Chapter 10 - The Man Who Was Never Dead
The video showed my father looking at someone outside the warehouse: "You're alive." When I saw the person standing behind the camera, I found my missing brother's old identification card. But one word was written across the back: "Survivor." I finally realized my father's death was hiding a secret bigger than betrayal.
I stared at the screen.
I couldn't move.
The video continued playing.
The figure stepped closer.
The warehouse camera captured only part of the person's face.
But I knew.
I knew that walk.
I knew that voice.
Even before the person spoke, my body already understood what my mind refused to accept.
My father's voice came through the speakers.
"You're alive."
A long silence followed.
Then another voice answered.
A voice I hadn't heard in years.
A voice I thought belonged to a memory.
"Arthur."
The phone slipped slightly in my hand.
Emily noticed.
"Daniel?"
I didn't answer.
Because the impossible was standing on the screen.
My father.
Alive.
Five years ago.
In this warehouse.
Talking to someone who was supposed to be dead.
I paused the video.
The last frame showed the person's hand.
A scar across the wrist.
A small silver watch.
I knew that watch.
I had seen it once.
In an old family photo.
"Who is that?"
Emily whispered.
I looked at her.
"I don't know."
But I was lying.
Because somewhere deep inside, I knew.
I just didn't want to say it.
The video continued.
The person walked fully into view.
The screen became clearer.
And then I saw the face.
My heart stopped.
It wasn't Victor.
It wasn't my mother.
It wasn't a stranger.
It was my uncle.
Thomas Carter.
My father's younger brother.
A man everyone believed had died ten years ago.
I stepped away from the computer.
"No."
Emily grabbed my arm.
"Daniel."
"No."
I shook my head.
"My uncle died."
She looked at the screen.
"I know."
"I went to his funeral."
"I know."
"The whole family was there."
"I know."
I turned toward her.
"Then explain that."
She couldn't.
Because there was no explanation.
Not one that made sense.
My uncle Thomas had disappeared when I was young.
Everyone said he died overseas.
No body.
No clear answers.
Just a story my family repeated until it became a fact.
But now he was here.
Standing beside my father.
The night my father died.
I pressed play again.
The video continued.
Thomas looked angry.
"You shouldn't have brought Daniel into this."
My father replied:
"He deserves the truth."
My chest tightened.
My name.
They were talking about me.
Thomas looked toward the camera.
"No."
My father stepped closer.
"He is my son."
"That's exactly why he is in danger."
The video shook.
Like whoever recorded it moved.
Then Thomas said something that changed everything.
"Victor already knows."
Emily covered her mouth.
I froze.
Victor.
Again.
My father knew.
My uncle knew.
Everyone knew.
Except me.
The video continued.
My father opened the evidence box.
The same box sitting in front of me now.
"The documents are not the only thing."
Thomas looked confused.
"What else?"
My father reached inside.
He removed a small envelope.
"This."
The camera zoomed slightly.
I leaned closer.
The envelope had my name.
Daniel.
My father held it.
"If anything happens to me, this goes to my son."
Thomas looked terrified.
"Arthur, you don't understand what you're doing."
My father looked at him.
"I understand exactly."
Then the video suddenly cut.
Black screen.
No ending.
No explanation.
Just silence.
I turned around.
Emily was crying.
Not loudly.
Quietly.
Like she had been carrying the weight of this secret for years.
"You knew about Thomas."
She looked at me.
"No."
"Then why aren't you surprised?"
She looked down.
"Because your father mentioned him in his files."
My jaw tightened.
"You read the files."
"Yes."
"And you still didn't tell me."
"I tried."
I laughed.
A painful sound.
"Everyone tried."
I looked around the warehouse.
"Everyone tried everything except telling me the truth."
Emily didn't argue.
Because she knew I was right.
Then the computer screen changed.
A new file appeared.
No one touched it.
No one moved.
The file opened by itself.
A video.
Recorded yesterday.
The date made my blood run cold.
Yesterday.
Before Emily's accident.
Before she was taken.
I pressed play.
The screen showed Thomas.
Older.
Different.
But alive.
He looked directly into the camera.
"Daniel."
My breath stopped.
"If you are watching this, then Victor failed."
I looked at Emily.
She looked terrified.
Thomas continued.
"You need to know the truth about your father."
He paused.
"Your father wasn't killed because he discovered corruption."
Another pause.
"He was killed because he discovered the person who ordered it."
My hands tightened.
The video continued.
"Daniel, the person responsible has been beside you your entire life."
The screen flickered.
Then Thomas said:
"And the reason you never found out is because your mother protected them."
The video stopped.
I stared.
My mother.
Again.
But this time, something felt different.
Something didn't fit.
Because my mother couldn't be the answer.
Not completely.
There was something everyone was missing.
My phone vibrated.
A message.
Unknown number.
I opened it.
You finally met Thomas.
I stared.
Another message arrived.
Ask him why he disappeared.
Then another.
Ask him why your father forgave him.
I looked at Emily.
"Who is sending these?"
She shook her head.
"I don't know."
The warehouse lights suddenly turned off.
Again.
But this time, there was no emergency power.
No backup.
Only darkness.
Emily grabbed my hand.
"Daniel."
A sound came from the other side of the room.
A door opening.
Slowly.
Someone was inside.
Someone had been waiting.
I held my breath.
A voice came from the darkness.
"Daniel Carter."
My blood froze.
Because I knew that voice.
I had heard it my entire life.
The voice of the person who raised me.
The voice of the person who told me my father was gone.
The voice of the person who knew the truth before anyone else.
May you like
My mother whispered:
"Please don't let her see me."
