Chapter 6: The Evidence Hidden in My House
I drove home faster than I ever had before.
Not because I was afraid of Brandon.
Because I was afraid of what I had missed.
For ten years, I lived inside a house filled with memories.
Now I wondered how many of those memories were carefully placed pieces of a trap.
When I arrived, the front gate was open.
That was wrong.
The security system always locked automatically.
I stepped out of the car.
The house looked normal.
Too normal.
The flowers were still on the table.
The family photos were still on the wall.
The same place where I had spent years believing I was safe.
I walked inside.
“Brandon?””
No answer.
I reached for my phone.
Then I heard a noise upstairs.
A drawer opening.
I froze.
Someone was inside.
I quietly walked toward the stairs.
Before I reached the top, a voice stopped me.
“Emily.””
I turned.
Brandon stood at the end of the hallway.
My heart tightened.
“You scared me.””
He looked different.
Tired.
Desperate.
Not like the man at the party.
Not like the CEO.
Just a man watching his entire life collapse.
“What are you doing here?””
He looked around.
“This is still my home.””
“No.””
I shook my head.
“You lost the right to call it that.””
His expression hardened.
“You really believe everything they told you?””
I laughed.
“You mean the documents you forged?””
He looked away.
For a second, I saw guilt.
Then it disappeared.
“Emily, I made mistakes.””
“Mistakes?””
“Yes.””
“You stole from me.””
“I built something.””
“You lied to me.””
“I protected you.””
I stared at him.
“Protected me?””
He stepped closer.
“You don’t understand how dangerous business is.””
I almost smiled.
“You pushed your wife into a pool.””
His face tightened.
“That was not supposed to happen.””
“What?””
He froze.
I looked at him.
“You heard me.””
He swallowed.
“Emily…”
“You said it like that was the problem. Not that you did it.””
Silence.
Then he said:
“You need to see something.””
I didn’t move.
“What?””
He walked toward his office.
“I found something.””
I followed carefully.
Inside the office, several documents were scattered across the desk.
Brandon picked one up.
“This is why Vanessa betrayed me.””
I looked at the paper.
A bank transfer.
Another account.
Another hidden payment.
But this one was different.
The recipient name wasn’t Vanessa.
It wasn’t Brandon.
It was someone else.
Someone I recognized.
My hands went cold.
“No.””
Brandon watched my reaction.
“You know her?””
I looked at him.
“She’s dead.””
The room went silent.
Because the account belonged to my mother.
My father’s wife.
The woman who had been gone for eight years.
Brandon lowered his voice.
“She wasn’t just involved in the company.””
I stared at the document.
“What are you saying?””
He hesitated.
And for the first time, I saw genuine fear in his eyes.
“Your mother was investigating someone inside the company before she died.””
My heartbeat quickened.
“Who?””
Brandon looked at me.
“I don’t know.””
“You expect me to believe you?””
“No.””
He handed me another document.
“I expect you to believe this.””
I opened it.
It was a letter.
Written by my mother.
The handwriting was unmistakable.
My hands started shaking.
The first sentence said:
*Emily, if you are reading this, then Brandon has finally shown you who he really is.*
I stopped breathing.
Brandon whispered:
“She knew.””
I kept reading.
The next line changed everything.
*But Brandon was never the person I was most afraid of.*
I looked up.
“What does that mean?””
Brandon didn’t answer.
Because suddenly, his phone rang.
He looked at the screen.
His face turned pale.
I watched him answer.
“Hello?””
A few seconds passed.
Then he whispered:
“No… that’s impossible.””
I stepped closer.
“Who is it?””
Brandon slowly lowered the phone.
And the words he spoke next made my entire world collapse.
“Your mother.””
I stared at him.
“That’s not possible.””
He looked at the phone again.
May you like
Then at me.
“She’s alive.””
