Chapter 6 - The Truth Hidden Inside My Memory
The phone kept ringing.
Richard Vale.
The man standing across the airport.
The man who had controlled my life without me knowing.
I stared at the screen.
Nobody moved.
Not Emily.
Not my mother.
Not even the children.
It felt like the entire airport was waiting for me to answer.
I pressed the button.
"Hello."
Richard's voice came through immediately.
"You look surprised to see me."
I looked toward the glass doors.
He was still there.
Watching.
"You followed us."
"No."
His voice was calm.
"You followed the truth."
My jaw tightened.
"Why are you doing this?"
A quiet laugh.
"Because you keep looking for someone to blame."
I looked at my mother.
Then Emily.
Then my sons.
"I want answers."
"You always did."
The way he said it bothered me.
Like he knew me better than I knew myself.
"Come alone."
"No."
Richard paused.
Then he sighed.
"Daniel, you still don't understand."
"What?"
"You think this is about Emily."
My hand tightened around the phone.
"It's not."
"You think it's about your mother."
I didn't answer.
"It's not."
The airport lights reflected against the glass between us.
Richard looked directly at me.
"This is about what you discovered six years ago."
I felt a chill.
"What did I discover?"
His expression changed slightly.
Not fear.
Something worse.
Respect.
"You discovered the person who was stealing from you."
I froze.
"Who?"
Richard looked at my mother.
Then back at me.
"Your father."
The words hit me harder than I expected.
My father had been dead for eight years.
He wasn't part of my memories anymore.
Only photographs.
Old stories.
A man who had taught me how to ride a bike.
A man who built the foundation of everything I became.
"Don't."
My mother stepped forward.
"Daniel, don't listen to him."
Richard smiled.
"There it is."
I looked at him.
"What?"
"The same reaction."
My breathing slowed.
"What are you talking about?"
"Your mother did the same thing six years ago."
My mother went pale.
"Stop."
Richard continued.
"She told you the truth once."
The words made no sense.
"She told me?"
"Yes."
He looked at me through the glass.
"And you couldn't handle it."
I felt something shift inside my mind.
A memory.
A flash.
My father's office.
A wooden desk.
A folder.
My mother's voice.
Then pain.
A hospital room.
A doctor saying:
"Temporary memory loss."
I grabbed my head.
Images came quickly.
Too quickly.
A conversation.
A fight.
A signature.
"Daniel?"
Emily's voice pulled me back.
I looked at her.
"I remember something."
My mother closed her eyes.
She knew.
"You remember?"
I looked at her.
"You knew I would."
She didn't deny it.
Six years.
Six years of silence.
And now every person around me was finally admitting pieces of the truth.
"Tell me."
My voice was low.
"Tell me what happened."
My mother looked at Lucas and Leo.
Then at me.
"Your father left behind something."
"What?"
"A hidden account."
Richard answered through the phone.
"An account containing evidence."
I looked back at him.
"Evidence of what?"
"Your father's biggest mistake."
The words made my stomach tighten.
"My father was not a criminal."
"No."
Richard's voice became serious.
"He wasn't."
A pause.
"But he trusted the wrong people."
My mother stepped closer.
"Daniel, your father discovered that someone inside the company was moving money."
"Who?"
She looked at Richard.
The answer was obvious.
But I needed to hear it.
Richard smiled.
"Me."
The airport seemed to freeze.
"You stole from my company?"
"I invested."
"You stole."
He didn't argue.
That scared me more.
"You found out."
I stared.
"Six years ago."
Richard nodded.
"You were going to expose me."
"Then why didn't I?"
His expression changed.
"Because I convinced you there was another way."
The memory flashed again.
Me sitting in that office.
Richard across from me.
The contract.
Emily beside me.
"You threatened her."
"No."
He shook his head.
"I threatened what you cared about."
My fists tightened.
"Same thing."
Richard didn't respond.
Because he knew.
Emily was my family.
And he used that.
The call suddenly ended.
I lowered the phone.
Richard was gone from the entrance.
My mother looked around.
"He's leaving."
"No."
I looked at her.
"He wanted me to remember."
Emily stepped closer.
"Why?"
I looked at the document.
The signature.
The agreement.
The fake story.
"Because the truth is worse than what I thought."
Nobody spoke.
Then my phone received another notification.
A file.
No sender.
No message.
Just a video.
The title:
The Carter Family Archive.
I opened it.
The screen showed a security camera.
An office.
My father's old office.
A man entered.
Richard.
Then another person walked in.
My mother.
They placed a folder on the desk.
I leaned closer.
Because I recognized the date.
The same day Emily disappeared.
Then the camera angle changed.
A third person entered.
Someone I wasn't expecting.
Someone who should have been impossible.
Emily gasped.
My mother covered her mouth.
May you like
Because the person in the video turned toward the camera.
And I saw my own face.
