Chapter 2 - The Name Hidden In The Past
The voice from the laptop repeated my name.
"Evelyn..."
I couldn't move.
I couldn't blink.
I just stared at the screen as the face slowly became clearer.
The video quality was old.
The lighting was poor.
But I knew that voice.
I knew that face.
It was impossible.
Because the person looking back at me was someone everyone told me had disappeared twelve years ago.
My father.
Richard Carter.
The man I was told had abandoned us.
The man my mother refused to talk about.
The man whose name disappeared from every family photo after one terrible night.
My hand covered my mouth.
"No..."
The word came out like a whisper.
The entire wedding reception had become silent.
Nobody cared about the cake.
Nobody cared about the speeches.
Nobody cared about the music that was still playing softly in the background.
Everyone was watching me.
Everyone was watching the screen.
Except my mother.
She had turned away.
Like she couldn't face the truth anymore.
"Evelyn, turn it off," she said.
Her voice was shaking.
I slowly looked at her.
"Why?"
She didn't answer.
"Why would my father be on this laptop?"
Her eyes filled with tears.
"Because you were never supposed to find it."
Those words hurt more than the video itself.
Because they confirmed one thing.
She knew.
She had always known.
I looked back at the screen.
My father's younger face appeared.
He looked tired.
Older than I remembered.
But he was alive.
And he was speaking directly to me.
"Evelyn, if you are watching this, it means I couldn't come back the way I promised."
My heart started racing.
The people around me exchanged nervous looks.
Adrian stepped closer.
"Evelyn..."
I raised my hand.
Not because I didn't want him near me.
Because I needed one moment where nobody could control what happened next.
I pressed play.
My father's voice continued.
"I know you have questions. I know your mother told you a different story. But before you believe anyone, you need to understand one thing."
The video paused.
A glitch crossed the screen.
Then my father's voice became quieter.
"The night I disappeared wasn't an accident."
A cold feeling moved through my body.
I looked at my mother.
She was crying now.
Not quietly.
Not hiding.
Actually crying.
The same woman who always told me to be strong was breaking in front of everyone.
"What happened that night?" I asked.
She didn't answer.
Adrian did.
And that scared me.
"Evelyn, we need to talk somewhere private."
I turned toward him.
"Why do you know about this?"
His face changed.
Only for a second.
But I saw it.
Recognition.
Fear.
Guilt.
"You knew."
It wasn't a question.
Adrian looked away.
"I knew your father's name."
The guests started whispering again.
I felt like the ground beneath me was disappearing.
"You knew my father?"
He took a breath.
"I knew there was a connection between our families."
"Connection?"
My voice became louder.
"You let me marry you without telling me that?"
"I was trying to protect you."
I laughed.
But there was no happiness in it.
"Everyone says that when they are hiding something."
Nobody spoke.
The video continued playing.
My father's voice returned.
"If Adrian Cole is with you when you find this message, then you need to be careful."
My body froze.
Adrian heard it too.
His face turned pale.
My father continued.
"I don't know if he knows the truth. I don't know if he is involved. But the Cole family has been connected to what happened to me."
Adrian stepped backward.
"No..."
For the first time, he looked completely shocked.
Like he was hearing this for the first time.
I looked between them.
"My father blamed your family."
Adrian shook his head.
"That's not possible."
"Why?"
Because he couldn't answer.
That was the answer.
I closed the laptop.
The sound echoed through the silent reception.
"I want everyone who knows the truth to stay here."
Nobody moved.
"I want answers."
My mother wiped her tears.
"Evelyn, you don't understand what you're asking."
"I understand perfectly."
I stood up from my chair.
My wedding dress felt heavier than before.
The same dress I had chosen because I believed this was the beginning of my happiest life.
Now it felt like I was wearing it into a courtroom.
"Someone spent twelve years lying to me."
I looked at my mother.
"Someone made me believe my father left because he didn't love me."
Then I looked at Adrian.
"And someone knew enough to warn me about you."
His eyes softened.
"Evelyn, I never wanted to hurt you."
"Then tell me the truth."
Silence.
That silence answered everything.
A few minutes later, the wedding guests were asked to leave.
The celebration ended before the first dance.
Before the cake was cut.
Before I even removed my veil.
Only a few people remained.
My mother.
Adrian.
And an older man I recognized as Adrian's uncle, Charles Cole.
I had seen him before.
A respected businessman.
A man everyone admired.
A man who had congratulated me earlier.
Now he looked terrified.
I noticed his hands were shaking.
"You know something too," I said.
Charles didn't deny it.
"I knew your father."
My eyes narrowed.
"How?"
He looked at Adrian.
Then back at me.
"Because Richard Carter came to me the night before he disappeared."
The room went silent.
"What did he say?"
Charles swallowed.
"He said he discovered something about both our families."
"What kind of thing?"
He looked toward the laptop.
"The kind of thing that could destroy powerful people."
My mother closed her eyes.
"You should have never opened that computer."
I turned toward her.
"Why?"
She looked at me.
Because she was finally ready to admit something.
"Because that laptop wasn't meant for you."
My heart stopped.
"What?"
She slowly walked toward the table.
"There was another person supposed to receive it."
"Who?"
She didn't answer immediately.
Instead, she looked at Adrian.
And Adrian looked at me.
Then my mother whispered:
"The person who sent it wanted you to find out the truth from them first."
A notification suddenly appeared on the laptop.
Everyone turned.
The screen had turned on by itself.
A new message appeared.
No sender.
No number.
Just four words.
HE IS STILL WATCHING YOU.
My breathing stopped.
Adrian stepped closer.
"Who is this?"
Nobody answered.
Then another message appeared.
This time with a photo.
A photo taken moments earlier.
Inside the wedding reception.
I stared at the image.
It showed me sitting at the table.
Opening the laptop.
Everyone around me.
But there was one more person in the picture.
Standing behind me.
Someone who had been there the entire time.
Someone I didn't notice.
My hand trembled as I zoomed in.
The face became clearer.
And my mother whispered the name I had never heard before.
"That can't be..."
Because the person standing behind me in the photo was supposed to have died twelve years ago.
May you like
And then the laptop received one final message.
TURN AROUND, EVELYN.
