Chapter 5: The Family Member Who Betrayed Us
I stared at the photograph until the faces blurred.
My uncle Thomas.
The man who held my hand at my father’s funeral.
The man who told me everything would be okay.
The man who became my guardian when I had nobody else.
For seventeen years, I believed he was the only person who stayed.
Now I was being told he might have been the reason everyone left.
“No.””
The word came out quietly.
Claire looked at me.
“Daniel…”
“No.””
I placed the photo down.
“You’re wrong.””
Nobody argued.
That scared me more.
Because if they believed I was wrong, they should have fought back.
They should have defended themselves.
Instead, they looked like people who knew I was about to discover something painful.
Thomas wasn’t just family.
He was the man who raised me.
After my father died, he moved into our home.
He attended my school meetings.
He taught me how to drive.
He stood beside me when I graduated.
If he was my enemy…
Then I didn’t know who I was anymore.
Lily walked over and took my hand.
“Daddy?””
I looked down.
“Yeah?””
“Why are you shaking?””
I hadn’t realized I was.
I squeezed her fingers.
“Because sometimes old memories hurt.””
She thought about that.
Then she hugged my arm.
“You have me.””
Those four words almost broke me.
Claire watched us quietly.
“I’m sorry.””
I looked at her.
“For what?””
“For the years you lost.””
The anger returned.
“You don’t get to apologize for seventeen years.””
Her eyes lowered.
“I know.””
“You don’t know what it was like.””
“No.””
She swallowed.
“But I know what it was like to watch my son grow up from far away.””
That silenced me.
Claire reached into her bag again.
This time, she pulled out a small key.
“Your father left this too.””
Richard leaned forward.
“The private archive.””
I looked at him.
“What archive?””
“The one beneath the hotel.””
I frowned.
“There’s a basement?””
Richard nodded.
“Not just a basement.””
Elena looked nervous.
“Your father built a secure room here. A place where he stored information he couldn’t keep anywhere else.””
“About Thomas?””
“About everyone.””
The way she said it made my skin crawl.
I looked at the letter again.
My father had known.
He had planned everything.
But why?
Why wait until now?
Why not tell me when I was younger?
Richard stood.
“Because he believed you needed to choose your own path.””
“That doesn’t make sense.””
“He didn’t want you consumed by revenge.””
I laughed softly.
“Then he shouldn’t have left me a mystery.””
Nobody smiled.
Because they knew I was right.
An hour later, we stood in a restricted hallway beneath the hotel.
The luxurious building above us disappeared.
Down here, everything was concrete and steel.
Richard unlocked a heavy door.
Inside was a small room.
A desk.
A computer.
Dozens of boxes.
And one large photograph on the wall.
My father.
I walked toward it.
For a moment, I was eight years old again.
“Dad…”
On the desk sat a folder with my name.
Daniel Brooks.
I opened it.
Inside were bank records.
Company reports.
Photographs.
Messages.
Then I saw something that made my blood turn cold.
A copy of a letter.
Addressed to my father.
The sender?
Thomas Brooks.
I picked it up.
The first sentence was enough.
Dear Michael,
If Daniel ever discovers the truth, he must never learn what happened the night you died.
My heart stopped.
I read further.
But before I could finish, the lights suddenly went out.
Lily screamed.
“Daddy!””
I grabbed her immediately.
The room went completely dark.
Then a sound came from the hallway.
Footsteps.
Someone had entered the archive.
Someone who knew we were here.
Richard whispered:
“That door was locked.””
I held Lily close.
The footsteps stopped outside.
Then a voice spoke from the darkness.
“Daniel…”
My entire body froze.
Because I knew that voice too.
May you like
And this time…
It belonged to someone who should have been on my side.
