Chapter 7 - The Woman in the Old Photograph
Maria told me the truth.
Her mother had been more than my father's employee.
She had been his confidante.
His investigator.
And, for a short time, the person he trusted most.
But Maria's connection to my family was deeper than I had realized.
Her mother had discovered that my father's business partner had been using the company to fund criminal operations.
She gathered evidence.
My father planned to expose him.
Then he died.
The official story was a heart attack.
But Elena believed otherwise.
She spent years investigating.
Before she died, she left Maria one final instruction:
Protect Adrian's children.
Maria had always assumed she meant any future children.
Then Lily was born.
“She knew about the trust,” Maria said.
“She knew what would happen.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't she come forward?”
“She tried.”
“What happened?”
Maria looked at me.
“Your mother threatened her.”
I closed my eyes.
My family had been rotting beneath the surface for decades.
Then I asked the question that mattered.
“What did my mother mean when she said your mother knew Lily's biological mother?”
Maria shook her head.
“She was trying to confuse you.”
“About what?”
“Lily's mother is exactly who you think she is.”
I stared.
“My wife.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did she say otherwise?”
“Because she knew you'd panic.”
Another manipulation.
Another lie.
I laughed bitterly.
“My entire life has been people deciding what I should believe.”
Maria didn't disagree.
Then my phone rang.
My investigator.
“We found Ethan.”
“Where?”
“Private airport.”
I grabbed my coat.
“Stop him.”
“We're trying.”
I arrived twenty minutes later.
Ethan was standing beside a private jet.
He looked at me.
“Brother.”
“You're not leaving.”
He smiled.
“You don't understand.”
“I understand everything.”
“No.”
He stepped closer.
“You understand what they wanted you to understand.”
“What does that mean?”
He lowered his voice.
“Mother wasn't the mastermind.”
“Then who?”
He looked toward the plane.
“Dad.”
I froze.
“My father is dead.”
“I know.”
“Then you're lying.”
Ethan shook his head.
“Not dead.”
The world seemed to stop.
“What?”
“He disappeared.”
“Why?”
“Because he discovered what Mother had done.”
I couldn't breathe.
Ethan continued.
“He staged his death to escape.”
“Where is he?”
“I don't know.”
“Who does?”
Ethan looked at me.
“Daniel.”
Then Ethan handed me a photograph.
My father.
Older.
Alive.
Standing beside a woman.
The woman was my mother.
And behind them was Lily.
Except Lily was only a baby.
I stared at the photograph.
“This was taken after my father died.”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Two years ago.”
My blood went cold.
My father had been alive.
He had been watching.
And someone had deliberately hidden him from me.
I looked at Ethan.
“Why tell me now?”
“Because they are going to kill him.”
“Who?”
Ethan swallowed.
“Mother.”
He stepped back.
“She knows he has the original evidence.”
Then he ran.
My men caught him before he reached the plane.
But it didn't matter.
Because I finally understood the real game.
My father wasn't the past.
May you like
He was still somewhere in the present.
And everyone who had lied to me was terrified he would come back.
