Chương 6
Emily stepped forward.
“Then why send me the file?”
Silence.
Then Thomas answered.
“Because nobody else would.”
Emily moved closer to the door.
“You knew my uncle.”
“Yes.”
“You were there the night I disappeared.”
A pause.
“Yes.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Hearing the confirmation out loud hurt more than he expected.
Emily continued.
“You let me believe you were dead.”
Thomas’s voice became softer.
“I needed everyone to believe that.”
“Why?”
“Because the people who wanted Michael gone thought I was gone too.”
Emily looked at Daniel.
The pieces were forming.
But there were still missing parts.
“Open the door.”
Daniel looked at Emily.
She nodded.
Slowly, he unlocked it.
The door opened.
A man stood outside.
Older.
Gray hair.
A tired face marked by years of running.
But the eyes were exactly the same as the photograph.
Thomas Reed.
Alive.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Daniel stared at the man who had haunted his memories for decades.
“You’re alive.”
Thomas gave a small, sad smile.
“I know.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“Do you have any idea what you did to us?”
Thomas looked down.
“Yes.”
“Then why?”
“Because if I came back too early, they would know.”
Emily watched the exchange.
She could feel years of anger building between them.
But underneath it was something else.
Two men who had both lost the same person.
“Who are they?”
Emily asked.
Thomas looked at her.
And his expression changed.
Because he was not looking at a child anymore.
He was looking at Michael’s niece.
The person Michael had tried to protect.
“The people who destroyed your family.”
Sarah stepped forward.
“Thomas, tell her everything.”
Thomas looked at Sarah.
“You’re still here.”
Sarah nodded.
“I never left.”
Daniel looked confused.
“You two knew?”
Sarah looked at him.
“Only recently.”
Thomas entered the house slowly.
He placed an old folder on the table.
“The truth about Michael’s disappearance is inside.”
Emily opened it immediately.
The first page made her stop.
A photograph.
Her grandfather.
Her uncle Michael.
And another man standing with them.
Daniel looked at the picture.
His face changed.
“No.”
Emily looked at him.
“You know him?”
Daniel whispered.
“He was my father’s business partner.”
Thomas nodded.
“Richard Vale.”
Daniel stared.
“But he died.”
Thomas looked at him.
“That’s what everyone was told.”
The room went silent.
Emily turned the page.
There were financial records.
Military contracts.
Encrypted messages.
Evidence of illegal operations.
Her heart raced.
“This was the secret?”
Thomas nodded.
“Your grandfather’s company was not failing.”
Daniel looked at him.
“What?”
“They were making money.”
“Then why did it collapse?”
“Because Michael found out where the money was coming from.”
Emily looked at the documents.
“Selling information.”
Thomas nodded.
“To foreign buyers.”
Sarah covered her mouth.
Daniel stared at the floor.
“My own father.”
Thomas looked at him sadly.
“Your father was involved.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
“He knew.”
“No.”
Thomas stepped closer.
“He didn’t start it.”
Daniel looked up.
“But he protected it.”
The words crushed him.
Because deep down, he knew there had always been something missing about his father’s final years.
The anger.
The fear.
The strange phone calls.
The locked office.
Emily watched her father struggle.
She reached for his hand.
A small gesture.
But enough.
Thomas continued.
“Michael found proof.”
“And you helped him.”
Emily looked at Thomas.
“Yes.”
“Then why did he disappear?”
Thomas looked at the old photo.
“Because he found out someone closer than we expected was involved.”
Daniel’s expression changed.
“Who?”
Thomas looked directly at him.
“I don’t know.”
Emily frowned.
“You said someone closer.”
Thomas nodded.
“Someone inside the family.”
Nobody spoke.
The accusation filled the room.
Daniel looked at Sarah.
Sarah looked at Daniel.
And then the lights suddenly went out.
The house fell into darkness.
Emily immediately reached for her phone.
A new message appeared.
Not from Thomas.
Not from an unknown number.
From inside the house security system.
The message was only four words.
Stop looking at me.
Daniel stared at the message glowing on Emily’s phone.
Stop looking at me.
The words were simple.
But they carried a threat that made everyone in the room understand one thing.
They were not alone.
Emily immediately switched into action.
She moved away from the window and scanned the dark hallway.
“Everyone stay together.”
Her voice was calm.
Controlled.
But Daniel could hear the fear underneath.
Not fear for herself.
Fear for them.
Thomas looked toward the ceiling.
“The cameras.”
Emily turned.
“What?”
“He’s inside your security system.”
Daniel looked at Thomas.
“How?”
Thomas’s expression became serious.
“Because he built it.”
The answer made the room colder.
Emily looked back at the phone.
“The person who sent this has access to the entire house.”
Sarah grabbed Daniel’s arm.
“Daniel, we need to leave.”
But Daniel did not move.
His eyes were fixed on the message.
For twenty-five years, he had believed the worst moment of his life was losing Michael.
Now he realized something worse.
Someone had been standing close to his family all along.
Watching.
Waiting.
“You said someone inside the family was involved.”
Daniel looked at Thomas.
Thomas nodded.
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Thomas hesitated.
That hesitation was enough.
Emily noticed.
“You know.”
Thomas looked at her.
“I know who I suspect.”
“Who?”
Before he could answer, a loud sound came from upstairs.
A door closing.
Everyone froze.
Daniel looked toward the staircase.
“My office.”
Emily immediately moved.
“Don’t.”
Daniel stopped.
“That’s where I keep everything.”
Emily looked at him.
“Which means that’s where they want you to go.”
Thomas nodded.
“She’s right.”
Daniel hated hearing it.
Not because she was wrong.
Because she was right in a way that reminded him how much she had grown.
Emily moved carefully toward the stairs.
Thomas followed.
Daniel followed them.
Emily looked back.
“Dad.”
He gave a small nod.
“I’m not staying behind.”
She wanted to argue.
But she understood.
They climbed the stairs slowly.
May you like
Every step felt louder than it should.
The house that had always felt safe now felt like a place full of hidden corners.
