Chapter 3: The Secret He Hid
I didn’t sleep that night.
Victoria’s words kept replaying in my head.
There are things your father never told you.
My mother had died when I was nine.
Everyone said it was an accident.
A rainy road.
A moment of bad luck.
That was the story I grew up with.
But now, for the first time, I wondered if there was another chapter nobody wanted me to read.
The next morning, I found my father in his office.
He looked exhausted.
Like he had aged ten years overnight.
“Emma?””
I closed the door behind me.
“We need to talk.””
He knew immediately.
“What did Victoria say?””
I froze.
“You know?””
He looked away.
That was enough.
“Dad.””
He sat down slowly.
“Your mother’s accident wasn’t as simple as I told you.””
My heart started racing.
“What does that mean?””
He rubbed his face.
“Your mother was investigating something before she died.””
“Investigating what?””
He hesitated.
“Money missing from the company.””
I stared at him.
“Someone was stealing?””
“Yes.””
“Who?””
My father didn’t answer.
And that scared me more than anything.
Finally, he said:
“I never proved it.””
“Dad.””
He looked at me.
“I suspected someone close to us.””
The room felt smaller.
“Victoria?””
He didn’t respond.
But his silence was an answer.
I stood up.
“You married someone you thought betrayed Mom?””
“No,” he said quickly.
“I married someone who convinced me she had changed.””
The pain in his voice was obvious.
“She helped me rebuild after your mother died. I wanted to believe she was good.””
A knock interrupted us.
My father’s assistant entered.
“Mr. Carter, you need to see this.””
She handed him a folder.
His face changed as he opened it.
“What is it?””
He looked at me.
Then at the papers.
“Bank records.””
The assistant whispered:
“They came from an anonymous source.””
My father flipped through the pages.
Then stopped.
I saw the color disappear from his face.
“What?””
He handed me one page.
A transfer.
A large amount of money.
Sent from my father’s company.
To an account with a familiar name.
Victoria Carter.
“She stole from you?””
My father didn’t answer.
Because another document fell from the folder.
A photograph.
A photograph of Victoria meeting someone in secret.
And the man standing beside her…
was someone I knew.
Someone my father trusted.
That afternoon, my father confronted Victoria.
She denied everything.
“You’re accusing me because Emma turned you against me.””
My father placed the documents on the table.
“Explain.””
Victoria looked at them.
For the first time, she had no perfect answer.
Chloe stood behind her.
“Mom?””
Victoria looked terrified.
Then angry.
“You think you’re better than me?””
My father stared.
“No.””
“I built this family!””
“No,” he said.
“You built a mask.””
Victoria’s eyes filled with hatred.
“You’ll regret choosing her.””
My father stepped forward.
“I already regret not choosing her sooner.””
Victoria left.
But before she closed the door, she looked at me.
And smiled.
Not because she won.
Because she still had a secret.
That night, my father received a message.
One sentence.
May you like
A warning.
“Ask Emma who her real father is.””
