Chapter 10: The Family I Never Knew
For several seconds, I just stared at Claire.
Waiting for her to take the words back.
Waiting for her to laugh and tell me it was some terrible misunderstanding.
But she didn’t.
She stood in Lily’s doorway with tears in her eyes, carrying the weight of a truth she had kept buried for eighteen months.
“Say it again,” I whispered.
Claire swallowed.
“Your biological father was Thomas Blake.””
Vanessa’s father.
The man whose name appeared in my father’s records.
The man connected to every secret hidden inside my house.
I shook my head.
“No.””
“Daniel…”
“No.””
I stepped away from her.
“My father was Robert Carter.””
“He raised you.””
“That’s not what I asked.””
Claire looked down.
“I know.””
The anger came before the pain.
“You knew this?””
“I found out shortly before I disappeared.””
“How?””
She walked into the room slowly.
“Your father kept records on everyone. He kept files on business partners, enemies, even family.””
“Why would he have a file on me?””
“Because he was afraid.””
“Of me?””
“No.””
She looked at me.
“Of losing you.””
That answer hurt more than I expected.
I looked at the hospital bracelet again.
“My entire life was a lie.””
Claire sat beside the bed.
“Not all of it.””
“How do you know?””
“Because Robert Carter was the man who raised you. He loved you in his own way.””
I laughed bitterly.
“His own way was controlling every person around him.””
“Yes.””
She nodded.
“But he also protected you.””
I looked at her.
“From what?””
Claire hesitated.
“From Thomas Blake.””
I froze.
“Vanessa’s father?””
She nodded.
“Robert and Thomas were business partners when they were younger.””
“What happened?””
“They built a company together.””
“And?””
“Thomas betrayed him.””
I thought about the records.
The payments.
The hidden rooms.
“The money.””
Claire nodded.
“Thomas was stealing from the company.””
“So my father destroyed him?””
“No.””
Her voice softened.
“Your father exposed him.””
I frowned.
“That doesn’t sound like my father.””
“It wasn’t enough.””
The room felt colder.
“Thomas lost everything. His reputation. His business. His family.””
I thought of Vanessa.
“She blamed my father.””
“Yes.””
I looked at the hallway.
“She knew?””
“I think she suspected.””
“Then why did she help us?””
Claire looked away.
“That’s what I don’t understand.””
A knock came from downstairs.
Detective Reed called my name.
We walked down together.
Vanessa was standing in the kitchen.
She looked at me and immediately knew.
“You found out.””
I stared at her.
“You knew.””
Her face fell.
“I knew about Thomas.””
“You knew he was my father.””
“No.””
The answer came too quickly.
I stepped closer.
“Don’t lie to me.””
“I didn’t know until after Claire disappeared.””
“Then how?””
Vanessa looked at the floor.
“Because I found my father’s old journals.””
“Where?””
“In the same hidden room.””
Everyone went quiet.
Vanessa continued.
“He wrote about Robert. About their friendship. About what happened.””
She looked at me.
“He wrote about you.””
I felt sick.
“What did he say?””
She hesitated.
Then whispered:
“He said Robert stole his son.””
My heart stopped.
“That’s impossible.””
Vanessa shook her head.
“That’s what I thought.””
She opened her purse.
Inside was a worn notebook.
“My father was obsessed with proving Robert took you away.””
I flipped through the pages.
Most were angry writings.
Accusations.
Paranoia.
Then I found a photograph.
A baby.
Me.
And two men standing beside me.
Robert Carter.
Thomas Blake.
My hands shook.
“How?””
Vanessa looked at me.
“Because Robert and Thomas were both at the hospital the day you were born.””
I stared at the picture.
Then at her.
“Why didn’t anyone tell me?””
Nobody answered.
Because there was no good answer.
Then Detective Reed’s phone rang.
He listened for a few seconds.
His expression changed.
“What happened?”” I asked.
He ended the call.
“We found something in the underground passage.””
“What?””
He looked directly at me.
“A second camera.””
My stomach tightened.
“Another one?””
He nodded.
“But this one wasn’t recording the house.””
“What was it recording?””
He hesitated.
May you like
Then said:
“You.””
