Chapter 5 - The Man Who Knew My Father
The front door handle moved again.
Slowly.
Once.
Twice.
Everyone in the kitchen froze.
I stared at the door.
My body wanted to run.
My mind wanted answers.
And my heart wanted to believe this was all some horrible misunderstanding.
But deep down, I knew better.
People did not break into your home because of a misunderstanding.
They did not send pictures of you sleeping.
They did not threaten you with your own father's secrets.
Daniel stepped in front of me.
For a moment, I almost forgot everything.
Almost.
Because that was the man I used to know.
The man who stood between me and danger.
The man who held my hand when I was scared.
Then I remembered the truth.
He was also the man who caused the danger.
"Move," I whispered.
Daniel looked back at me.
"Emily."
"Move."
Something changed in his face.
Maybe he realized I wasn't asking.
I wasn't the woman who begged him to listen anymore.
I was the woman who had finally seen him clearly.
Rachel grabbed my arm.
"We need another way out."
Victoria suddenly spoke.
"There is no other way."
We all looked at her.
She looked nervous.
Too nervous.
Rachel's eyes narrowed.
"You knew."
Victoria shook her head.
"I didn't."
"You knew there was a second entrance."
Silence.
I looked at Victoria.
"What does she mean?"
Victoria didn't answer.
That was becoming a pattern.
Everyone knew something.
Everyone except me.
I laughed quietly.
It wasn't because anything was funny.
It was because I couldn't believe how long I had lived inside a story everyone else understood.
"My entire life is a secret meeting I wasn't invited to."
Daniel looked at me.
"Emily, listen to me."
"No."
I stepped back.
"Every time you say that, I learn something new about you."
The front door shook.
Someone was outside.
Waiting.
Not rushing.
Not panicking.
That scared me most.
Whoever was out there knew they had time.
Rachel moved toward the hallway.
"We can't stay here."
Daniel followed.
I stopped him.
"Where are you going?"
He looked at me.
"To get us out."
I stared at him.
"Why?"
He frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"Why help me now?"
The question hung between us.
Because it mattered.
If Daniel had been pretending for years, then every action had another meaning.
Every word.
Every touch.
Every promise.
"I don't know if I can trust you anymore."
His expression broke slightly.
And for one second, I saw the man I married.
But then I remembered the recording.
The lies.
The files.
The photographs.
I looked away.
Rachel walked to the bookshelf near the living room.
"There."
She pointed.
Behind a row of books was a small wooden panel.
I stared.
"You knew about that?"
She nodded.
"Your father showed me once."
My heart stopped.
"My father?"
Rachel pulled the panel open.
Behind it was a small compartment.
Empty.
Except for one thing.
A piece of paper.
She grabbed it.
Then she froze.
"What?"
She didn't answer.
I walked closer.
Her hands were shaking.
On the paper was my father's handwriting.
Only one sentence.
"If Emily finds this, Daniel failed."
I looked at Daniel.
He went completely still.
Rachel looked at him.
"What did you do?"
Daniel didn't respond.
I felt sick.
Because that sentence wasn't a warning.
It was an accusation.
"You were supposed to protect me."
Daniel closed his eyes.
"I tried."
"No."
My voice became louder.
"You were supposed to protect me, but you married me instead."
He looked at me.
"I was trying to get close enough to find the people who killed your father."
The words landed like a weapon.
I couldn't move.
"Killed?"
Rachel looked at Daniel.
"You never told her that part?"
I felt my throat tighten.
"My father died in an accident."
Rachel shook her head.
"No."
The room became silent.
"Your father was murdered."
I grabbed the counter.
Everything around me felt unreal.
The funeral.
The police report.
The years of believing I knew how my father died.
All of it.
A lie.
Daniel stepped closer.
"Emily, I wanted to tell you."
"When?"
He stopped.
"After I found the file."
I laughed.
A painful laugh.
"So you were waiting for the right moment to tell your wife her father was murdered and her husband entered her life as part of an investigation?"
He had no answer.
That was the answer.
A loud crash came from the front of the house.
The door finally broke open.
Rachel turned off the flashlight.
"Someone is inside."
We moved.
Not together.
Not as a family.
As strangers trapped in the same nightmare.
Daniel pushed the hidden panel closed.
Victoria stayed near the wall.
I noticed something.
She wasn't afraid of the person entering.
She was afraid of what they would find.
That difference mattered.
We heard footsteps.
Slow.
Controlled.
Coming closer.
Rachel whispered:
"There is a basement exit."
I looked at her.
"How do you know?"
She hesitated.
"Because I used it before."
Before.
That word bothered me.
Before tonight.
Before she came here.
Before everything exploded.
"You've been in this house before."
Rachel looked at me.
"Yes."
My stomach dropped.
"When?"
She didn't answer.
Then a voice came from the living room.
A man's voice.
Calm.
Almost polite.
"Daniel."
Everyone froze.
The voice continued.
"You always were terrible at keeping secrets."
Daniel's face changed.
Not fear.
Recognition.
He knew that voice.
I looked at him.
"Who is that?"
Daniel whispered one name.
"Michael."
The man from the documents.
The man connected to my father.
The man behind everything.
My hands went cold.
Michael Voss walked slowly into the kitchen.
He looked nothing like a criminal.
That was the terrifying part.
He wore a gray suit.
Perfectly clean.
Calm expression.
A smile that didn't reach his eyes.
He looked at me.
Then at my stomach.
Then at Daniel.
"She finally found out."
Nobody spoke.
Michael smiled.
"I was wondering how long it would take."
Rachel stepped forward.
"You shouldn't be here."
Michael looked at her.
"You never were good at following instructions."
My heart raced.
"Who are you?"
Michael looked directly at me.
And for some reason, that scared me more than anything else.
Because he didn't look like he was meeting me for the first time.
He looked like he already knew me.
"I knew your father."
I swallowed.
"How?"
He smiled.
"Because before he died, he gave me something."
Daniel stepped forward.
"Don't."
Michael ignored him.
He reached inside his coat.
And pulled out a small black notebook.
My father's notebook.
The same one from the video.
My breath disappeared.
Michael placed it on the table.
Then he opened it.
"Your father left one final message."
He looked at me.
"And it wasn't for Daniel."
The room went silent.
Michael turned the notebook around.
The first page had one sentence written in my father's handwriting.
My hands started shaking as I read it.
"Emily, if you are reading this, trust nobody in this room."
Then Michael turned the page.
May you like
And my father's next words revealed a name I never expected.
A name that made Daniel step backward.
