Chương 5
Emma stood motionless, still holding the phone in her hand.
The man's voice replayed in her mind over and over.
Stop trusting the people closest to you.
The words felt like a warning and a threat at the same time.
David watched her carefully.
He could see the fear in her eyes.
"Emma," he said softly.
"Whatever this is, we figure it out together."
She looked at him.
For years, David had been the one person she believed she could always trust.
He was the person who stayed beside her during sleepless nights with Lily.
He was the person who held her hand when she cried from exhaustion after becoming a mother.
But now there was a question she could not ignore.
How much did he really know?
"I need to ask you something," Emma said.
David nodded.
"Anything."
"Did your father ever talk about Rachel?"
The question seemed to hit him unexpectedly.
His face changed slightly.
Not guilt.
Not anger.
Something closer to confusion.
"No."
Emma studied his expression.
"You are sure?"
David looked hurt.
"Emma, if I knew any of this, do you really think I would have let you believe something else?"
She looked away.
"I don't know anymore."
The words hurt him.
She saw that.
But she could not take them back.
Her entire life had suddenly become a collection of unanswered questions.
Margaret slowly stood from the sofa.
"Emma, David is telling the truth."
Emma looked at her.
"You sound very certain."
"Because I know my son."
Margaret paused.
"And because I know what it feels like to have someone hide the truth from you."
The room became quiet.
Emma noticed something she had not noticed before.
Margaret was not protecting David.
She was protecting Emma from blaming the wrong person.
"Then tell me about the caller," Emma said.
Margaret looked nervous.
"I don't know who he is."
"But he knows about Rachel."
"Yes."
"And he knows about me."
Margaret nodded.
Emma looked down at Lily.
The baby was still playing quietly with her toy.
She reached down and gently touched her daughter's tiny hand.
The small gesture reminded her why she needed answers.
This was no longer just about her past.
Someone was bringing a thirty-year-old secret back into her life.
And they had chosen her baby as part of the message.
"Where did you meet him?" David asked his mother.
Margaret looked toward the window.
"At the old Carter property."
David frowned.
"The house Grandpa owned?"
Margaret nodded.
"Why would you go there?"
"Because he contacted me and told me he found something that belonged to Rachel."
Emma felt her heartbeat quicken.
"What did he find?"
Margaret looked at the old photograph.
"A box."
"What was inside?"
"Letters."
Emma froze.
"Letters from Rachel?"
Margaret nodded.
"Some of them."
"Some?"
Margaret hesitated.
"Some were missing."
David crossed his arms.
"Who took them?"
Margaret looked at him.
"I don't know."
Emma walked slowly toward the coffee table.
The family photos in the background suddenly felt like evidence in a mystery.
Every object in the room seemed to hold a hidden story.
"Why didn't you tell me when he contacted you?"
Margaret looked ashamed.
"Because I was afraid."
"Of him?"
Margaret shook her head.
"Of what you would think of me."
Emma stopped.
"What does that mean?"
Margaret looked directly at her.
"I knew you would wonder why I stayed silent all these years."
Emma said nothing.
Because she had wondered exactly that.
Margaret took a breath.
"When your father found out Rachel had been forced away, he wanted to tell you."
Emma looked up.
"But he didn't."
"No."
"Why?"
Margaret's eyes filled with sadness.
"Because Rachel asked him not to."
Emma looked confused.
"She asked him?"
Margaret nodded.
"Before she disappeared, she sent him one final message."
"What did it say?"
Margaret looked down.
"She said if Emma ever learned the truth, she needed to learn it from someone who truly loved her."
Emma felt tears forming.
"She thought my father would tell me?"
"Yes."
"Then why didn't he?"
Margaret looked toward the staircase.
"Because he died before he could."
The room became silent.
Emma had not expected that answer.
Her father had always been the center of her childhood memories.
His laughter.
His advice.
His voice calling her name.
Now she wondered how many things he had carried alone.
"I thought he chose to hide it," Emma whispered.
Margaret shook her head.
"He chose to protect you."
Emma looked at her.
"Those are not always the same thing."
Margaret accepted the truth of that statement.
"No."
She looked at Lily.
"Sometimes protection becomes another kind of pain."
David picked up the phone again.
"We need to find out who this man is."
Emma nodded.
"But how?"
Margaret slowly walked toward the hallway.
"There is someone who might know."
David followed her with his eyes.
"Who?"
Margaret stopped.
"Your father's old lawyer."
Emma frowned.
"Why would he know?"
"Because he helped create the agreement that separated Rachel from her daughter."
The words made Emma feel sick.
"Agreement?"
Margaret nodded.
"There were legal documents."
"About me?"
"Yes."
Emma looked at the baby monitor, then at the front door.
She felt trapped between the life she knew and the truth waiting outside it.
"What documents?"
Margaret looked at her.
"Documents that may explain why Rachel was forced to leave."
David stepped closer.
"Where are they?"
Margaret's expression changed.
"I thought they were destroyed."
"But?"
"But the man who contacted me said he found them."
Emma felt a chill.
The unknown caller was not just trying to scare them.
He had access to pieces of a hidden history.
He had information that even Margaret did not have.
The phone suddenly vibrated again.
Everyone looked at it.
Another message from the unknown number appeared.
Emma picked it up slowly.
This time, there was only one sentence.
Your father tried to tell you the truth before he died.
Underneath the message was an old photograph attachment.
May you like
Emma opened it.
The image loaded slowly.
