Chương 7
The handwriting was old.
The first line made everyone freeze.
To my son Ethan.
Claire covered her mouth.
"No."
Ethan looked at the letter.
"Is that for me?"
Daniel nodded slowly.
Nobody wanted to touch it.
Nobody wanted to read words that had waited eight years for the right person.
Finally, Claire picked it up.
Her hands trembled.
She looked at Ethan.
"Do you want me to read it?"
Ethan hesitated.
Then he nodded.
Claire opened the letter.
The paper made a soft sound in the quiet kitchen.
"My dear Ethan."
Claire stopped for a moment.
Her voice shook.
She continued.
"If you are reading this, then the truth finally found you."
Ethan listened carefully.
"I need you to know something before anything else."
Claire looked at him.
"You were loved before you were born."
The boy's eyes softened.
"You were wanted."
Claire took a shaky breath.
"And you were never a secret because you were shameful."
The room became emotional.
"You were hidden because people were afraid of what would happen if the truth came out."
Claire continued reading.
"Your mother, Claire, gave you a life full of love."
She looked up.
The words hurt and healed at the same time.
"She protected you when I could not."
Claire's tears fell.
Ethan held her hand.
The letter continued.
"I made choices that I regret."
Claire looked confused.
"Who wrote this?"
Nobody answered.
But everyone knew.
Thomas.
"I was not the father you deserved."
Margaret closed her eyes.
"But I watched from a distance."
Daniel looked shocked.
"He watched?"
Rachel nodded.
"Keep reading."
Claire continued.
"I saw your first steps."
Her voice broke.
"I saw your birthday pictures."
Ethan looked confused.
"He saw me?"
Margaret whispered.
"Yes."
Claire looked at her.
"Why didn't he come?"
Nobody answered.
The letter explained.
"I was afraid that telling you who I was would destroy the only family you knew."
Claire lowered the paper.
The room was silent.
Then a sound came from outside.
A car door closing.
Everyone froze.
Daniel looked toward the window.
Another car had stopped outside.
Rachel's expression changed.
"No."
Margaret looked at her.
"What?"
Rachel stepped back.
"He found us."
Claire grabbed Ethan's hand.
"Who?"
Rachel looked toward the front door.
The fear in her eyes returned.
"The person who continued Thomas Reed's work."
The lights in the house suddenly flickered.
Then went out.
The kitchen disappeared into darkness.
And from the other side of the front door came a voice.
A voice everyone recognized.
A voice that should not have been there.
"Claire."
She froze.
Because it was the voice of her father.
Claire froze.
The voice on the other side of the door was impossible.
Her entire body became still.
For a moment, she forgot how to breathe.
Because there were some sounds people never truly forgot.
Her father's voice was one of them.
"No," she whispered.
Daniel looked at her.
"Claire?"
She shook her head slowly.
"That can't be him."
Margaret stood frozen near the table.
Her face showed a fear that Claire had never seen before.
Not confusion.
Not surprise.
Pure fear.
"Ethan," Claire said quietly.
She immediately pulled him closer.
"Stay behind me."
The boy nodded, gripping her hand.
The lights remained off.
Only the faint glow from Daniel's phone illuminated the kitchen.
The voice came again.
"Claire, open the door."
She closed her eyes.
Her father's name was Robert.
He had died six years earlier.
She had watched him leave this world.
She had held his hand.
She had heard his final words.
There was no possible way he could be standing outside her house.
Daniel moved toward the hallway.
"Don't."
Rachel grabbed his arm.
He looked at her.
"Why?"
"Because whoever is outside knows exactly how to hurt you."
The door handle moved slightly.
Everyone stopped.
The sound of the lock shifting echoed through the darkness.
Claire stepped back.
"How does he have a key?"
Nobody answered.
Then Margaret whispered.
"Because he gave it to him."
Claire turned.
"What?"
Margaret looked broken.
"Your father and Thomas Reed were connected."
Claire stared at her.
"No."
Her voice was barely audible.
"No, you are wrong."
Margaret shook her head.
"I wish I was."
The door opened slowly.
A man stepped inside.
The phone light moved across his face.
He was older than Claire remembered.
His hair was gray.
His face carried years of exhaustion.
But she knew him.
She knew every line on his face.
Every movement.
Every expression.
"Dad?"
The word escaped before she could stop it.
The man looked at her.
And tears filled his eyes.
"Claire."
She stepped backward.
Her mind rejected what her eyes were seeing.
"You are dead."
The man nodded slowly.
"I know."
The silence was unbearable.
Ethan looked up at Claire.
"Mom?"
She did not answer.
She could not.
Daniel moved in front of everyone.
"Who are you?"
The man looked at him.
"Robert Collins."
Daniel's face changed.
"You were involved."
Robert looked down.
"Yes."
Claire felt the pain before the anger arrived.
"What does that mean?"
Robert looked at his daughter.
"It means I made the worst mistake of my life."
She shook her head.
"Why?"
Her voice cracked.
"Why would you hide something like this from me?"
Robert looked toward Ethan.
"Because I was trying to protect you."
Claire laughed softly.
There was no joy in it.
"Everyone keeps saying that."
She wiped her tears.
"Everyone says they were protecting me."
She looked around the room.
"But everyone lied to me."
Robert lowered his eyes.
"You're right."
That answer hurt more than an excuse would have.
Daniel stepped forward.
"What did you do with Thomas Reed?"
Robert looked at him.
"I helped him."
Margaret closed her eyes.
Claire stared at her father.
"You helped him?"
Robert nodded.
"For a short time."
Daniel's voice became harder.
"A short time?"
He pointed toward Ethan.
"A child spent his entire life surrounded by secrets because of what you did."
Robert looked at Ethan.
May you like
His expression changed.
"I know."
