Chapter 10: The Evidence Beneath the Floorboards
The phone slipped from my hand.
Not because Daniel had hung up.
Because I couldn’t hold it anymore.
His final words echoed through the kitchen.
The person who hurt your mother is still living in that house with you.
Everyone looked at everyone else.
That was the terrifying part.
Nobody immediately asked who.
Because deep down, everyone had already started wondering.
My eyes moved from Patricia.
To my father.
To Madison.
Three people.
Three secrets.
One truth.
Ethan picked up the phone from the floor.
“Emily?””
I didn’t answer.
I couldn’t.
My entire body felt frozen.
Then my father spoke.
“Daniel is manipulating you.””
His voice was quiet.
Too quiet.
I looked at him.
“Is he?””
“Yes.””
“How do you know?””
His jaw tightened.
“Because he’s done this before.””
I stared.
“What does that mean?””
My father looked away.
“He always knew how to make people question everything.””
I crossed my arms.
“That sounds convenient.””
The pain on his face was immediate.
“Emily.””
“No.””
I shook my head.
“I’m not saying you’re guilty.””
I paused.
“But I’m done assuming you’re innocent.””
Those words hurt him.
I saw it.
But they were true.
Ethan stepped beside me.
“Maybe we should find the evidence Daniel mentioned.””
My father looked at him.
“You believe him?””
Ethan shook his head.
“No.””
Then he looked at me.
“But I believe Emily deserves every piece of information.””
Nobody argued.
Because nobody could.
We searched the house for almost an hour.
My father checked his office.
Patricia searched old storage boxes.
Ethan looked through the files he had already found.
I stood in my childhood bedroom.
The room felt different now.
Every corner had a memory.
Every memory had a question.
I looked at the old bookshelf my father built when I was ten.
The one my mother used to sit beside while reading me stories.
Then I noticed something.
A small gap behind the bottom shelf.
I crouched down.
“Ethan.””
He walked over.
“What is it?””
I touched the wood.
“There’s something behind here.””
My father came closer.
“Emily, wait.””
But I was already pulling.
The wooden panel moved.
Behind it was a small metal box.
Nobody spoke.
I lifted it out.
Dust covered the top.
But my mother’s handwriting was still visible.
For Emily.
My heart stopped.
My father covered his mouth.
“She hid it here.””
I opened the box.
Inside were photographs.
Documents.
And a small recording device.
My hands shook.
“What is this?””
Ethan picked up the recorder.
“There’s a tape inside.””
My father looked terrified.
“Don’t.””
I turned toward him.
“Why?””
He didn’t answer.
That was the answer.
I pressed play.
Static filled the room.
Then my mother’s voice appeared.
My knees almost gave out.
“Emily…”
A broken sound escaped my throat.
It had been years.
Years since I heard her voice.
“Robert doesn’t know I’m recording this.””
My father closed his eyes.
The room became silent.
“I don’t know who I can trust anymore.””
My breathing stopped.
My mother continued.
“Someone has been accessing my private documents. Someone has been searching for information about Emily’s birth.””
The recording crackled.
“I believe they are trying to find Daniel.””
My father looked at Patricia.
Patricia looked terrified.
Then my mother said something that made all of us freeze.
“If anything happens to me, I need Emily to know that the person responsible is not a stranger.””
A pause.
Then:
“It is someone who has been sitting at our family table.””
The recording ended.
Nobody moved.
I looked at my father.
“Who?””
He didn’t answer.
I looked at Patricia.
“Who?””
She started crying.
“I don’t know.””
But I noticed something.
She wasn’t shocked.
She was afraid.
Then Madison spoke from the doorway.
“I know who.””
Everyone turned.
She stood there holding another piece of paper.
Her face was pale.
“What did you find?”” Patricia asked.
Madison looked at me.
“I found this in Mom’s room.””
She handed me the paper.
It was an old hospital document.
A signature was visible at the bottom.
A signature I recognized.
Because I had seen it on every school form.
Every permission slip.
Every birthday card.
My father’s handwriting.
But underneath it was another name.
A name written in red ink.
May you like
And below it were four words.
He was there.
