Chapter 15 - THE SECRET MY MOTHER BURIED
We drove through the night.
Sarah sat beside Lily.
Mark held his daughter's hand.
Michael drove.
Vanessa was still in the hospital.
And I held my mother's letter.
I had read it six times.
Every time, the same sentence destroyed me.
Your father is not the man you believe him to be.
My father.
Again.
Everything seemed to return to him.
Sarah finally spoke.
"Mom knew."
"Knew what?"
"That Robert had another family."
I looked at her.
"What?"
"Before he married your mother."
I shook my head.
"That doesn't make sense."
"It will."
She looked at Michael.
"He knows."
Michael nodded.
"Your father had two identities."
"Why?"
"Money."
"Everything comes back to money."
Sarah nodded.
"Because your grandfather built the original company."
I stared at her.
"My grandfather?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"During the war, he created a private financial network."
"For what?"
"To move money secretly."
I looked at the letter.
"And it continued?"
"For generations."
Sarah nodded.
"Robert inherited it."
"Then what did he do?"
"He turned it into something else."
"Insurance fraud."
"Yes."
I felt sick.
"How many people died?"
Sarah looked down.
"We don't know."
"Seven?"
"Seven confirmed."
She hesitated.
"Maybe more."
I closed my eyes.
"What did my mother do?"
"She tried to stop him."
"And?"
"Robert found out."
"What happened?"
Sarah whispered:
"She disappeared."
I stared at her.
"My mother died."
Sarah shook her head.
"No."
I looked at her.
"What?"
"Your mother didn't die when you were ten."
I couldn't speak.
"She disappeared."
"Who told you?"
"Robert."
"Then why should I believe you?"
"Because I met her."
I stared at my daughter.
"When?"
"Before Lily was born."
"Where?"
Sarah looked toward the road.
"At the old Bennett estate."
Michael suddenly slammed on the brakes.
Everyone lurched forward.
"What happened?"
He pointed ahead.
A vehicle blocked the road.
Black SUV.
Daniel.
Michael reversed.
Another SUV appeared behind us.
We were trapped.
Sarah grabbed Lily.
"Don't let them take her."
Michael looked at me.
"There is one way out."
"Where?"
"The estate."
I looked at him.
"That's where they want us."
"Exactly."
He accelerated.
The SUV behind us followed.
The road narrowed.
Trees surrounded us.
We reached the old Bennett estate.
Michael crashed through the gate.
The house appeared ahead.
Abandoned.
Dark.
Silent.
We stopped.
Everyone climbed out.
Sarah looked at the house.
"I haven't been here in nine years."
I stared at the windows.
Something moved behind one.
A silhouette.
Then another.
Daniel's men had arrived.
Michael locked the doors.
"We need to find the cellar."
"Why?"
Sarah looked at me.
"Because that's where your mother hid the truth."
We entered.
The house smelled of dust.
Old wood creaked beneath our feet.
We moved through the hallway.
Sarah stopped beside a portrait.
My father.
My mother.
And a little boy.
Me.
She touched the frame.
"Behind this."
Michael removed the portrait.
A hidden panel appeared.
Inside was a staircase.
We descended.
At the bottom was a steel door.
Michael entered a combination.
The door opened.
Inside was a room filled with boxes.
Documents.
Photographs.
Tapes.
And one old television.
Sarah walked toward it.
"She left this for you."
"Who?"
"My grandmother."
I looked at her.
"Your grandmother?"
Sarah nodded.
"My mother's mother."
She pressed play.
An elderly woman appeared on the screen.
My grandmother.
Dead for more than thirty years.
She looked directly into the camera.
"Thomas."
I stopped breathing.
"If you are watching this, then Robert failed."
My mother had told me that my grandmother died peacefully.
But the woman on the screen looked frightened.
"Your father will tell you that I died naturally."
She paused.
"I did not."
I stepped closer.
"He poisoned me."
Sarah covered Lily's ears.
The video continued.
"Robert has built a network that will eventually consume this family."
My grandmother's eyes filled with tears.
"And when he realizes that my granddaughter is pregnant..."
She stopped.
Then looked directly at the camera.
"He will come for the child."
I looked at Sarah.
The room went silent.
The video continued.
"That child will be the key to everything."
A loud crash came from upstairs.
Someone had entered the house.
Michael stood.
"They're here."
Sarah looked at me.
"We have to go."
But I couldn't move.
My grandmother's final words echoed through the room.
"Protect Lily."
Then the screen went black.
And from somewhere upstairs came a man's voice.
Calm.
Familiar.
Almost gentle.
"Thomas."
I turned toward the stairs.
The voice continued.
"You finally found the room."
Michael raised his weapon.
Sarah pulled Lily behind her.
And I realized something terrifying.
The man upstairs wasn't Daniel.
It was someone else.
Someone whose voice I had known all my life.
Someone I had believed was dead.
May you like
My father's voice echoed through the house.
"Now we can finally talk."
