Chapter 7 - The Woman They Should Have Feared
I dropped my phone.
For several seconds, I couldn't move.
The photograph on the screen was impossible.
A woman stood beside Daniel.
Older than the picture I remembered.
Different hair.
Different clothes.
But the face was unmistakable.
Emily.
Daniel's first wife.
The woman he said disappeared.
The woman he said was unstable.
The woman he told everyone had abandoned him.
She was alive.
And she was standing beside my father.
I picked up my phone with shaking hands.
I looked closer.
The picture was old.
The date at the bottom confirmed it.
Ten years ago.
The same year my father died.
The same year Daniel and Emily supposedly ended their marriage.
But they weren't separated.
They were working together.
With my father.
I felt sick.
Everything I believed about my life had been built on lies.
I turned the photograph around.
There was writing on the back.
Three words.
"She knows everything."
My father's handwriting.
I stared at those words.
Who was he talking about?
Emily?
Me?
Someone else?
My phone vibrated again.
Another message.
This time from Emily.
"Now you understand why I couldn't tell you everything."
I immediately called her.
She answered after one ring.
"You're alive."
There was silence.
Then she whispered:
"Yes."
I leaned against the wall.
"Why did Daniel tell me you were gone?"
"Because that's what Daniel does."
Her voice sounded tired.
"He changes the story until people believe him."
I closed my eyes.
"Tell me everything."
A long pause followed.
Then Emily began.
"I met your father before I met Daniel."
I listened.
"He was investigating the Whitmore family. He discovered they were using their company to hide illegal financial activity."
"Daniel?"
"Daniel was involved."
My chest tightened.
"But Daniel was your husband."
"Yes."
Her voice became quieter.
"And that's how I discovered the truth."
I looked at the photograph again.
"Why did you marry him?"
"I didn't know who he really was."
A painful silence.
"Not at first."
I understood.
The same trap.
The same pattern.
A man who showed love first.
Then control.
Then fear.
"He chose me because I was close to information he needed," Emily continued.
"Just like me."
She didn't answer.
She didn't need to.
I already knew.
My hands tightened around the phone.
"What did my father leave behind?"
"The evidence."
"What evidence?"
"The proof that could destroy the Whitmore family."
I looked at the envelope in my hand.
The hidden compartment.
The secret files.
"They think I have it."
"They think your father gave it to you."
"But he didn't."
Emily became silent.
Then she said:
"Are you sure?"
I stopped.
"What does that mean?"
"Your father knew he might not survive."
The hallway suddenly felt colder.
"He prepared something."
"What?"
"A backup plan."
My heart started beating faster.
"What backup plan?"
Before Emily could answer, I heard a noise behind me.
A door closing.
I turned.
The service hallway was empty.
But I knew someone had been there.
"Emily."
"What?"
"Someone is here."
Her voice changed immediately.
"Leave."
"I'm trying."
"No."
She sounded afraid.
"Leave now."
I grabbed my suitcase.
"I need answers."
"You need to stay alive."
The call ended.
I looked down at my phone.
No signal again.
Someone was blocking it.
Again.
I didn't have time.
I moved through the service hallway toward the exit.
The old mansion was silent.
Too silent.
Every step felt louder.
I reached the back door.
Locked.
I tried the key.
Nothing.
Another key.
Nothing.
Then I heard footsteps.
Behind me.
Slow.
Calm.
Not rushed.
Whoever was walking toward me knew I had nowhere to go.
I turned.
Daniel stood at the end of the hallway.
No anger.
No shouting.
Just a calm expression.
The same expression he wore when he lied.
"You really are different from the others."
My hand tightened around my suitcase.
"The others?"
Daniel walked closer.
"Emily."
I stared at him.
"She is alive."
He didn't react.
Not surprised.
Not confused.
Nothing.
That told me everything.
"You knew."
Daniel stopped.
"I knew she would eventually contact you."
My stomach dropped.
"You planned this?"
"No."
He looked at me.
"But I knew she couldn't stay away."
I laughed quietly.
Not because anything was funny.
Because I finally understood.
"You don't love anyone, do you?"
For the first time, Daniel looked offended.
"I loved you."
"No."
I shook my head.
"You loved what I could give you."
He didn't deny it.
That hurt more.
"You should have listened to me."
"About what?"
"About leaving things alone."
I stared at him.
"My father spent his life trying to expose you."
Daniel's expression changed slightly.
"Your father was a stubborn man."
"He was a good man."
"He was a problem."
The words came out so easily.
Like my father's life was just an inconvenience.
I felt something inside me break.
Not fear.
Not sadness.
Something stronger.
Determination.
"You killed him."
Daniel didn't answer.
But his silence was enough.
I stepped closer.
"You let me believe it was an accident."
"I didn't kill your father."
"Then why are you afraid of what he left behind?"
Daniel looked away.
For the first time, he looked uncertain.
And that gave me the answer.
He was afraid.
Not of me.
Of the truth.
"Where is the file?"
I smiled.
Because that was what he really wanted.
Not me.
Not the marriage.
Not forgiveness.
The file.
"You don't know where it is."
Daniel's jaw tightened.
"You have no idea what you're dealing with."
"I know exactly what I'm dealing with."
I lifted the envelope.
"This."
His face changed.
Just for a second.
But I saw it.
Recognition.
Fear.
"You found it."
I stepped backward.
"Why are you scared?"
Daniel didn't answer.
Then a voice came from behind him.
"Because he knows what's inside."
I froze.
Emily stepped out from the darkness.
Alive.
Real.
Standing in the hallway.
Daniel turned.
His face finally lost control.
"Emily."
She looked at him.
"No more lies."
For the first time, Daniel looked afraid.
Not angry.
Not confident.
Afraid.
Emily walked toward me.
"Your father didn't leave the evidence with you."
I looked at her.
"Then where is it?"
She looked at Daniel.
And then back at me.
"He left it with the only person he trusted."
My heart raced.
"Who?"
Emily reached into her coat.
She pulled out an old photograph.
Then she turned it over.
A name was written on the back.
A name I had never expected.
May you like
She handed it to me.
And when I saw who my father trusted most, the entire world stopped.
