Chapter 6 - The Truth Buried For Ten Years
The message was still glowing on my phone.
I couldn't move.
I couldn't breathe.
Because the sender's name was impossible.
Mom.
My mother's name.
The woman standing only a few feet away from me.
The woman who had just told me she had spent ten years trying to protect me.
My fingers tightened around the phone.
Everyone noticed.
Vincent.
Adrian.
Marcus.
My mother.
All of them.
"What did it say?"
My mother asked quietly.
I looked at her.
And for the first time that night, I wondered if I was looking at my mother or another person pretending to be her.
"Why did you send me this?"
Her face changed.
Confusion.
Then fear.
"I didn't."
The answer came too quickly.
Too naturally.
And somehow, that scared me more.
Because if she was lying, everything changed.
And if she was telling the truth, something was much worse.
Marcus stepped closer.
"Let me see."
"No."
My voice surprised everyone.
I held the phone against my chest.
For years, people had made decisions for me.
They decided what I should know.
What I should forget.
What I should believe.
Not anymore.
Marcus smiled slightly.
"You're learning."
I looked at him.
"Don't act like you're proud of me."
His smile faded.
Good.
I wanted him uncomfortable.
I wanted everyone uncomfortable.
Because I was tired of being the only person in the room who didn't know the rules.
"Riley."
Vincent's voice was calm.
But I heard the warning underneath.
"Read the message."
I looked down.
The first message was still there.
"If you are seeing this, it means Marcus found you."
Then another appeared.
"I am sorry."
My chest tightened.
The third message loaded.
And when I read it, everything inside me went cold.
"Trust Vincent."
I looked up.
Vincent froze.
Marcus noticed.
And for the first time, his confidence cracked.
Only slightly.
But I saw it.
"You didn't expect that."
Vincent stared at my phone.
"No."
The word was almost a whisper.
My mother looked at him.
"You knew."
Vincent didn't answer.
I looked between them.
Again.
Another secret.
Another moment where everyone knew except me.
"What does that mean?"
Nobody spoke.
My patience broke.
"Stop."
The word echoed through the dark hallway.
"I am done standing here while everyone talks around me like I'm a child."
I looked at my mother.
"I lost ten years with you."
Then Vincent.
"You watched me live a lie."
Then Marcus.
"And you keep showing up with pieces of my life like you're the only person who can save me."
I stepped forward.
"I want the truth."
This time, nobody interrupted.
My mother took a slow breath.
Then she finally spoke.
"Ten years ago, I found out Marcus wasn't just working with dangerous people."
Marcus's eyes narrowed.
"Lena."
She ignored him.
"He was building something bigger."
I looked at Marcus.
"What?"
My mother continued.
"An organization that controlled information."
The words sounded strange.
Almost impossible.
But I had spent the last hour learning impossible things were real.
"They didn't just hurt people," she said.
"They erased them."
A chill moved through me.
"What does that mean?"
My mother looked at me.
"It means if someone became a problem, they didn't kill them."
She swallowed.
"They made everyone believe they never existed."
The hallway went silent.
I thought about the last ten years.
The empty apartment.
The missing records.
The people who suddenly stopped answering questions.
My mother continued.
"When I discovered what Marcus was doing, I tried to expose him."
Marcus laughed softly.
"You tried to destroy me."
My mother looked at him.
"No."
Her voice became stronger.
"I tried to stop you."
Marcus stepped forward.
"And you failed."
Vincent moved between them.
"No."
Everyone looked at him.
Vincent's expression was cold.
"She survived."
That surprised me.
Not because he defended her.
Because of the way he said it.
Like he had always believed that.
Marcus looked at Vincent.
"You always had a weakness."
Vincent's eyes hardened.
"And you always had an excuse."
The two men stared at each other.
And suddenly I understood something.
They weren't just enemies.
They were two people who had once been on the same side.
I looked at Vincent.
"What happened between you two?"
His expression changed.
For a moment, he looked older.
Tired.
"I worked for Marcus."
My stomach dropped.
Even though I already suspected it.
Hearing it was different.
"You knew him."
"Yes."
"You helped him."
A pause.
"Yes."
The answer hurt.
I looked away.
Because somehow, after everything, Vincent admitting the truth was harder than another lie.
"Then why should I trust you?"
He didn't defend himself.
He didn't make excuses.
"Because I was the person who helped your mother escape."
My eyes lifted.
"What?"
Vincent looked at my mother.
"She came to me because she knew I was the only person Marcus trusted who could still betray him."
Marcus's face changed.
"You think that makes you a hero?"
Vincent looked at him.
"No."
A pause.
"It makes me someone who finally did one good thing."
Nobody spoke.
The hallway suddenly felt different.
Because the enemy wasn't as simple as I thought.
There were no heroes.
No villains.
Only people who had made choices.
And some choices had consequences.
My mother stepped closer.
"Riley."
I looked at her.
"There is something else you need to know."
I already hated those words.
Because every time someone said them, my life changed.
"What?"
She looked at the necklace Marcus had shown me.
"The symbol on it."
I waited.
"It wasn't a warning."
My eyebrows pulled together.
"Then what was it?"
Her eyes filled with tears.
"It was proof."
"Proof of what?"
She looked at Vincent.
Then Adrian.
Then me.
"That you were the person who could bring Marcus down."
Nobody moved.
The words didn't make sense.
"I don't understand."
My mother reached for my hand.
"Before I disappeared, I found evidence."
"Evidence against Marcus?"
She nodded.
"But I couldn't hide it."
I looked at the necklace.
"So you hid it in something I carried?"
"No."
Her voice shook.
"I hid it in you."
The hallway went silent.
I felt the blood leave my face.
"What?"
My mother looked terrified.
"The necklace wasn't the only thing I gave you."
I stared at her.
"What did you do?"
Before she could answer, a loud sound came from the restaurant entrance.
Glass breaking.
Then footsteps.
Many footsteps.
Vincent immediately turned.
"We need to move."
But it was too late.
The kitchen doors slammed open.
Several armed men entered.
Everyone froze.
Marcus smiled.
Not because he was surprised.
Because he was expecting them.
My heart dropped.
"You called them."
Marcus looked at me.
"No."
He smiled.
"They called me."
Then one of the men stepped forward.
He removed his mask.
And the moment I saw his face, I forgot how to breathe.
Because he looked exactly like the man in the photograph beside my mother.
May you like
Except this man was older.
And he was holding the original birth certificate that had my name on it...
