CHAPTER 5
The Man Who Said My Father Was Still Alive
“They work for your father.”
The words hit me harder than anything I'd heard all day.
I looked at Meena as if she had lost her mind.
“My father disappeared twenty-seven years ago.”
She shook her head, tears in her eyes.
“No, Nolan… he didn't disappear.”
The three men were getting closer.
People in the terminal moved aside as they pushed through the crowd.
One of them shouted again.
“Mr. Reyes!”
Raj stepped in front of me.
“We need to go. Now.”
“No!” I snapped. “No more running. Somebody tells me the truth!”
The old woman grabbed my sleeve.
“Nolan, please…”
But I couldn't move.
My whole life had become a lie in less than an hour.
A fake husband.
A secret grandmother.
A mysterious letter.
Strangers following my mother.
And now—
My father might still be alive.
The tallest of the three men finally reached us.
He was in his late fifties, broad-shouldered, with gray hair and tired eyes.
He stopped when he saw the old woman.
For a second, his face softened.
“Mrs. Anand…”
She looked at him and whispered,
“Michael.”
He nodded respectfully.
Then he turned to me.
And for the first time, I noticed something strange.
His eyes were red.
As if he had been crying.
“You're Nolan,” he said softly.
I didn't answer.
He swallowed hard.
“You look exactly like him.”
I had heard that sentence too many times today.
“Who are you?” I asked.
“My name is Michael Carter.”
“Do I know you?”
A sad smile appeared on his face.
“No. But I held you the day you were born.”
Silence.
I stared at him.
“What?”
“I was your father's best friend.”
The airport seemed to disappear around me.
“No…”
He reached into his wallet.
Pulled out a faded photograph.
And handed it to me.
I almost dropped it.
The picture showed my father.
Beside him stood Michael.
And in my father's arms—
a newborn baby.
Me.
The date on the back read:
October 14, 1992.
I looked up slowly.
“How…?”
Michael's voice shook.
“I promised your father I would find you one day.”
I couldn't breathe.
“Where is he?”
The question came out as a whisper.
Michael closed his eyes.
Then he said the one thing I wasn't prepared to hear.
“I don't know.”
Anger exploded inside me.
“You don't know? Everybody keeps saying that!”
“He disappeared.”
“Twenty-seven years ago!”
“No,” Michael replied quietly.
I frowned.
“What?”
“He disappeared… six months ago.”
The world stopped.
“What did you say?”
Michael looked directly into my eyes.
“I saw your father six months ago.”
My legs nearly gave out.
“No…”
“He's alive, Nolan.”
I couldn't hear anything.
Couldn't think.
Couldn't breathe.
Alive.
After twenty-seven years…
Alive.
“That's impossible.”
“He came to me.”
“When?”
“Six months ago.”
“Why?”
Michael's face turned pale.
“He said they had finally found him.”
The same words my mother had used.
They found me.
A chill ran through my body.
“Who found him?”
Michael looked around nervously.
Then lowered his voice.
“The people who want what he stole.”
I thought of the letter.
The secret belongs to both of you.
“What did he steal?”
Michael hesitated.
“I can't tell you here.”
“Tell me!”
“He made me promise.”
I grabbed his jacket.
“Twenty-seven years! I've spent twenty-seven years believing my father was dead!”
His eyes filled with tears.
“I know.”
“Then tell me where he is!”
Michael looked devastated.
“Because if I knew…”
His voice broke.
“…I would've brought him home.”
Silence.
I slowly let go.
For the first time, I believed him.
Then he reached into his coat pocket.
He pulled out a small silver key.
My breath caught.
The key.
The letter.
My mother's house.
“This belonged to your father,” he said.
I stared at it.
“He wanted you to have it.”
“Why?”
Michael looked at Priya.
Then back at me.
“Because the two of you are the only ones who can open it.”
Everyone froze.
I looked at Priya.
She looked terrified.
“Open what?”
Michael took a shaky breath.
Then he said:
“The box your father buried twenty-seven years ago.”
Silence.
“A box?” I whispered.
He nodded.
“Yes.”
“What's inside?”
“I don't know.”
“Then how do you know about it?”
Michael's face turned serious.
“Because your father told me one thing.”
“What?”
He looked me straight in the eyes.
And said:
“If I disappear again… tell my son the truth.”
I swallowed hard.
“What truth?”
Michael's expression changed.
Almost like he regretted speaking.
Then he whispered:
“The girl standing beside him…”
He looked at Priya.
“…was promised to him before they were born.”
The world stopped.
“What?”
Priya looked horrified.
“No…”
The old woman closed her eyes.
Raj looked away.
Even Meena began crying again.
I stared at them.
Nobody denied it.
I slowly turned back to Michael.
“You're saying…”
He nodded.
“Yes.”
I couldn't finish the sentence.
Because at that exact moment, my phone rang again.
This time, it wasn't my mother.
It was an unknown video call.
With shaking hands, I answered.
The screen lit up.
A dark room.
A chair.
And tied to that chair…
was my mother.
I stopped breathing.
Then a man stepped into view.
Gray hair.
Sharp eyes.
And when he smiled…
my blood turned to ice.
Because he looked exactly like me.
The man spoke only five words:
May you like
“Hello, son. It's been awhile.”
TO BE CONTINUED… 🔥🔥🔥
