Chapter 9: The Journal That Exposed The Betrayal
I stared at the picture of my apartment.
My home.
My bedroom window.
My front door.
Someone had been there.
Someone had been watching me.
And now they had found the one thing Olivia trusted me to protect.
The journal.
My stomach turned.
"I need to go there.""
Thomas immediately shook his head.
"No.""
I looked at him.
"My apartment.""
"No.""
"My journal.""
"Emily, listen to me.""
His voice was calm, but the fear behind it was obvious.
"You cannot walk into a place where someone is waiting for you.""
I looked at the picture again.
"They already know where I live.""
I swallowed.
"They already know who I am.""
I looked at Thomas.
"And they know you have been helping me.""
Daniel stepped forward.
"She's right.""
Thomas looked at him.
"What are you saying?""
"We don't have time.""
Daniel pointed at my phone.
"The person who sent that message wants us to react emotionally.""
"And?""
"And they want us to make a mistake.""
I looked at him.
"So what do we do?""
Daniel looked at me.
"We make them think we made the mistake.""
I didn't like the sound of that.
"What does that mean?""
He didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he looked at Thomas.
"We need to know if the leak is inside your security team.""
Thomas nodded.
"Agreed.""
I looked confused.
"How?""
Daniel smiled slightly.
"We give them false information.""
Thomas understood immediately.
"You want to see who moves.""
"Exactly.""
For the next thirty minutes, we created a plan.
A dangerous one.
Thomas would send a message to only three people.
A message saying we were leaving for a private location.
A location that didn't exist.
If someone appeared there, we would know.
The suspects were simple.
Michael Whitaker.
Thomas's brother.
A senior company advisor.
And the head of Thomas's security team.
Three people.
Three possible betrayals.
But one person had to be behind everything.
While Thomas sent the message, I sat silently in the back seat of the car.
My mind was stuck on Olivia.
I couldn't stop thinking about the girl from my memories.
The girl crying in the rain.
The girl who trusted me.
I had spent six years believing that night was a random accident.
But it wasn't.
It was the beginning of everything.
"Emily.""
I looked up.
Thomas was sitting beside me.
"I'm sorry.""
I frowned.
"For what?""
"For bringing you into this.""
I looked at him.
"You didn't.""
He looked surprised.
"I chose to help you.""
I looked out the window.
"I don't regret it.""
Thomas smiled sadly.
"You remind me of her.""
"Olivia?""
He nodded.
"She would have said the same thing.""
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then my phone buzzed.
A message.
Unknown number.
My heart dropped.
I opened it.
*You should have left the old man alone.*
I showed Thomas.
His expression changed.
"He knows we're moving.""
Daniel looked over.
"Not necessarily.""
Another message arrived.
*You always were too curious, Emily.*
I froze.
Not because of the threat.
Because of the words.
Too curious.
A phrase from my childhood.
A phrase only one person used.
My mother.
I felt the blood leave my face.
"What?""
Thomas noticed.
"Emily?""
I looked up slowly.
"I know that phrase.""
Daniel leaned closer.
"Who says it?""
I swallowed.
"My mother.""
Everyone went silent.
"Your mother?"" Thomas asked.
I nodded.
"When I was younger, whenever I asked too many questions, she would say, 'Emily, you're too curious for your own good.''"
Daniel's expression changed.
"Your mother.""
"No.""
I shook my head.
"That's impossible.""
But deep inside, a terrifying possibility was forming.
Thomas noticed.
"What?""
I looked at him.
"My mother died.""
Silence.
"Ten years ago.""
Daniel studied me.
"Are you sure?""
The question felt like a knife.
"What do you mean?""
"Are you sure you know everything about that night?""
My chest tightened.
My mother's death.
Another memory I never questioned.
Another story someone told me.
Suddenly, my entire life felt like a collection of locked doors.
And someone was holding the keys.
The car stopped.
Daniel looked ahead.
"We're here.""
I looked outside.
It wasn't my apartment.
It was a warehouse.
Abandoned.
Empty.
A place nobody would notice.
Thomas checked his phone.
"Nobody came.""
Daniel looked worried.
"That's not good.""
"Why?""
"Because it means they know this is a trap.""
Before anyone could respond, headlights appeared.
Three vehicles.
Fast.
Moving directly toward us.
Daniel cursed.
"They found us.""
Thomas looked at me.
"Stay down.""
The vehicles stopped.
Doors opened.
Men stepped out.
But they weren't strangers.
The first person walking toward us made my heart stop.
Because I knew him.
I had seen him thousands of times.
A familiar face.
A trusted face.
Someone who had comforted me after my mother's death.
Someone who had always protected me.
My father.
May you like
Except my father had been dead for ten years.
And the man standing in front of me was alive.
