Chapter 6: The Target They Chose
I stared at Ethan.
Waiting.
Waiting for him to laugh.
To tell me this was some twisted misunderstanding.
Anything that would make the last few minutes disappear.
But he didn’t.
He stood there with the same haunted expression I remembered from childhood.
The expression of someone who had seen something they wished they could forget.
“You’re saying someone is trying to kill me?””
My voice sounded distant.
Ethan nodded.
“Yes.””
I looked around the room.
At Vanessa.
At Clara.
At Emma.
My daughter was asleep now, unaware that every person around her was carrying a piece of a nightmare.
“This is insane.””
Ethan’s jaw tightened.
“That’s what I said when Lily first told me.””
I looked at him.
“You believed her?””
“I didn’t at first.””
He picked up the notebook.
“I thought she was grieving. I thought losing my father, then dealing with the company, had made her suspicious of everyone.””
His fingers brushed the worn cover.
“Then she showed me the evidence.””
“What evidence?””
“Bank transfers. Hidden accounts. Names of people who were moving money through your father’s company.””
He looked at me.
“Your father wasn’t the person controlling it.””
I frowned.
“What does that mean?””
“It means someone used him.””
A cold feeling moved through me.
“My father was being controlled?””
“Yes.””
“By who?””
Ethan looked toward the window.
“The same person who has been controlling everything since.””
A sudden noise came from outside.
A car door closing.
Everyone froze.
Clara moved immediately toward the curtains.
She pulled them back slightly.
Her face changed.
“What?””
I stepped closer.
“What is it?””
She looked at me.
“There’s someone outside.””
My body went rigid.
“Who?””
“I don’t know.””
Ethan moved toward the window.
“Don’t look.””
I stopped.
“What?””
“Adrian, if someone is watching this house, you don’t want them to know we noticed.””
The calmness in his voice scared me.
Because it sounded like experience.
“How long have you been living like this?””
Ethan didn’t answer.
That was an answer.
Vanessa crossed her arms.
“So now we’re supposed to trust you?””
Everyone turned toward her.
Her eyes were red, but her voice was steady.
“You disappeared for years. You let Adrian believe you were dead. You show up tonight claiming everyone is after him.””
She looked at Ethan.
“Why should he believe you?””
Ethan stared at her.
“Because Lily did.””
Vanessa went silent.
“You knew Lily better than anyone?””
“No.””
His expression hardened.
“But I knew who she was afraid of.””
Vanessa looked away.
I noticed.
A tiny movement.
A reaction.
And I caught it.
“What?””
She looked back.
“What?””
“You reacted.””
“No, I didn’t.””
“You did.””
She shook her head.
“Adrian—”
“Who was Lily afraid of?””
Vanessa’s face changed.
And I knew.
She knew something.
“Tell me.””
She looked at Ethan.
Then Clara.
Then Emma.
Finally, she whispered:
“Your mother.””
The room went silent.
I laughed once.
Because it was impossible.
“My mother?””
“Yes.””
“My mother died ten years ago.””
Vanessa nodded slowly.
“I know.””
“Then how could Lily be afraid of her?””
Vanessa’s eyes filled with tears.
“Because Lily found out she wasn’t dead.””
The silence afterward felt unreal.
I stared at her.
“No.””
“She was alive.””
“No.””
“She contacted Lily.””
I stepped back.
My mind rejected every word.
“My mother loved me.””
Vanessa’s expression softened.
“I know.””
“Then why?””
No one answered.
I looked at Ethan.
“Did you know?””
He looked away.
That was enough.
“You knew.””
“I knew your mother was alive.””
My chest tightened.
“And you didn’t tell me?””
“I tried.””
“When?””
“Before I disappeared.””
I shook my head.
“You’re lying.””
Ethan stepped closer.
“Adrian, listen to me. I found out your mother was involved with the company’s secrets. I found out she knew about the money. I found out she had been communicating with people inside the organization.””
“Organization?””
He nodded.
“The people behind everything.””
I looked at the photograph again.
My family.
A picture taken after my mother supposedly died.
A picture that shouldn’t exist.
“How did she survive?””
Ethan hesitated.
“She made a deal.””
“With who?””
His answer came quietly.
“With the people who wanted your father gone.””
My stomach turned.
I felt sick.
“My own mother…”
“I don’t know the whole story.””
Ethan’s voice softened.
“But Lily was trying to find out.””
I looked at the notebook.
“Then why didn’t Lily tell me?””
Clara answered.
“Because she was protecting you.””
I looked at her.
“She hid everything from me.””
“She loved you.””
My eyes burned.
“She thought you would be safer not knowing.””
“Was I?””
Nobody spoke.
Because they knew the answer.
No.
A sudden crash came from upstairs.
Everyone turned.
Emma.
I ran.
I didn’t think.
I didn’t wait.
I flew up the stairs.
Her bedroom door was open.
Again.
My heart pounded.
“Emma!””
She was standing in her crib.
Crying.
Alive.
I rushed toward her.
Then I saw the window.
Open.
Cold air moved through the room.
Someone had been inside.
I picked Emma up.
“Clara!””
She ran upstairs behind me.
“What happened?””
I pointed.
“The window.””
Her face went pale.
“It was locked.””
I looked down.
On the floor beside the crib was another piece of paper.
Not a note.
A photograph.
I picked it up.
And my blood ran cold.
It was a picture of me.
Sleeping.
Taken inside this house.
My hands shook.
The date was written on the back.
Yesterday.
Someone had been here.
Watching me.
Watching Emma.
For how long?
I turned the photograph over.
There was writing underneath.
A message.
*You still don’t know who Lily was protecting you from.*
I felt anger replace fear.
“Who did this?””
Ethan appeared at the doorway.
The moment he saw the photograph, his expression changed.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
“You know who?””
I demanded.
He looked at me.
“Yes.””
“Who?””
Ethan swallowed.
Then said:
“The person who ordered Lily’s death.””
I stepped closer.
“Name.””
He hesitated.
Then:
“Your mother.””
The words crushed the air from my lungs.
“No.””
Ethan looked at me sadly.
“I wanted it to be someone else too.””
I shook my head.
“You’re wrong.””
“Maybe.””
He pointed at the photograph.
“But someone who knew Lily’s secrets just entered this house.””
I looked at Emma.
Then at the open window.
Then back at Ethan.
“What do we do now?””
For the first time since he returned, my brother looked afraid.
“We leave.””
“Why?””
“Because if your mother knows we found the notebook…”
He looked toward the dark hallway.
“She won’t come for you next.””
A pause.
“She’ll come for Emma.””
At that exact moment, every light in the house went out.
Darkness swallowed everything.
Then my phone vibrated.
One new message.
Unknown number.
I opened it.
And my blood turned cold.
*Bring Emma downstairs. I want to meet my granddaughter.*
I stared at the screen.
Because the message had one attachment.
A photograph.
Taken five seconds ago.
Of Emma’s bedroom.
From inside the room.
May you like
And in the corner of the image…
A woman was standing behind me.
