Chapter 5: The Truth My Father Buried
I watched the video three times.
Each time hoping I had misunderstood.
Each time hoping my father's words would somehow change.
They didn't.
"Do not trust my wife.""
Five words.
Five words that destroyed the only certainty I had left.
My mother was standing beside me.
The woman who raised me.
The woman who worked two jobs after my father died.
The woman who skipped vacations so I could go to college.
The woman who cried when I got my first job.
How could she be the person my father warned me about?
"Marcus...""
I turned off the video.
"Don't.""
My mother looked like I had slapped her.
"I know what you heard.""
"Do you?""
She looked away.
That hurt.
Because I needed her to immediately deny it.
I needed her to say my father was wrong.
But she didn't.
Vanessa stepped outside.
"Marcus.""
I looked at her.
"Did you know about this?""
Her face went pale.
"No.""
"You're sure?""
She nodded.
"I swear.""
I laughed bitterly.
"I don't know who to believe anymore.""
She stepped closer.
"Then believe the facts.""
"The facts?""
"Your father left messages. He left evidence. He knew something was wrong.""
"And he blamed my mother.""
She went silent.
That silence told me something.
"You knew.""
"No.""
"You knew my father suspected her.""
Vanessa looked down.
"I knew there were questions.""
"What questions?""
She took a breath.
"My mother said your father was obsessed with finding someone responsible for the company's missing money.""
"And?""
"And she said your mother knew more than she admitted.""
I stared at her.
"You believed her.""
"I was young.""
"How old were you?""
"Twenty-one.""
"And now?""
"Thirty.""
I looked back at the wedding hall.
Twenty-one years old.
A young woman being manipulated by her family.
That was the first explanation Vanessa had given me that sounded human.
But it didn't erase everything.
"You searched for me.""
Her eyes filled with tears.
"Yes.""
"Why?""
She hesitated.
"Because I wanted answers.""
"Not because of the trust?""
"No.""
"Not because of my family name?""
"No.""
I looked at her.
"Then why?""
She whispered:
"Because your father left me a message.""
My heart stopped.
"What message?""
She pulled out her phone.
Her fingers shook.
"I wasn't supposed to show anyone.""
"Show me.""
She opened an old recording.
A man's voice played.
My father's voice.
"Vanessa, if you are hearing this, it means I failed.""
I couldn't breathe.
He continued.
"Your mother knows what happened. But you are not responsible for her choices.""
Vanessa looked at me.
"I found this after she died.""
My eyebrows tightened.
"Your mother is dead?""
She nodded.
"Two years ago.""
The recording continued.
"Find Marcus. He deserves the truth. But don't let him trust anyone until you know who took the original files.""
The recording ended.
I looked at Vanessa.
"Why didn't you tell me?""
She started crying.
"Because I was scared.""
"Of what?""
"That you would think I was exactly like her.""
I wanted to argue.
But I couldn't.
Because I didn't know what I thought anymore.
Then the reception doors opened.
Charlotte walked out holding a folder.
"Marcus.""
I looked at her.
"What now?""
She handed it to me.
"I found this in Vanessa's apartment.""
Vanessa immediately turned.
"You went through my things?""
"I was trying to find proof.""
"Proof of what?""
Charlotte looked at me.
"That she wasn't telling you everything.""
I opened the folder.
Inside were newspaper articles.
Photos.
Documents.
And one page that made my hands go cold.
A copy of my father's death certificate.
But there was something strange.
The date.
The time.
The location.
It didn't match what I knew.
I looked up.
"My father died at the hospital.""
Charlotte shook her head.
"No.""
"What?""
"He wasn't admitted that night.""
My stomach dropped.
"Then where was he?""
Charlotte pointed at the document.
"He was last seen at a hotel.""
The same hotel from the photograph.
The same hotel where my father stood beside Vanessa's mother.
I looked at Vanessa.
She was crying.
"I didn't know.""
"Then why were you there?""
She froze.
"I wasn't.""
Charlotte whispered:
"Vanessa...""
Vanessa looked at her.
And Charlotte said:
"You were there.""
The silence was unbearable.
I looked at my bride.
The woman I was supposed to marry.
The woman I thought I knew.
"Vanessa.""
Her lips trembled.
"I can explain.""
"Then explain.""
She looked at the photograph.
Then at me.
And finally whispered:
"The night your father disappeared...""
She stopped.
May you like
Her face turned completely pale.
"...I was the last person who saw him alive.""
