Chương 7
The man from the photograph.
The man who had supposedly left the country years ago.
The man whose name appeared nowhere in family records anymore.
Richard closed his eyes.
"He's alive."
Daniel looked at his father.
"You knew."
Richard did not deny it.
Daniel felt anger replacing confusion.
"How many people have been lying to me?"
His mother looked down.
Richard said nothing.
Then the mansion lights went out.
Every person in the room froze.
The emergency lights flickered.
A sound came from the back entrance.
The same slow footsteps Daniel had heard before.
But this time, they were not coming from his father.
Someone else was entering the mansion.
The officers moved quickly.
Daniel stood beside Emily.
He felt her hand trembling.
Then a voice came through the darkness.
A voice from a past everyone thought was gone.
"Daniel."
The voice was older.
But familiar.
Daniel turned slowly.
Standing at the entrance was a man with gray hair and a tired face.
Thomas Whitmore.
Alive.
The man everyone thought had disappeared forever.
His eyes moved toward Emily.
Then toward Richard.
And finally toward Daniel.
"I came back because you deserve to know what really happened."
Nobody moved.
Daniel stared at his uncle.
After everything he had learned, he no longer knew what to believe.
But one thing was clear.
The Whitmore family's darkest secret had not disappeared.
It had been waiting.
Waiting for the right person to finally ask the right questions.
Daniel stepped forward.
"Then start talking."
Thomas looked at Emily.
And the pain in his expression revealed something Daniel had not expected.
Regret.
"I was the one who helped her escape."
Daniel stopped.
Emily looked shocked.
"What?"
Thomas lowered his eyes.
"And I was also the reason she was found."
Need next focus: Thomas's confession or Emily's escape?
"I was the reason she was found."
The words stayed in the air long after Thomas stopped speaking.
Daniel looked at his uncle, trying to understand what he meant.
Emily's face had lost all color.
"You knew where I was?"
Thomas looked at her with deep regret.
"Not at first."
He took a slow breath.
"I found out years after your father hid you."
Daniel stepped closer.
"Explain."
Thomas looked around the mansion.
"The walls here have always carried secrets."
His eyes moved toward Richard.
"And your father was always better at hiding them than anyone."
Richard's expression became cold.
"Be careful what you say."
Thomas ignored him.
"When Emily discovered those records, she didn't understand how dangerous they were."
Emily looked down.
"I only wanted to tell the truth."
Thomas nodded.
"I know."
His voice became softer.
"That was always your problem."
Emily frowned.
"My problem?"
"You believed people would choose what was right when they knew the truth."
The pain in his voice made Daniel listen carefully.
"Most people don't."
The room remained silent.
Thomas looked at Daniel.
"Your father knew Emily had discovered the documents."
Daniel's hands tightened.
"How?"
"Because someone told him."
Everyone looked toward Richard.
Richard said nothing.
Daniel turned to his father.
"Who?"
Thomas looked away.
"I did."
The confession shocked everyone.
Emily stared at him.
"You?"
Thomas closed his eyes.
"I made a mistake."
Daniel felt anger rise.
"You helped him?"
"No."
Thomas shook his head.
"I tried to stop him."
Emily's voice became sharp.
"But you told him."
Thomas nodded slowly.
"Yes."
The answer hurt more because it was honest.
"I thought I could control the situation."
Daniel laughed bitterly.
"That sounds like something my father would say."
Thomas accepted the insult.
"You're right."
He looked at Emily.
"I thought I could convince Richard to let her go."
Emily stared at him.
"And when he refused?"
Thomas looked down.
"I was too late."
Daniel watched his uncle carefully.
He had spent years believing Thomas abandoned the family.
Now he wondered if the truth was more complicated.
"What happened after that?"
Thomas walked toward the old table where the evidence was spread out.
"I discovered Richard had moved Emily to a different location."
Emily's breathing changed.
"The facility."
Thomas nodded.
"Blackwood."
Daniel looked at the file.
"What was Blackwood?"
Thomas hesitated.
"It was supposed to be a private research and storage facility."
Daniel frowned.
"Supposed to be?"
Thomas looked at him.
"Your grandfather created it."
The words carried weight.
"The Whitmore family didn't just build companies."
"They built systems."
Daniel looked at the documents again.
"And people disappeared inside those systems."
Thomas nodded.
"Anyone who threatened the family image."
Emily wrapped her arms around herself.
"I spent months there."
Daniel looked at her.
"Months?"
She nodded.
"Before I escaped."
His expression changed.
"You never told me that."
Emily looked at him.
"I didn't know if I could trust anyone."
Thomas looked away.
"She was right not to."
Daniel turned toward him.
"Tell me what happened."
Thomas closed his eyes.
"I helped her escape."
Emily looked at him.
"You helped me?"
Thomas nodded.
"I found a way to get her out through an old service tunnel."
A memory crossed Emily's face.
"The night of the storm."
Thomas nodded.
"Yes."
Daniel remembered the photograph.
The old stories about a storm that caused power failures across the city.
His father had always called it an unfortunate accident.
It was not an accident.
"It was planned."
Thomas nodded.
"I created a distraction."
Emily whispered.
"Then why did they find me again?"
Thomas looked at Richard.
Because he had already answered.
Daniel followed his uncle's gaze.
His father.
Richard's expression remained emotionless.
"Because he knew."
Thomas nodded.
"He knew exactly where she would go."
Daniel felt a wave of anger.
"You tracked her."
Richard finally spoke.
"I protected this family."
Daniel turned toward him.
"You hunted my sister."
Richard's voice became harder.
"She was going to destroy everything."
Emily stepped forward.
"No."
She looked directly at him.
"I was going to expose everything."
Richard looked at her.
"You don't understand what would have happened."
Emily smiled sadly.
"Neither did you."
May you like
The room fell quiet.
The police officers watched carefully.
