Chapter 5 - The Truth Sabrina Never Expected
The door handle stopped turning.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
The entire hospital room felt frozen.
I stared at the door.
My heart was beating so loudly that I could barely hear anything else.
Someone was outside.
Someone who knew I was awake.
Someone who knew Sabrina was here.
Olivia slowly raised her weapon.
"Stay behind me."
I wanted to listen.
I wanted to hide.
But I was tired of hiding.
I had spent days lying in a hospital bed while everyone around me decided my future without asking me.
Ethan thought he could destroy my life.
Claire thought she could betray me.
Sabrina thought she could protect me from the shadows.
Everyone had made choices for me.
I was done allowing that.
I slowly pushed myself upright.
The pain immediately returned.
My body reminded me of everything Ethan had taken from me.
My face.
My wedding.
My trust.
But pain was no longer the thing I feared most.
The truth was.
The door opened.
Slowly.
A man stepped inside.
Not Ethan.
Not Claire.
Not anyone I expected.
It was an older man wearing a dark coat.
His face was familiar.
Not because I had met him.
Because I had seen him in old photographs.
My father's business partner.
The man who disappeared after my father's death.
"Daniel Whitmore."
Sabrina whispered the name.
The man's eyes moved toward her.
"You survived."
Sabrina's face changed.
"How do you know about me?"
Daniel didn't answer.
Instead, he looked at me.
"Genevieve."
I felt a strange feeling in my chest.
Like I had heard my father's voice.
The same concern.
The same sadness.
"What do you want?"
Daniel looked at the bandages covering my face.
For the first time, his expression softened.
"I wanted to see if Ethan succeeded."
My fingers tightened.
"Succeeded?"
He nodded.
"Destroying you."
The room became silent.
I didn't need more confirmation.
Ethan's plan was bigger than I thought.
Much bigger.
"Who are you really working for?"
Olivia asked.
Daniel looked at her.
"Still protecting people who don't understand the game?"
Olivia stepped forward.
"Answer the question."
Daniel ignored her.
He looked at the photograph on the table.
The photograph of him and my father.
"Your father discovered something five years ago."
I swallowed.
"What?"
"Ethan wasn't stealing from your company."
I stared at him.
"Then what was he doing?"
Daniel looked directly at me.
"He was building a way to take control of it."
I shook my head.
"My father died before that could happen."
Daniel's expression changed.
"No."
A cold feeling moved through me.
"What?"
"Your father didn't die before Ethan succeeded."
He paused.
"He died because Ethan succeeded."
The words hit me like another attack.
I looked at Sabrina.
She looked away.
Because she already knew.
"My father was murdered?"
Daniel didn't answer immediately.
That silence was enough.
I felt my hands shaking.
Five years.
Five years I believed I had lost my father because of an accident.
Five years I visited his grave.
Five years I blamed circumstances.
Not a person.
Not Ethan.
"What does this have to do with me?"
Daniel stepped closer.
"Everything."
He reached into his coat and pulled out a small device.
A memory drive.
"Your father left this for you."
I stared.
"Why didn't you give it to me before?"
"Because I didn't know who I could trust."
His eyes moved toward Sabrina.
Then Olivia.
Then me.
"He was right."
The room became tense.
"What is on it?"
Daniel looked at the device.
"The reason Ethan chose you."
I felt my stomach tighten.
"Chosen me?"
Daniel nodded.
"You think Ethan fell in love with you."
I said nothing.
Because hearing those words hurt.
Even now.
"That wasn't the truth."
My eyes filled with anger.
"Then what was?"
Daniel looked at me.
"You were the final piece."
The final piece.
Those words repeated in my head.
I hated how familiar they sounded.
Like my entire life had been a puzzle created by someone else.
"What piece?"
Daniel looked at Sabrina.
"You should tell her."
Sabrina froze.
"No."
Daniel's voice became harder.
"She deserves to know."
I looked between them.
"Know what?"
Sabrina closed her eyes.
For several seconds, she said nothing.
Then she whispered:
"Ethan didn't find you because of your family."
I waited.
"He found you because of me."
The room went silent.
"What?"
Sabrina looked at me.
"My real name is Amelia Cross."
I stared.
The name meant nothing.
But her expression told me it should.
"I was Ethan's first target."
She continued.
"Before you."
I felt a chill.
"What did he want from you?"
"Information."
"About what?"
She looked at the memory drive.
"Your father."
I took a step back.
"No."
Sabrina nodded.
"Ethan believed your father hid something before he died."
"What?"
"A list."
Daniel answered.
"A list of every person involved in Ethan's operation."
I looked at him.
"And my father had it?"
"Yes."
"Where?"
Daniel looked at me.
"He hid it somewhere only you could find."
My mind raced.
I thought about my childhood.
My father's office.
His old journals.
The things I thought were meaningless.
Suddenly, everything had another purpose.
"He never told me."
"He couldn't."
Daniel's voice became quiet.
"Because Ethan was already watching."
I looked at Sabrina.
"You knew?"
She looked ashamed.
"Not everything."
"But enough."
She nodded.
"I knew Ethan was dangerous."
"Then why didn't you warn me?"
Her eyes filled with tears.
"Because every person who tried to expose him disappeared."
The room went silent.
I looked at the hospital monitor.
The screen was still black.
But I knew Ethan was still watching.
He was always watching.
Olivia took the memory drive from Daniel.
"We need to leave now."
"Why?"
Her face became serious.
"Because this room is compromised."
As if proving her point, the lights suddenly turned off.
The hospital went completely dark.
A second later, emergency lights turned on.
Red.
Flashing.
An alarm started.
Everyone froze.
Then the hospital speaker came alive.
A voice echoed through the room.
Ethan.
"Genevieve."
My blood ran cold.
"You always were smarter than I gave you credit for."
Olivia looked at the ceiling.
"He hacked the hospital system."
Ethan continued.
"But you made one mistake."
The speaker crackled.
"You trusted the wrong person."
Everyone looked at each other.
My eyes moved toward Daniel.
Then Sabrina.
Then Olivia.
I hated that Ethan's words still had power.
Because the worst part was...
I didn't know if he was lying.
Or warning me.
A notification appeared on the black monitor.
One file.
One video.
The title appeared:
THE PERSON WHO HELPED ETHAN
My breathing stopped.
Olivia stepped closer.
"Don't open it."
But I already knew.
I needed to know.
I pressed play.
The screen turned on.
A security camera video appeared.
A woman walked into Ethan's office.
She placed a folder on his desk.
Then she turned toward the camera.
I recognized her immediately.
My heart dropped.
Because the woman helping Ethan was not Sabrina.
It was not Claire.
It was someone I trusted more than anyone.
Someone who had been beside me the night of the attack.
The video zoomed in.
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And the woman whispered:
"Genevieve will never know that I was the one who..."
