Chapter 10: The File With My Name On It
I stared at the document on my phone.
My name was printed across the top.
Not handwritten.
Not accidentally saved.
Typed.
Official.
Like I had been a subject in an investigation.
Like someone had been studying me.
The date at the bottom made my hands go numb.
Three months before I met Daniel.
“How is that possible?”” I whispered.
Daniel’s voice came through the phone.
“I don’t know.””
“Open it.””
“I’m trying.””
I heard movement.
Then a drawer opening.
Then Robert’s voice in the background.
“You need to leave.””
Daniel answered,
“No.””
His voice was different.
Stronger.
“You lied to me for years.””
Robert sighed.
“You don’t understand what you’re looking at.””
“Then explain it.””
Silence.
I held my breath.
Then Robert said,
“Your mother contacted us.””
My heart stopped.
“My mother?””
Daniel didn’t speak.
Neither did I.
Because my mother had passed away six years earlier.
Before I met Daniel.
Before any of this.
“What does my mother have to do with this?”” I asked.
Daniel put me on speaker.
Robert heard me.
There was a long pause.
Then he said,
“Emma, you need to understand something.””
“No.””
My voice shook.
“You need to understand something.””
I stood in the middle of my living room, gripping my phone.
“My daughter was almost killed yesterday because of your wife.””
Robert said nothing.
“And now I find out you have a file about me from before I even knew your son?””
Still nothing.
“So explain.””
Finally, Robert spoke.
“Your mother was worried about you.””
I laughed bitterly.
“My mother?””
“Yes.””
“That makes no sense.””
Robert lowered his voice.
“She believed someone was trying to take advantage of you.””
My mind raced.
“Who?””
Another silence.
Then Robert said,
“Your ex-boyfriend.””
The room spun.
My ex.
The one person from my past I never wanted to think about.
The reason I had spent years rebuilding my life.
Daniel knew pieces of that story.
But not everything.
“What did he do?”” Daniel asked.
Robert answered,
“He contacted us before you met Daniel.””
I felt cold.
“Why?””
“He wanted information.””
“About me?””
“Yes.””
I closed my eyes.
It didn’t make sense.
My ex had disappeared from my life years ago.
Why would he contact Daniel’s parents?
“What information?””
Robert hesitated.
And that hesitation told me everything.
“There’s something you don’t know.””
I felt my chest tighten.
“What?””
Robert said,
“He claimed you had a history of lying.””
Daniel immediately cut in.
“Dad.””
“No, Daniel. She needs to know.””
My anger rose.
“You’re saying you believed him?””
“No.””
“Then why did you create a file?””
Robert didn’t answer.
Because the truth was obvious.
They investigated me.
They collected information.
They built a story.
Even if they weren’t sure it was true.
The possibility was enough.
Daniel sounded disgusted.
“You judged my wife before you even met her.””
Robert replied,
“We were protecting you.””
“No.””
Daniel’s voice became sharper.
“You were controlling me.””
A door slammed.
Then Daniel said,
“I’m leaving.””
Before he hung up, Robert said something.
Something that made both of us freeze.
“Ask Emma what happened the night her ex disappeared.””
My heart dropped.
Daniel looked at me through the phone camera.
“Emma?””
I couldn’t speak.
Because there was one thing I had never told him.
One thing I thought was buried forever.
May you like
The night my ex disappeared…
I was there.
