Chapter 8: The Recording
We listened to the recording in Claire’s office.
Nobody spoke.
Nobody moved.
The old audio file played through the speakers with a crackling sound.
Then I heard a voice I hadn’t heard in years.
My father.
“Patricia, this ends tonight.””
My chest tightened.
I closed my eyes.
For a moment, I was a little girl again.
Hearing my father laugh in the kitchen.
Hearing him call me his sunshine.
Then another voice answered.
Patricia.
“You’re making a mistake.””
My eyes opened.
Claire watched me carefully.
Daniel sat across the room, silent.
The recording continued.
“You think I don’t know what you’ve been doing?”” my father said.
“You have no proof.””
“I have enough.””
A long silence followed.
Then Patricia spoke.
“You always thought you were smarter than everyone.””
My father laughed softly.
“No. I just thought people were better than this.””
Those words hurt.
Because they sounded like him.
He always believed people could choose kindness.
Even when they didn’t.
The recording continued.
“I’ll go to the police,” my father said.
“You won’t.””
“Watch me.””
Then Patricia’s voice changed.
“You have a daughter.””
The room went still.
My father sounded different.
“What does that mean?””
“It means you should think carefully before destroying everything.””
A chill moved through me.
She threatened him.
Claire paused the recording.
Nobody spoke.
Daniel looked at the floor.
“You knew about this?””
I asked him.
He swallowed.
“My mother told me a different version.””
“Of course she did.””
“She said your father was dangerous.””
I stared at him.
“And you believed her?””
Daniel looked ashamed.
“I was young.””
“You were thirty-two.””
He had no answer.
Claire restarted the recording.
The next part was quieter.
My father sounded exhausted.
“Patricia, if anything happens to me, the truth needs to reach Sarah.””
I covered my mouth.
A few seconds later, Patricia answered.
“Your daughter will never know.””
The recording ended.
Silence filled the room.
I couldn’t move.
My father had known.
He had tried to protect me.
And while I was grieving him, believing he had failed, someone had been hiding the truth.
Claire placed another document on the table.
“This is the part you need to see.””
I looked down.
It was a transfer record.
The date was two months after my father died.
The account belonged to Patricia.
The amount was huge.
The sender was a company account.
But the approval signature wasn’t Patricia’s.
It was Daniel’s.
I looked up slowly.
“No.””
Daniel’s face changed.
“Sarah—”
“You signed this.””
“I was told what it was.””
“You signed it.””
“I didn’t know.””
I pushed the paper toward him.
“You keep saying that.””
His eyes filled.
“I was trying to protect you.””
“No.””
I stood.
“You were protecting yourself.””
Daniel stood too.
“Sarah, listen to me.””
I stepped back.
“Every time I find something, you say you didn’t know.””
My voice shook.
“But somehow you always ended up on the side of the people hurting me.””
Nobody spoke.
Then Claire’s phone rang.
She answered.
Her expression changed immediately.
“What?””
She walked away from the table.
A minute later, she returned.
“We have a problem.””
“What problem?””
She looked at me.
“Patricia knows about the recording.””
My stomach dropped.
“How?””
Claire looked at Daniel.
And I knew before she said it.
“She called him.””
I turned toward my husband.
“Did you tell her?””
Daniel shook his head quickly.
“No.””
But his phone buzzed.
Everyone looked at it.
A message appeared.
From Patricia.
If Sarah hears the entire recording, you lose everything.
Daniel went pale.
Because there was only one reason his mother would say that.
May you like
The recording wasn’t finished.
And whatever came next was something Daniel had been desperate to hide.
