CHAPTER 7: The Video From The Dead Woman
Nobody moved.
The forest that night felt frozen in time.
Emily stared at Daniel.
The man she believed betrayed her.
The man she believed destroyed her family.
Was standing there...
Saving her life.
"You're his son?"
Her voice cracked.
Daniel slowly lowered his weapon.
"Yes."
"My whole life, I thought I escaped him."
"But I didn't."
Richard laughed from behind the armed men.
A cold, emotionless laugh.
"You really think you escaped me?"
"Everything you have..."
"Your job."
"Your money."
"Your marriage."
"Even your son."
"I allowed it."
Emily felt sick.
"You used me."
Richard looked at her.
"I raised you to be useful."
"Not emotional."
"Your mother made you weak."
That sentence changed everything.
Daniel looked at Richard with hatred.
"Don't talk about her."
Richard smiled.
"Still protecting her after all these years?"
Sarah stepped forward.
"Wait..."
"Who is her?"
Daniel looked at Emily.
Then he finally said the words he had been hiding.
"Emily's mother wasn't just my father's enemy."
"She was my only friend."
Emily froze.
"What?"
Daniel looked down.
"When I was young, your mother discovered what Richard was doing."
"She wanted to expose him."
"But before she could..."
"Richard found out."
Emily's eyes filled with tears.
"Then why didn't you tell me?"
Daniel swallowed hard.
"Because I was afraid."
"Afraid that if Richard knew I loved you..."
"He would hurt you too."
No one spoke.
Then Noah suddenly held up the memory card.
"Mom..."
"Grandma left this for us."
Emily carefully inserted the card into Daniel's laptop.
A video appeared.
The screen showed a woman sitting in a dark room.
Emily stopped breathing.
It was her mother.
The woman she had lost twenty years ago.
Her eyes filled with tears.
"Emily..."
"If you're watching this..."
"It means Richard found out the truth."
Emily covered her mouth.
Her mother's voice continued.
"Your father will tell you that I betrayed him."
"He will tell you that I was dangerous."
"But the truth is..."
"I discovered he wasn't working alone."
The video glitched.
Then her mother looked directly into the camera.
"There is someone else."
"Someone closer than you think."
Emily looked confused.
"Closer?"
Her mother's final words made everyone in the forest go silent.
"The person you trust the most..."
"Is the person who knows how to destroy you."
Suddenly...
The laptop screen went black.
A message appeared:
FILE DELETED.
Richard smiled.
"Looks like the truth died with her."
But then Noah pointed at the screen.
"Mom..."
"Look."
A second file appeared.
One that nobody knew existed.
The title was:
"Emily's Real Father."
Emily's hands began shaking.
Because the video wasn't about Richard.
May you like
It was about someone else.
Someone standing right beside her.
