Chapter 9: The Person Watching Us
The next few hours felt like a storm.
Everyone was moving.
Everyone was talking.
But I felt like I was standing still.
Dad called Karen again.
He asked questions I didn’t understand.
Names.
Dates.
Accounts.
Things adults talked about when they thought kids weren’t listening.
But I was listening.
Because this was about me.
About my mother.
About everything that had been hidden from me.
Finally, Dad sat beside me.
“Ethan.””
I looked up.
“Yes?””
“I need you to understand something.””
“What?””
“You did the right thing.””
I looked at the small black device on the table.
“I just didn’t want to be hungry anymore.””
Dad’s eyes became wet.
“I know.””
That hurt him.
More than anything.
Because he realized I wasn’t trying to expose anyone.
I was just a kid who wanted someone to notice.
The next morning, Karen came to our house again.
She brought a laptop.
Dad immediately told her not to show me anything.
I appreciated that.
I didn’t want to see confusing information.
I just wanted answers.
Amanda sat quietly on the couch.
She looked exhausted.
Not like the powerful person who controlled the house when Dad was gone.
Just like someone who had carried a secret too long.
Karen looked at Dad.
“We traced the request.””
“And?””
“It came from someone connected to the family.””
Dad’s expression hardened.
“Who?””
Karen hesitated.
Then she looked at Amanda.
My heart dropped.
Amanda immediately stood.
“No.””
Dad stared at her.
“What?””
“That look.””
“What look?””
“You think it was me.””
Nobody spoke.
Amanda laughed softly.
“You still think I’m the villain.””
Dad looked away.
“I don’t know what to think.””
Amanda’s eyes filled with tears.
“I spent years trying to prove I wasn’t your enemy.””
She looked at me.
“And I failed.””
That sentence stayed with me.
Because it was true.
She failed.
But maybe failure didn’t mean she was always lying.
Karen interrupted.
“We need to focus.””
She placed a small folder on the table.
“The request came from someone who had access to information only a few people knew.””
Dad frowned.
“Who had access?””
Karen looked at him.
“Your attorney.””
Dad froze.
“My attorney?””
She nodded.
“The same attorney who helped create Ethan’s trust.””
I didn’t understand.
But Dad did.
And his face changed.
Because sometimes the people you trust most are the ones who can hurt you the most.
“Impossible,” Dad whispered.
Karen shook her head.
“I thought so too.””
Then she placed another item on the table.
A photograph.
Dad picked it up.
His hands started shaking.
“What is this?””
Karen looked at him.
“We found it hidden in the attorney’s old files.””
Dad stared at the picture.
Then slowly handed it to me.
I looked at it.
It was my mother.
Standing beside someone.
Someone I recognized.
My stomach turned.
Because the person beside her wasn’t my father.
It was someone else.
May you like
And written on the back of the photograph were five words:
*“The truth about Ethan’s father.””*
