Chapter 12: The Man Who Wanted My Mother’s Silence
The footsteps were slow.
Deliberate.
Whoever was walking through the house wasn’t trying to hide.
They wanted us to know they were coming.
My father immediately moved in front of me.
A strange feeling hit me.
After everything.
After years of disappointment.
After all the lies.
He was still trying to protect me.
“Stay behind me,” he whispered.
I almost laughed.
“Now you want to be my father?””
His face hurt.
“Yes.””
The honesty stopped me.
Not because it fixed anything.
Because it was the first time he said it without making excuses.
The footsteps stopped.
A voice echoed from the hallway.
“Robert.””
My father froze.
I recognized the confidence immediately.
The kind of voice belonging to someone who believed consequences were for other people.
Victor Hale stepped into the doorway.
Older than his magazine photos.
But exactly as intimidating.
The scar near his eyebrow was visible.
Olivia’s description.
The person who came after my mother died.
The person my mother feared.
He looked around the room.
Then smiled.
“Maya Carter.””
I stared at him.
“You know my name.””
He smiled wider.
“I knew your name before you did.””
Adrian stepped forward.
“Get out.””
Victor looked amused.
“You’re defending her?””
“Yes.””
“How noble.””
Victor walked farther inside.
“You all have no idea what you’re dealing with.””
I held up the recorder.
“You threatened my mother.””
His smile disappeared.
Only for a second.
But I saw it.
“You found that.””
“Yes.””
He sighed.
“Your mother was always too clever.””
My father’s voice shook.
“You killed her.””
Victor looked at him.
“No.””
Everyone went silent.
Then Victor smiled.
“But I understand why you think that.””
I stepped forward.
“What happened?””
Victor looked at me.
“You want the truth?””
“Yes.””
He glanced around the room.
“This room contains the truth your mother wanted to reveal.””
“Then tell me.””
He laughed softly.
“You think truth is simple?””
I didn’t answer.
He looked at my father.
“Your father knows.””
I turned.
My father looked away.
My stomach dropped.
“What does he know?””
Victor smiled.
“Ask him.””
I looked at my father.
“Dad.””
He said nothing.
“Tell me.””
Finally, he whispered:
“Your mother wasn’t alone the night she died.””
The room went silent.
“What?””
My father’s voice broke.
“She met someone.””
“Who?””
He looked at Victor.
Then at me.
“I don’t know.””
Victor laughed.
“That’s the problem with Robert. He always thought he could protect everyone.””
My hands trembled.
“Who was she meeting?””
Victor stepped closer.
“Someone who could destroy me.””
“Who?””
He reached into his coat.
My father immediately moved.
“Don’t.””
Victor pulled out a photograph.
He threw it onto the table.
I picked it up.
My breath stopped.
It was my mother.
The night she died.
But she wasn’t alone.
Standing beside her was someone I recognized.
Someone impossible.
Someone who had been at my concert tonight.
Someone who had hugged me backstage.
Adrian.
My fingers went numb.
I looked at him.
He looked just as shocked.
“I’ve never seen that photo before.””
Victor smiled.
“Of course you haven’t.””
The room turned colder.
Because suddenly the question wasn’t only what happened to my mother.
May you like
It was why the man I trusted most in the music industry was standing beside her on the last night of her life.
And nobody had told me.
