Chương 6
The question sounded exactly like something a child would say.
I closed my eyes briefly.
“What did you tell her?”
“I told her no.”
A sad smile crossed Grace's face.
“I lied.”
I looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because I was scared too.”
The room became quiet.
“Then she said something I didn't understand.”
“What?”
“She said, ‘The monster isn't outside.’”
My stomach tightened.
“What did she mean?”
“I don't know.”
“Then why promise her?”
Grace looked at me.
“Because she grabbed my hand.”
Her voice became softer.
“She was small.”
A pause.
“And she was tired.”
I said nothing.
“She asked me to find someone.”
“Who?”
“You.”
The answer landed harder than I expected.
“She asked you to find me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Grace shook her head.
“She couldn't explain everything.”
She looked at the photograph.
“But she said one thing.”
“What?”
“She said, ‘Daddy will believe me if he sees the book.’”
The notebook on my desk suddenly felt heavier.
The purple cover.
The drawings.
The page I had ignored.
“What book?”
Grace looked at me.
“The one she was hiding.”
I felt something inside me shift.
Because there had been a book.
I remembered it.
A small children's storybook Elena carried everywhere.
I thought it was lost after the funeral.
“Where is it?”
Grace looked nervous.
“I don't know.”
“But you know it existed.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Because Elena gave me something from inside it.”
“What?”
Before she could answer, Marcus returned.
His face told me something was wrong.
He closed the door behind him.
“The drive is not empty.”
Nobody spoke.
“What is on it?”
Marcus looked at me.
“A video.”
I waited.
“From nine years ago.”
My hands tightened.
“Play it.”
Marcus hesitated.
“Sir.”
“Play it.”
He connected the laptop.
The screen came alive.
At first, there was only darkness.
Then a hospital room appeared.
My breath stopped.
Because I recognized it.
The angle was different from any security footage.
Someone had recorded it from inside the room.
Elena appeared on the screen.
Small.
Pale.
Alive.
She was sitting in bed holding a book.
And then a voice spoke from behind the camera.
A voice I recognized immediately.
My own voice.
“Daddy is going to fix everything.”
I stepped backward.
Because I had never seen this recording.
But I remembered saying those words.
And then another voice answered.
A woman's voice.
Sarah.
My wife.
“Elena cannot know what happened.”
The room went silent.
On the screen, my daughter looked toward her mother.
And Sarah said something that changed everything I believed about the last nine years.
“Because if Julian finds out, he will destroy all of them.”
The video froze for a moment after Sarah's words.
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
Then the recording continued.
My younger self appeared on the screen beside Elena's bed.
I looked different.
Not younger in a simple way.
Lighter.
There was a version of me in that room who still believed hard work could solve everything.
Who still believed money could build walls strong enough to keep pain away.
Elena looked toward me.
“Daddy, you promise?”
My recorded voice answered immediately.
“I promise.”
The video shook slightly, as if the person holding the camera had moved.
Then Sarah stepped closer to the bed.
Her face was tired.
Not cold.
Not cruel.
Tired.
“Elena, honey, remember what we talked about.”
The little girl looked down at the book in her hands.
“I don't want him to get hurt.”
My heart stopped.
I looked at Marcus.
He was watching the screen carefully.
Grace had covered her mouth.
I turned back.
“What is this?”
Nobody answered.
The video continued.
Sarah sat beside Elena.
“You understand why we can't tell him yet.”
Elena nodded slowly.
“But Daddy helps people.”
Sarah closed her eyes.
“That is exactly why.”
The recording ended.
The screen went black.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then I laughed.
It was a quiet sound.
A broken sound.
Because sometimes the mind searches for a reaction and finds nothing that fits.
“So my wife knew something.”
Marcus remained silent.
Grace looked devastated.
I looked at her.
“Did you know about this video?”
“No.”
“Did you know Sarah was involved?”
“No.”
“Did you know Elena was afraid?”
Grace shook her head.
“I knew she was worried.”
“About what?”
“I don't know.”
I walked away from the desk.
My office suddenly felt unfamiliar.
The walls.
The furniture.
The view of the city.
Everything belonged to a man who believed he understood his own life.
That man was gone.
“What did she mean?”
Marcus looked at me.
“Sir?”
“Sarah said if I found out, I would destroy all of them.”
Nobody answered.
Because everyone understood the question.
Who were they?
And what had I been close to destroying?
I walked to the cabinet behind my desk.
Inside was a collection of files I rarely opened.
Business disputes.
Old contracts.
Names.
Organizations.
People who had crossed me.
I had spent years assuming every enemy was outside the walls.
I never considered that the danger might have been inside the reasons those walls existed.
“Find Sarah.”
Marcus looked surprised.
“She has been gone for years.”
“I know.”
“We have no confirmed address.”
“Then find one.”
He nodded.
“And Victor?”
“Find him too.”
Marcus paused.
“You think they are working together?”
“I think I have spent nine years not asking the right questions.”
After Marcus left, Grace remained seated.
She looked smaller than she had the night before.
Not because she had changed.
Because I was finally seeing how much she had carried.
“You should have told me.”
“I know.”
“Why didn't you?”
She looked at Amara's photograph on my desk.
“Because every time I tried, something happened.”
“What does that mean?”
“The first time I planned to contact you, someone followed me.”
“When?”
“Three years ago.”
“Why didn't you report it?”
She gave me a tired look.
“To who?”
The question was uncomfortable because she was right.
May you like
People like me lived in a strange world.
We had money to buy protection.
