Chapter 3: The Secret My Mother Left Behind
The words hit harder than any insult my father had ever thrown at me.
Someone was trying to sell my mother’s music.
Not a random collection.
Not old recordings sitting forgotten in a storage room.
My mother’s final work.
The songs she created before she got sick.
The songs she never had the chance to release.
I took the tablet from Claire.
“Show me.””
She tapped the screen.
A list of files appeared.
Every file had my mother’s handwritten notes attached.
My chest tightened.
I remembered those notes.
I remembered sitting beside Mom at the kitchen table while she explained melodies and lyrics.
“Maya,” she would say, “music is not about being famous. It’s about leaving something behind that matters.””
Someone was trying to steal that.
My father looked uncomfortable.
“What is going on?””
I looked at him.
For once, he looked afraid.
“You tell me.””
His eyebrows pulled together.
“I don’t know anything about this.””
Olivia stepped forward.
“Why would anyone want those old songs?””
I looked at her.
Because that question alone told me she knew more than she should.
“Old songs?””
She quickly corrected herself.
“I mean… your mother’s songs.””
Adrian noticed too.
He moved closer.
“Olivia, how do you know they’re old?””
The room became tense.
Olivia opened her mouth.
Then closed it.
My father immediately stepped between us.
“Enough.””
“No,” I said.
My voice surprised even me.
“Not enough.””
I had spent years staying quiet.
Years pretending things didn’t hurt.
Years accepting excuses because I wanted my father to love me the way he loved Olivia.
But tonight was different.
Tonight, the truth was standing in front of me.
My father had chosen her.
And someone had chosen to betray my mother.
Claire lowered her voice.
“Maya, there’s something else.””
I turned.
“What?””
“The person who accessed the files used an old company password.””
My heart stopped.
“What password?””
Claire looked at me carefully.
“The one created by your mother.””
Silence.
“That’s impossible,” Adrian said.
“Why?”” I asked.
“Because only someone close to your mother would know it.””
Everyone looked around the room.
My father’s face changed.
Not confusion.
Recognition.
“You know that password,” I said.
He looked away.
“Maya…”
“You know it.””
He rubbed his forehead.
“It was years ago.””
“No. Answer me.””
My voice echoed through the lounge.
“Do you know my mother’s password?””
He didn’t answer.
And that was answer enough.
Olivia stepped back.
“Dad?””
My father looked at her.
Then at me.
“I was trying to help.””
I stared at him.
“Help who?””
He didn’t speak.
The stadium lights outside flashed through the windows.
Thousands of fans were waiting for the concert to begin.
But inside that room, everything had changed.
My father had stolen my VIP ticket.
My step-sister had stolen my place.
And now I was discovering someone had tried to steal the last piece of my mother.
“Dad,” I said quietly, “what did you do?””
His eyes filled with something I had never seen before.
Regret.
But regret was not the same as honesty.
Finally, he whispered:
“Your mother left something else behind.””
I froze.
“What?””
He looked toward the closed door.
Then back at me.
“She left instructions that you were never supposed to find out about.””
Before I could respond, the lights in the lounge suddenly flickered.
Claire checked her phone.
Her face turned pale.
“Maya…”
“What?””
She showed me the screen.
A message had just arrived from an unknown number.
May you like
There were only seven words.
*“Ask your father why your mother disappeared.””*
