.
Memories.
Pregnancy notes.
Little moments.
Then I reached the final pages.
And there it was.
A date.
Three days before the hospital.
My hands shook as I read.
Daniel is closer to the truth than he realizes.
I continued.
But I am afraid because the person who can hurt him most is the person he trusts without question.
My heart started racing.
I turned the page.
Only one sentence.
Only one name.
The name Isabella had hidden from everyone.
The name that explained everything.
I read it.
And my entire world stopped.
Because the person Isabella feared...
The person she believed was trying to “save” her...
Was not Richard.
Was not Marcus.
Was not Victor.
It was someone else.
Someone who had been beside me every single day.
Someone who had helped me survive after Isabella died.
Someone who knew every weakness in my family.
I looked up slowly.
Everyone saw my expression.
Elise whispered:
“Daniel?”
I couldn’t speak.
Because the name on the page belonged to the person I trusted most.
The person who had been protecting my family.
The person who had been watching over my daughters.
The person who had never left my side.
May you like
And now...
I finally understood why Isabella was afraid.
