Chapter 7 - The Betrayal Inside The Family
The photograph stayed on my phone screen.
I couldn't look away.
Because the person standing behind my mother wasn't a stranger.
It was someone we trusted.
Someone who had been standing beside us since the beginning.
My fingers went cold.
I slowly turned my phone toward everyone.
Nobody spoke.
Adrian looked at the picture.
Then his face changed.
Not confusion.
Recognition.
"Who is it?"
I asked.
My voice barely came out.
Adrian didn't answer.
That scared me more than anything.
"Adrian."
He looked at Thomas.
Then Vanessa.
Finally, he looked at me.
"Zoom in."
I did.
The image became clearer.
The person behind my mother was partially hidden by the darkness.
Only half of the face was visible.
But it was enough.
Vanessa stepped backward.
"No."
Her voice broke.
"No, that's impossible."
I looked at her.
"You know who it is."
She shook her head.
"I don't."
But she was lying.
Everyone saw it.
Thomas moved closer to the phone.
His hands started shaking.
"Where did you get this?"
"Someone sent it to me."
"Who?"
"I don't know."
Adrian took the phone from my hand.
He stared at the picture.
Then he looked toward the windows.
"We need to leave."
I frowned.
"What?"
"Now."
I didn't move.
"No."
Adrian looked at me.
"Olivia."
"I spent fifteen years running from a lie."
My voice became stronger.
"I am not running again."
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then my mother stepped beside me.
"She's right."
Everyone looked at her.
She looked toward the hidden room.
"We spent too many years hiding."
Thomas looked at her.
"You don't understand."
She looked back.
"No."
Her voice was calm.
"You don't understand."
She pointed toward the box.
"The truth has been buried long enough."
Adrian looked at the recorder.
"There is still one thing we don't know."
I turned toward him.
"What?"
He looked serious.
"Who was the woman on the recording?"
The same question had been in my mind.
The voice.
The warning.
The person who knew everything.
Before anyone could answer, we heard something outside.
A car door closing.
Everyone froze.
Adrian immediately turned off the lights.
The house went dark.
We stood silently.
Listening.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Careful.
Someone was walking toward the house.
My mother grabbed my hand.
A strange feeling passed through me.
Because even after everything...
even after fifteen years...
that small gesture still felt familiar.
Like she was still my mother.
Like no time had passed.
The footsteps stopped outside the front door.
Nobody breathed.
Then someone knocked.
Three times.
Thomas looked terrified.
"That's impossible."
I whispered.
"Who is it?"
He didn't answer.
The door opened slowly.
But nobody was there.
Only an envelope on the floor.
Adrian waited before moving.
Then he picked it up.
There was no name.
Only one sentence.
"Your family lied about who survived the fire."
My heart dropped.
Thomas took the envelope.
He opened it.
Inside was another photograph.
An old one.
A family picture.
My parents.
Me.
And someone else.
A little girl.
I stared at it.
I had never seen her before.
"Who is that?"
Nobody answered.
Then my mother covered her mouth.
Because she knew.
"Mom?"
Her eyes filled with tears.
"Olivia..."
She looked at the photograph.
"That's your sister."
The world stopped.
"My what?"
I thought I heard wrong.
"My sister?"
My mother nodded slowly.
"I thought she died."
I looked at Thomas.
"You had another child?"
His face was full of pain.
"We thought we lost both of you."
I felt anger rising.
"Both of us?"
Nobody told me.
Nobody.
My entire life had been built on missing pieces.
A missing mother.
A missing father.
Now a missing sister.
"Where is she?"
My mother looked away.
"I don't know."
The answer hurt.
Before I could ask more, Adrian picked up the photograph.
His expression changed.
"What?"
I looked at him.
He turned the picture around.
There was writing on the back.
A date.
And a location.
The date was only three years ago.
The same year Emma Vale disappeared.
The same year everyone believed she died.
Adrian whispered:
"No..."
I looked at him.
"What?"
He showed me the back.
A name was written underneath the location.
Emma Vale.
My stomach tightened.
"Emma was my sister?"
Nobody answered.
But nobody needed to.
The truth was becoming impossible to ignore.
Adrian walked away from the group.
He looked overwhelmed.
I followed him.
"You knew something."
He stopped.
"I suspected."
"You suspected?"
His voice was quiet.
"Emma wasn't just my father's employee."
I waited.
"She was adopted by my family."
My eyes widened.
"What?"
Adrian looked at the floor.
"My father hid her existence."
"Why?"
"Because she knew too much."
I stared at him.
"About the fire?"
He nodded.
"About everything."
A loud sound suddenly came from upstairs.
Everyone looked up.
The old house creaked.
But that sound wasn't the house.
It was a door.
Opening.
Thomas immediately grabbed a flashlight.
"There is no one upstairs."
Adrian looked at him.
"Are you sure?"
Thomas didn't answer.
That was enough.
We moved toward the staircase.
Every step felt heavier.
The upstairs hallway was covered in dust.
But there were footprints.
Fresh footprints.
Someone had been here.
Recently.
My mother stopped in front of a bedroom.
I knew that room.
My old bedroom.
She opened the door slowly.
Inside, everything was frozen in time.
My childhood toys.
My old books.
The same curtains.
But on the bed was something new.
A small wooden box.
My name was carved into it.
OLIVIA.
I walked closer.
Nobody touched it.
Because everyone was afraid of what was inside.
I opened the box.
Inside was a video tape.
And a note.
The handwriting was mine.
But I didn't write it.
The note said:
"Play this when you finally know the truth."
I looked at everyone.
"Who wrote this?"
My mother stepped closer.
Her face turned pale.
Because she recognized the handwriting.
"It's not yours."
She whispered.
"It's hers."
I looked down.
"Hers?"
My mother touched the note.
And said a name I had never expected.
"Your sister."
A small screen inside the box suddenly turned on.
The video started automatically.
A young girl appeared.
Older than the child in the photograph.
Around my age.
She looked directly into the camera.
And the first words she said made everyone freeze.
"Olivia..."
Her voice trembled.
"If you're watching this, it means they failed to keep us apart."
The video glitched.
Then she continued.
"But there is something you need to know before you trust anyone."
She looked frightened.
Especially when she said the next sentence.
"The person who destroyed our family..."
The screen suddenly went black.
Everyone stared.
Then the video restarted.
But this time, there was a different message.
A live message.
Not a recording.
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A single sentence appeared:
"Turn around. She is standing behind you."
