Chapter 5: The Woman From My Father’s Past
I couldn’t move.
The envelope felt heavier than it should have.
It was just paper.
But inside that paper was a part of my life everyone had hidden from me.
The woman stood calmly while I stared at my father’s handwriting.
I knew that handwriting.
I remembered seeing it on birthday cards.
On notes he left beside my breakfast plate.
On the little reminders he stuck to the refrigerator when I was a child.
*Don’t forget your umbrella.*
*Proud of you, Emma.*
Simple words.
Small things.
Things I thought I had lost forever.
“Who are you?”” I asked.
The woman looked at me.
“My name is Victoria Hayes.””
Daniel’s expression changed.
“You.””
Victoria glanced at him.
“You remember.””
“Unfortunately.””
Mark looked between them.
“You two know each other?””
Daniel ignored him.
“What are you doing here, Victoria?””
She smiled slightly.
“Finishing what your father started.””
My father.
Not hers.
Not Mark’s.
Mine.
I held the envelope tighter.
“What does this have to do with Mark?””
Victoria’s eyes moved toward my husband.
“Everything.””
Mark stepped forward.
“That’s enough.””
Victoria looked at him.
“Still trying to control the story?””
His face darkened.
“Watch yourself.””
She laughed softly.
“I spent twenty years watching men like you.””
Daniel moved beside me.
“Emma, don’t open that here.””
I looked at him.
“Why?””
“Because whatever is inside changes things.””
I looked at Mark.
“Things are already changed.””
That was the first time I realized something important.
I wasn’t afraid of him anymore.
Not the way I used to be.
Before, every argument ended with me apologizing.
Every fight ended with me wondering what I had done wrong.
But standing there, surrounded by people who finally knew the truth, I felt something I hadn’t felt in years.
Power.
I opened the envelope.
Inside was a letter.
The paper was old.
The ink had faded.
But the first sentence made my hands shake.
*My dear Emma, if you are reading this, then someone has tried to keep you from the truth.*
I stopped breathing.
Daniel looked away.
Victoria watched quietly.
I continued.
*Your mother and I discovered something dangerous before she died. Something involving people we trusted.*
My eyes lifted.
My mother?
I kept reading.
*The person who helps you the most may also be the person who wants the most from you.*
My heart pounded.
The letter didn’t mention Mark.
But somehow, it felt like it did.
*Never allow anyone to convince you that you are weak. Never allow anyone to take control of your name.*
I swallowed.
My name.
The same thing Mark had been trying to control.
The same thing on every document.
The same thing connected to my father’s trust.
At the bottom was one final line.
*There is one person who knows the entire truth. Find my daughter, Lily.*
I looked up.
“Who is Lily?””
Nobody answered.
Then Mark spoke quietly.
“She’s nobody.””
Everyone turned.
I stared at him.
“You know her.””
His expression hardened.
“I said she’s nobody.””
Victoria stepped closer.
“That’s a lie.””
Mark looked at her.
“You don’t get to expose things you don’t understand.””
Victoria’s voice became colder.
“I understand perfectly.””
Daniel looked at me.
“Emma, who is Lily?””
Mark answered before anyone else could.
“She’s a mistake.””
My heart stopped.
“What does that mean?””
He didn’t answer.
But his face had changed.
The confident businessman.
The man who always had a solution.
The man who believed he controlled everything.
He looked afraid.
Victoria looked at me.
“Lily was your father’s assistant.””
I frowned.
“Why would I need to find her?””
“Because your father trusted her with information.””
“What information?””
Victoria glanced at Mark.
“The information that proves how your husband built his fortune.””
Silence.
I looked at Mark.
“Built his fortune?””
Daniel stepped forward.
“Emma…”
“No.””
I kept my eyes on Mark.
“I want him to answer.””
Mark stared at me.
Then he said something I never expected.
“Your father didn’t die naturally.””
The entire world seemed to stop.
My fingers went cold.
“What?””
Mark looked away.
“I shouldn’t have said that.””
Daniel grabbed his shoulder.
“What do you know?””
Mark pulled away.
“Nothing.””
But it was too late.
The damage was done.
My father.
My mother.
The trust.
The lies.
The marriage.
Everything I believed about my life was collapsing.
And then my phone buzzed.
Another unknown message.
This time, there was no photograph.
May you like
Only a sentence.
*Ask Mark why he was with your mother the night she died.*
