Chapter 6 - The Father I Never Knew
The screen went black.
The basement door locked.
And my mother's final words remained trapped in my head.
"Your real father is..."
I stared at the computer.
Waiting.
Hoping the video would continue.
Nothing.
The screen stayed dark.
Marcus immediately rushed toward the door.
He pulled the handle.
Locked.
He tried again.
Nothing.
"Daniel."
His voice was different.
Not afraid.
Panicked.
"Move away from the door."
I looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because whoever locked us in here knows we found the video."
I looked around the basement.
The hidden room.
The files.
The documents.
Everything my father had buried.
And suddenly I understood.
This wasn't just a secret room.
It was a prison.
A place where my family had hidden the truth for decades.
I walked back toward the computer.
"The video."
Marcus looked at me.
"What?"
"It stopped exactly before the name."
He nodded slowly.
"Someone interrupted it."
"Who?"
Marcus didn't answer.
Then the lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
The computer turned back on.
The video file appeared again.
But something was different.
There was another file.
A new one.
Created moments ago.
The name was simple.
"Watch This."
My hands became cold.
"That wasn't there before."
Marcus stared at the screen.
"Daniel..."
"What?"
"Don't open it."
I looked at him.
"Why?"
Because he already knew.
He had seen something like this before.
Marcus stepped closer.
"Because some truths are not meant to be found."
I looked at him.
"No."
I clicked the file.
The video started.
This time, it wasn't my mother.
It was Isabella.
My wife.
Sitting in a dark room.
Her face was pale.
But she was alive.
"Daniel."
My breath stopped.
She looked directly into the camera.
"If you're watching this, then I failed to keep you away from them."
I moved closer.
"Isabella..."
The recording continued.
"I wanted to tell you everything."
She looked down.
"But every time I tried, someone was watching."
Her eyes filled with tears.
"I didn't know who I could trust."
I looked at Marcus.
Then back at the screen.
"I found the documents in your grandfather's office."
Isabella continued.
"I found your original birth records."
My heart tightened.
"And I found the name of your real father."
The video paused.
She took a deep breath.
Then whispered:
"But that wasn't the worst part."
The screen shook slightly.
Like she had moved the camera.
Then I saw something behind her.
A wall.
A painting.
A room I recognized.
My own house.
She was inside my mansion.
Not the hospital.
Not the clinic.
My home.
"When I found out who he was..."
She looked terrified.
"I realized your entire family was built on a lie."
The video suddenly glitched.
Then a man's voice came from behind the camera.
"Isabella."
She turned.
Her face changed.
The recording ended.
I sat frozen.
Because I knew that voice.
I had heard it my entire life.
My father's voice.
The basement door suddenly unlocked.
The handle moved.
Slowly.
Marcus stepped in front of me.
The door opened.
But nobody was there.
Only a small envelope on the floor.
My name was written on it.
Daniel.
I picked it up.
Marcus looked nervous.
"Don't."
I ignored him.
Inside was a single piece of paper.
A location.
And one sentence.
"Come alone if you want Isabella back."
My hands tightened.
Marcus looked at the paper.
"No."
"What?"
"This is a trap."
I looked at him.
"Maybe."
"Daniel."
"But Isabella is alive."
He had no answer.
Because he knew I was right.
I walked toward the stairs.
Marcus followed.
"You can't go alone."
I stopped.
The words from the message stayed in my head.
Come alone.
I looked at him.
"You said you protected my mother."
Marcus nodded.
"I tried."
"And you failed."
His expression changed.
I continued.
"I can't let you fail again."
He looked hurt.
But he understood.
The location was an abandoned building outside the city.
A place nobody used anymore.
The kind of place where people disappeared.
I parked the car nearby.
I didn't bring Marcus.
I didn't tell my father.
I didn't tell anyone.
For the first time in my life...
I made my own decision.
The building was silent.
I entered through the broken entrance.
"Isabella?"
My voice echoed.
Nothing.
I walked deeper.
Then I saw something.
A chair.
A table.
And a photograph.
I picked it up.
It was a picture of my mother.
But she wasn't alone.
She was standing beside another man.
The same man from the video.
The man who was supposed to be my real father.
I turned the picture over.
A name was written behind it.
"Richard Hale."
I whispered the name.
I had never heard it before.
But somehow...
It felt familiar.
Then a voice came from behind me.
"Because your father made sure you never would."
I turned.
A man stood in the doorway.
Older.
Gray hair.
Calm eyes.
But I recognized him immediately.
Not from memory.
From the photographs.
From the hidden files.
From my mother's video.
"Richard..."
The man looked at me.
For a moment, his expression broke.
Like he was seeing a child he lost.
Then he whispered:
"Daniel."
My heart stopped.
"You know me."
He smiled sadly.
"I knew you before anyone else did."
I stepped back.
"Are you my father?"
The man looked down.
And that was enough.
I already knew.
But before he could answer...
A sound came from upstairs.
A woman's voice.
"Daniel."
I froze.
Because I knew that voice.
"Isabella?"
Richard's face changed.
Fear.
Real fear.
He looked toward the ceiling.
Then back at me.
"She's here."
I moved toward the stairs.
But Richard grabbed my arm.
"No."
"Let go."
"Daniel, you don't understand."
I pulled away.
"I spent my whole life not understanding."
I climbed the stairs.
One step.
Two steps.
Three.
Then I heard Isabella crying.
"Daniel, don't come closer."
I stopped.
"Why?"
Her voice shook.
"Because the person standing next to me..."
A pause.
Then silence.
I reached the top of the stairs.
The door at the end of the hallway slowly opened.
May you like
And Isabella whispered:
"...is the person who tried to kill me."
