Chapter 5: The Woman Who Knew Everything
The basement light suddenly turned on.
Reagan stood at the bottom of the stairs.
She wasn’t surprised to see me.
That was the worst part.
She looked calm.
Almost disappointed.
Like she had expected this.
I stepped away from the hidden room.
“How long have you known?””
Reagan tilted her head.
“Known what?””
“That my father believed me.””
Her expression didn’t change.
“You always were too emotional, Finnley.””
I laughed quietly.
“Emotional?””
I held up the folder.
“You destroyed my life.””
“No.””
Her answer came instantly.
“I protected myself.””
The words stunned me.
“You framed me.””
Reagan walked closer.
Her heels clicked against the basement floor.
“You have no idea what your father was planning.””
“My father loved me.””
“Yes.””
She stopped.
“And that was his weakness.””
My hands tightened.
“What did you do?””
Reagan looked around the room.
For the first time, I saw something behind her confidence.
Fear.
“You think Camden was a good man because he was your father.””
“He was.””
“He was also stubborn.””
She touched one of the files.
“He discovered things he shouldn’t have discovered.””
“What things?””
She looked at me.
“The company wasn’t as clean as you believed.””
I shook my head.
“That’s your excuse?””
“It’s the truth.””
“No.””
I stepped closer.
“The truth is you needed someone to blame.””
Her eyes narrowed.
“You were perfect.””
The sentence made my blood run cold.
“What?””
“You were angry. Young. Reckless. Everyone already thought you had problems.””
She smiled faintly.
“One mistake, one missing file, one planted transaction…”
She shrugged.
“And suddenly Camden’s son became the thief.””
I stared at her.
“You planned everything.””
“No.””
She looked toward the hidden room.
“Victor did.””
The admission hit harder than I expected.
“Why tell me?””
“Because you’re going to find out eventually.””
She leaned closer.
“And when you do, you’ll realize something.””
“What?””
“Your father didn’t die because of cancer.””
The basement went silent.
I felt the air leave my lungs.
“What did you say?””
Reagan looked away.
“I said what I said.””
“You told me he died from cancer.””
“I told you what everyone needed to believe.””
My hands started shaking.
“My father was murdered?””
She didn’t answer.
But she didn’t deny it.
That was enough.
I stepped back.
“No.””
Reagan sighed.
“You still want to believe people are good.””
She walked toward the stairs.
“That’s why you were easy to break.””
I followed her.
“Why did you marry my father?””
She stopped.
For the first time, her confident mask cracked.
“Because Camden had something I needed.””
“What?””
She looked over her shoulder.
“The truth.””
Then she left.
I stood alone in the basement.
My father’s secret surrounded me.
The man I loved had spent his final days trying to protect me.
And I had wasted three years believing he abandoned me.
I opened the metal box.
Inside was a small recorder.
And a photograph.
The photograph showed my father standing beside someone.
Someone I recognized.
Someone impossible.
My own mother.
But my mother had died when I was six.
At least…
that was what I had always been told.
I pressed play on the recorder.
Static filled the room.
Then my father’s voice came through.
Older.
Tired.
Afraid.
“Finnley… if you’re hearing this, then Reagan found a way to keep me quiet.””
My heart stopped.
“Your mother is not who they told you she was.””
I gripped the recorder.
“What?””
My father continued.
“The night she died wasn’t an accident.””
A sound came from behind me.
I turned.
The basement door was open.
Someone was standing there.
And they whispered:
May you like
“Finnley…”
A voice I hadn’t heard in fifteen years.
