Chapter 10: The Choice I Had To Make
I stared at my mother’s name flashing on my screen.
For years, that name meant home.
Safety.
Family.
Now it felt like a question I didn’t know how to answer.
I answered.
“Mom.””
Her voice came immediately.
“Marcus, where are you?””
I looked at Elena.
Then at the recording device.
“Why?””
A long pause.
“Because I need to tell you the truth.””
I almost laughed.
“The truth?””
She started crying.
“I know you talked to Elena.””
My chest tightened.
“How do you know her name?””
Silence.
That was enough.
“Mom.””
“I was trying to protect you.””
“From what?””
Her voice broke.
“From the same thing that took your father away.””
I stood up.
“You knew?””
“Not everything.””
“But you knew he was alive.””
Another silence.
Then:
“Yes.””
The word destroyed whatever hope I had left.
I walked outside the coffee shop.
Cars passed.
People walked by.
The world kept moving while mine stopped.
“Why?””
My mother cried softly.
“Because your father told me not to come looking for him.””
“That doesn’t make sense.””
“He said if I followed him, they would know.””
“Who?””
She didn’t answer.
“Mom.””
“I was scared.””
That sentence again.
Everyone was scared.
Everyone except me.
I was the person who lived inside the lie.
“I lost my father because you were scared.””
“I know.””
Her voice became smaller.
“I know.””
For the first time, she didn’t defend herself.
She didn’t explain.
She just admitted it.
“Where is he?””
She was quiet.
Too quiet.
Then she whispered:
“I don’t know.””
I closed my eyes.
“You’re lying.””
“I’m not.””
“You just said he told you not to follow him.””
“I knew where he was going.””
My heart stopped.
“You knew where he was going?””
“Yes.””
“Where?””
She took a shaky breath.
“An old cabin your father owned in West Virginia.””
I wrote the address down.
Then I heard something.
A voice in the background.
A man.
“Who are you talking to?””
My blood ran cold.
Darren.
My mother quickly lowered her voice.
“Marcus, you need to leave.””
“Why?””
“Because Darren knows you found out.””
I looked around.
“What does that mean?””
“It means he’s going to do whatever he can to stop this.””
The call ended.
I stood there frozen.
Then my phone buzzed again.
A message from Daniel.
*Marcus, I found something in your father’s original file. You need to see this immediately.*
I drove straight to his office.
Daniel was waiting.
He looked more serious than before.
“What happened?””
“My mother knew.””
Daniel closed his eyes.
“I was afraid of that.””
“You knew?””
“Your father suspected Denise was involved, but he also believed she was being controlled.””
I sat down.
“Controlled by Darren.””
Daniel nodded.
Then he placed a final document in front of me.
A property transfer.
The cabin.
My father’s name.
Then another signature.
Darren Cole.
“He wasn’t just your mother’s boyfriend,” Daniel said.
I stared at the paper.
“What was he?””
Daniel lowered his voice.
“Your father’s business partner.””
The room spun.
Everything connected.
The house.
The money.
The lies.
The free rent.
Darren had never been a stranger who entered my family.
He had been there from the beginning.
Daniel opened the last folder.
Inside was a photograph.
My father standing outside the cabin.
And beside him…
me.
Except I wasn’t eight years old.
I was eighteen.
The date was from four years ago.
I grabbed the photo.
“That’s impossible.””
Daniel looked at me.
“Marcus.””
My hands started shaking.
Because in the background of the photograph was a person standing near the cabin door.
Watching my father and me.
Someone I recognized.
Someone who had been living in my house for years.
Darren.
And beneath the photograph was one final note from my father.
May you like
*Marcus, when you finally see this, remember one thing.*
*The person who betrayed me is not the person you think.*
