Chapter 6: The Box Under My Bed
For the next hour, nobody moved.
Dad kept staring at the phone.
Claire kept staring at me.
And I kept thinking about Brenda’s last words.
*She wasn’t the only person keeping secrets.*
I wanted to believe Brenda was just trying to confuse us.
But something about the way she said it bothered me.
Because she sounded certain.
Like she knew something we didn’t.
Dad finally turned to me.
“Nia.””
I looked up.
“Did your mother ever leave you anything?””
I shook my head.
“No.””
“Think carefully.””
“I don’t know, Dad.””
He ran a hand through his hair.
“Anything unusual? A box? A letter? A place she told you not to open?””
I stared at him.
Then a memory surfaced.
Something I hadn’t thought about in years.
“My old bedroom.””
Dad frowned.
“What about it?””
“Mom had a wooden box.””
Claire immediately looked up.
“What kind of box?””
I looked at her.
“I don’t know. Brown wood. Small metal lock.””
Dad stood still.
“Where is it?””
I swallowed.
“Under my bed.””
Nobody spoke.
Because suddenly, the past didn’t feel buried anymore.
It felt like it had been waiting.
We went upstairs.
My old room hadn’t changed much.
The same bookshelf.
The same faded curtains.
The same small scratches on the wall where I used to measure my height.
Dad knelt beside the bed and moved it away from the wall.
Dust covered the floor.
Then I saw it.
The box.
Exactly where I had forgotten it.
Dad looked at me.
“You knew this was here?””
“I forgot.””
Claire stepped closer.
“Your mother trusted you with that.””
“But I was ten.””
“I know.””
Dad picked up the box.
The lock was broken.
Someone had already opened it.
My heart dropped.
“Dad…”
He turned it over.
The bottom panel had been removed and placed back incorrectly.
Someone had searched it.
Claire whispered:
“Brenda.””
Dad opened the box.
Inside were only a few things.
An old bracelet.
A letter.
And a small recording device.
Dad picked up the letter first.
The handwriting made him freeze.
“Elena…”
He unfolded it.
Then he read silently.
His eyes filled with tears.
“What does it say?”” I asked.
He looked at me.
“It’s for you.””
My hands shook as he handed it over.
I opened it.
The first line was written:
*My sweet Nia, if you are reading this, something happened before I could tell you myself.*
I stopped breathing.
The room disappeared.
The next sentence made my heart break.
*There is something about our family that your father doesn’t know.*
I looked at Dad.
He looked just as shocked as me.
I continued reading.
*I need you to understand one thing. Your father loves you more than anything. But there is someone close to us who wants him to believe a lie.*
My fingers tightened around the paper.
Then I reached the final line.
The line my mother had written just before she died.
*Nia, the person who caused this was not a stranger. It was someone who was invited into our home.*
A noise came from downstairs.
A door closing.
Dad immediately looked toward the hallway.
“Did you hear that?””
Claire nodded.
Someone was inside the house.
Dad moved toward the stairs.
“Nia, stay here.””
But before he reached the door, a voice came from below.
A voice I recognized.
Brenda.
“You really should have left that box alone.””
Dad stopped.
His face changed.
May you like
And then Brenda said the one thing none of us expected.
“Because if Nia hears the full recording… she’ll finally know what her father did.””
