Chapter 6: The Second Survivor
Evelyn stood frozen beside the door.
Marcus waited.
Daniel waited.
Even Aaliyah stopped crying.
“Who was in the car?”” Marcus repeated.
Evelyn looked down.
“Someone who shouldn't have been there.””
Daniel's voice sharpened.
“Who?””
Evelyn's lips trembled.
“Your father's brother.””
Daniel stared.
“Uncle Richard?””
Evelyn nodded.
Marcus frowned.
“Richard died before Dad.””
“No.””
Evelyn's answer was barely audible.
“He disappeared.””
Daniel took a step back.
“What are you saying?””
“Your uncle was with me the night your father died.””
Marcus's phone buzzed again.
Another message.
*RICHARD KNOWS WHAT HAPPENED.*
Marcus looked at Evelyn.
“Where is he?””
“I don't know.””
Daniel grabbed the letter.
“Dad's letter mentioned a second set of records.””
Evelyn nodded.
“Your father kept them somewhere only Richard knew about.””
“Then why didn't Richard come forward?””
Evelyn's eyes filled with tears.
“Because Richard was afraid.””
“Afraid of Vivian?””
“No.””
Daniel stared.
“Then who?””
Evelyn looked toward the tablet.
“At first, I thought it was Vivian.””
She swallowed.
“Then I realized she was afraid too.””
Marcus felt a chill.
“Of who?””
Evelyn didn't answer.
Aaliyah suddenly spoke.
“The woman in the recording.””
Everyone turned.
Aaliyah looked at the frozen image of Vivian.
“She wasn't alone when she came to see me.””
Daniel's expression hardened.
“You said she was.””
“I lied.””
Marcus asked, “Who was with her?””
Aaliyah shook her head.
“I never saw their face.””
“Why?””
“Because they stayed in the hallway.””
Daniel stepped closer.
“What did Vivian call them?””
Aaliyah closed her eyes.
“I heard one word.””
“What word?””
Aaliyah whispered:
“Boss.””
The room went silent.
Marcus looked at Evelyn.
“Your father's company had a boss above him?””
“No.””
Daniel shook his head.
“Dad was the owner.””
Evelyn's expression changed.
“Not exactly.””
Marcus frowned.
“What does that mean?””
Evelyn walked toward the vanity.
She opened a drawer and removed an old envelope.
“I found this after your father's death.””
Daniel took it.
Inside was a contract.
He scanned the pages.
Then stopped.
“Dad had a silent partner.””
Evelyn nodded.
“Someone owned forty percent of the company.””
Marcus looked at the signature.
“Who?””
Daniel read the name.
His face went blank.
“Richard.””
Evelyn nodded.
“Your uncle.””
Marcus stared.
“Why would he hide that?””
“Because your father didn't know.””
Daniel looked up.
“What?””
“Richard bought the shares through another company.””
Aaliyah whispered:
“So Richard was stealing from him?””
“Not exactly,” Evelyn said.
“He was positioning himself to take control.””
Daniel suddenly looked at the tablet.
“The person Vivian was afraid of…”
He swallowed.
“Was Richard.””
Evelyn didn't answer.
Marcus stepped backward.
“This keeps getting worse.””
Then the tablet beeped.
The recording had reached its final thirty seconds.
Everyone turned.
Vivian's voice came through.
“If Marcus ever discovers what happened, tell him this…”
She leaned toward Aaliyah.
“His father wasn't killed because of the money.””
Aaliyah asked:
“Then why?””
Vivian looked toward the hallway.
“Because he discovered who was sleeping with his wife.””
Evelyn's face turned white.
Daniel's eyes widened.
Marcus stopped breathing.
“What?””
The recording continued.
Vivian whispered:
“Your mother wasn't the only person Richard was seeing.””
Daniel looked at Evelyn.
“Mom?””
Evelyn shook her head violently.
“No.””
Marcus's voice broke.
“What is she talking about?””
“I don't know.””
“You expect me to believe that?””
“I never had an affair with Richard.””
Daniel stared at his mother.
“Then why would Vivian say that?””
Evelyn looked at the screen.
“Because she's lying.””
Aaliyah suddenly shook her head.
“She wasn't.””
Everyone turned.
Aaliyah's face was pale.
“I saw the photographs.””
Marcus stepped toward her.
“What photographs?””
“Vivian showed them to me.””
“Where?””
“At the warehouse.””
“What did they show?””
Aaliyah swallowed.
“Evelyn and Richard.””
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“They were taken twenty-three years ago.””
Daniel's voice became quiet.
“Were they real?””
Evelyn looked at him.
“Yes.””
Daniel's face crumpled.
“But you said—”
“I met Richard.””
Marcus stared.
“Mom.””
“It wasn't what it looked like.””
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“That's what everyone says.””
Evelyn stepped toward him.
“Richard was helping me.””
“With what?””
“Your father.””
Marcus's expression changed.
Evelyn continued.
“Your father wasn't killed that night.””
Daniel froze.
“What?””
“He was taken.””
“By whom?””
“Richard.””
Daniel's mouth fell open.
Evelyn's voice trembled.
“He moved your father before we reached the hospital.””
Marcus stared.
“Then where was Dad?””
“I don't know.””
Daniel's breathing became ragged.
“You watched him disappear?””
“I tried to find him.””
“For how long?””
“Twenty-three years.””
Daniel looked at the letter.
“Then who wrote this?””
Evelyn shook her head.
“I don't know.””
Suddenly, Aaliyah's phone rang again.
This time, she didn't answer.
The caller left a voicemail.
Marcus pressed play.
Static filled the room.
Then a man's voice.
Old.
Weak.
But unmistakably familiar.
“Daniel…”
Daniel dropped the letter.
His knees nearly gave out.
The voice continued.
“If you can hear this, your mother finally told you enough.””
Daniel stared at the phone.
“Dad?””
A pause.
Then the voice said:
“Don't trust Richard.””
The message ended.
Nobody moved.
Marcus looked at Evelyn.
“You knew he was alive?””
“I suspected.””
Daniel's eyes filled with tears.
“Where is he?””
Evelyn shook her head.
“I don't know.””
The phone buzzed again.
A new voicemail.
Daniel pressed play immediately.
His father's voice returned.
“But there's one thing you need to understand.””
Daniel leaned closer.
“Vivian didn't stage this wedding.””
Aaliyah's face went pale.
“Then who did?””
The recording crackled.
His father's voice whispered:
“Richard did.””
Daniel stared at Aaliyah.
Marcus looked at Evelyn.
Then the final words came through the speaker.
“And he's standing outside the warehouse right now.””
A loud knock suddenly echoed from the hallway.
Once.
Twice.
Then a man's voice called out:
“Daniel.””
Daniel turned toward the door.
May you like
He knew that voice.
It belonged to the uncle who had supposedly vanished twenty-three years ago.
