Chapter 12: The Person Who Was There That Night
I couldn’t speak.
The office around me disappeared.
The walls.
The desk.
The sound of traffic outside.
Everything faded.
Only one sentence remained.
Your father was murdered.
I looked at Richard.
“No.””
He didn’t react.
“You don’t believe me.””
“I was there.””
The words came out before I could stop them.
“I saw him.””
Richard nodded slowly.
“You saw his body.””
My throat tightened.
“You’re saying I didn’t know my own father?””
“I’m saying you didn’t know what happened before you found him.””
My hands curled into fists.
“Who killed him?””
Richard looked at the folder.
“The missing page tells you.””
“Where is it?””
“I told you.””
“Emily has it.””
I grabbed my phone.
I called her.
She answered immediately.
“Daniel?””
Her voice sounded worried.
“Where are you?””
“At Richard’s office.””
Silence.
Then:
“Did he tell you?””
I froze.
“You knew.””
“I knew he might.””
“Did you know my father was murdered?””
A long pause.
Then Emily whispered:
“Yes.””
The word destroyed something inside me.
“How?””
“I found the evidence.””
“Where?””
“In the final page of the trust documents.””
I closed my eyes.
“Why didn’t you tell me?””
“Because I didn’t know who I could trust.””
I looked at Richard.
He watched me silently.
“That’s why you came into my life?””
Emily was quiet.
Finally:
“Yes.””
The honesty hurt more than another lie.
“You married me to investigate my father.””
“I married you because I fell in love with you.””
I laughed softly.
“Those two things don’t belong in the same sentence.””
“Daniel…”
“No.””
I ended the call.
Richard watched me.
“She really does love you.””
I looked at him.
“Don’t defend her.””
“I’m not.””
He stood.
“I’m telling you she made a mistake.””
I looked at the folder.
“Everyone did.””
Richard nodded.
“Yes.””
Then his phone rang.
He looked at the screen.
His expression changed.
“What?””
I watched his face.
“What happened?””
He didn’t answer.
He listened for several seconds.
Then he whispered:
“Impossible.””
He ended the call.
“What?””
Richard looked at me.
“Someone broke into the archive room.””
My heart dropped.
“The documents?””
He nodded.
“Gone.””
I stared at him.
“But you had them.””
“Not anymore.””
The same message from earlier came back to my mind.
The original documents are already gone.
Someone had been ahead of us.
Again.
My phone buzzed.
A message.
From Emily.
I opened it.
One sentence.
*I found the missing page. But I’m not the only one who knows what it says.*
Then another message arrived.
A photo.
Emily standing outside my house.
Holding the missing page.
Behind her was my mother.
And beside my mother stood someone I never expected to see.
Someone who was supposed to be dead.
May you like
The caption underneath the photo read:
*Ask your father why he lied about who killed him.*
