Chapter 10 - The Daughter Who Was Framed
The screen went black.
Nobody spoke.
Nobody moved.
The name remained in my mind.
Mara Hayes.
My name.
The name beneath the image of the person holding the knife.
The name everyone saw.
Except me.
"No."
The word escaped my mouth.
Again.
"No, that's not possible."
Adrian looked at the frozen screen.
Then at me.
His expression wasn't anger.
It was confusion.
Because he knew something.
Something I didn't.
"Mara."
I looked at him.
"Tell me."
He didn't answer.
That was enough.
My heart sank.
"You believe it."
"No."
"You do."
His silence was worse than a confession.
Elena rushed toward the monitor.
"No."
Her voice cracked.
"That's not what happened."
I looked at her.
"Then what happened?"
She opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
Because the truth was finally standing in front of everyone.
And it was uglier than any lie.
Thomas walked closer to the screen.
"The footage was altered."
Everyone looked at him.
"What?"
Adrian turned.
"You think someone changed it?"
Thomas nodded.
"Look carefully."
He pointed.
"The timestamp."
Adrian stepped closer.
The security footage showed the date.
But something was wrong.
A tiny detail.
A few seconds missing.
Thomas continued.
"The original recording was cut."
I looked at him.
"How do you know?"
"Because Richard taught me how to find the parts people try to erase."
Adrian looked at the screen.
"Can you recover it?"
Thomas nodded.
"Maybe."
"Do it."
The guards brought equipment.
The entire room waited.
Nobody spoke.
Not even Elena.
I stood there staring at the screen.
At my younger self.
At the child who had apparently held a knife.
At a memory my mind refused to accept.
Then suddenly...
I remembered something.
A sound.
A scream.
Not my father's.
Mine.
I closed my eyes.
The memory returned.
I was holding the knife.
But not because I attacked him.
Because I picked it up.
After it fell.
Someone else had already used it.
Someone else had already hurt him.
A voice whispered:
"Good girl."
I opened my eyes.
"Someone told me to take it."
Everyone turned.
"What?"
Adrian stepped closer.
"What did you say?"
I held my head.
"I didn't hurt him."
My voice shook.
"I found the knife."
Elena covered her mouth.
"Yes."
I looked at her.
"You knew?"
She nodded slowly.
"You were holding it when I found you."
My eyes filled with tears.
"Then why did everyone think I did it?"
Elena looked destroyed.
"Because someone wanted them to."
"Who?"
Before she could answer, the equipment beeped.
The recovered footage appeared.
Everyone turned.
The video started again.
The office.
The night.
The same room.
Little me entered.
I watched myself run toward my father.
Then another person appeared.
A shadow.
The image was blurry.
But this time...
The person didn't leave.
They stayed.
They walked closer.
They whispered something to my father.
Then Richard turned.
His face changed.
Fear.
Real fear.
The person stepped forward.
The knife appeared.
I covered my mouth.
Because I remembered.
Not the knife.
Not the fall.
The voice.
The person spoke.
And the audio was finally clear.
"I told you I would take everything from you."
The room froze.
Adrian leaned closer.
"Play it again."
The voice repeated.
Everyone heard it.
Everyone recognized it.
Except me.
Because I couldn't believe it.
Thomas whispered:
"No."
Elena started crying.
Adrian stepped backward.
Because the person in the video turned slightly.
The camera caught their face.
Not completely.
But enough.
Enough to reveal the truth.
The person was not Elena.
It was not a stranger.
It was someone Richard trusted.
Someone Adrian trusted.
Someone who had spent years pretending to be gone.
The footage stopped.
Adrian looked at Thomas.
"Your uncle."
Thomas nodded.
The name hit the room.
"Victor Vale."
Adrian's face became pale.
"My uncle died before my father."
Thomas shook his head.
"No."
A pause.
"Victor disappeared."
Nobody spoke.
I looked at Adrian.
"You thought he was dead."
He nodded slowly.
"Everyone did."
Elena wiped her tears.
"Richard found out Victor was alive."
"And?"
"He was planning to expose him."
Adrian looked at the screen again.
"But why frame Mara?"
Thomas answered.
"Because Victor knew Richard's weakness."
He looked at me.
"His daughter."
My chest tightened.
"He knew Richard would protect her."
Thomas continued.
"So he created the perfect story."
A pause.
"A dead father."
"A missing mother."
"A frightened child holding the weapon."
I looked down.
Twenty years.
Twenty years believing I was abandoned.
But I was never abandoned.
I was hidden.
Adrian walked toward Elena.
"I owe you an apology."
She looked surprised.
"For what?"
"For believing you betrayed him."
Her eyes filled with tears.
"I should have told you."
"Yes."
She nodded.
"I know."
For the first time, I saw something different between them.
Not anger.
Not suspicion.
Two people who had both lost the same person.
Then the mansion lights suddenly flickered.
Everyone froze.
Again.
The security system activated.
A message appeared on the monitor.
One sentence.
No sender.
No location.
Just words.
You found the wrong enemy.
Adrian immediately grabbed the keyboard.
"Trace it."
The security team moved.
Seconds passed.
Then the screen changed.
A live camera appeared.
A room.
Dark.
Empty.
Except for one person sitting in a chair.
My breathing stopped.
Because I knew that room.
I knew the walls.
I knew the desk.
It was the same office.
But older.
Damaged.
And the person sitting there...
Was a man.
An older man.
With tired eyes.
Looking directly into the camera.
Looking directly at me.
Adrian whispered:
"No..."
I couldn't move.
Because I knew that face.
I had spent twenty years believing I would never see it again.
Richard Vale lifted his head.
May you like
And spoke four words.
"Mara, don't trust Adrian."
