Chapter 9 - THE PERSON I NEVER KNEW
For seventeen years, I had believed my father abandoned us.
My grandmother told me he had left after my mother's death.
I had never seen him again.
I had spent years imagining every possible reason.
But Julian's words destroyed the story I had been given.
“My father was in the car?”
“Yes.”
“Did he die?”
Julian looked at me.
“No.”
My knees nearly gave out.
“What?”
“He survived.”
I turned toward Eleanor.
“You knew?”
She nodded.
“Where is he?”
“No one knows.”
I stared at her.
“You're lying.”
“I wish I were.”
Julian stepped closer.
“Your father disappeared because he was afraid Victor would find him.”
“Then why didn't he come back?”
“He tried.”
“When?”
“Six years ago.”
My heart stopped.
Six years.
The same year I married Julian.
“Where?”
“Here.”
I looked around the estate.
“He was here?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't I know?”
“Because your grandmother stopped him.”
That made no sense.
“Why?”
Julian looked at me.
“Because she believed someone inside the family was working for Victor.”
“Who?”
He hesitated.
Then Eleanor whispered:
“Your father.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“He wasn't the mastermind,” Julian said. “But he had taken money.”
“Why?”
“To protect your mother.”
The pieces suddenly began moving.
My father had discovered the fraud.
He tried to expose Victor.
Victor retaliated.
My mother got involved.
The accident happened.
My father survived.
And somehow, the family had buried the truth.
But there was one question left.
“Where is my father now?”
No one answered.
Then Darcy's voice came through my phone.
“Claire.”
I looked down.
She had been listening through the hidden recorder.
“I traced a number from the original trust records.”
“What number?”
“A private medical facility.”
“Whose?”
She paused.
“Your father's.”
I couldn't breathe.
“He's alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Twenty minutes away.”
I looked at Julian.
He looked devastated.
“You knew.”
“I suspected.”
“You knew my father was alive?”
“I knew there was a chance.”
“And you never told me.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
Then the front windows shattered.
Glass exploded across the room.
Eleanor screamed.
Julian grabbed my arm.
Darcy shouted through the phone:
“Get down!”
Another window shattered.
Then silence.
I looked at the floor.
A small envelope had been thrown through the broken window.
My name was written on it.
Inside was a single photograph.
My father.
Alive.
Standing outside a hospital.
And beneath the photograph was a message.
You have until sunrise.
Bring the trust.
Or your father disappears again.
This time, there was no doubt.
May you like
The people behind everything were still watching.
And they knew exactly where my father was.
