Chapter 9: The Secret Buried With the Past
Daniel spent the night awake.
Not because he couldn't sleep.
Because every time he closed his eyes, he saw Elena.
Not the memory of her funeral.
Not the hospital.
Not the moment he lost her.
He saw her sitting at the kitchen table, writing.
Planning.
Investigating.
Trying to uncover something while he was too blind to notice.
He had always believed their greatest tragedy was losing Elena.
Now he wondered if the tragedy started long before that.
Morning came quietly.
The house looked exactly the same.
That was the cruel thing about secrets.
The world never changed when they were discovered.
The same walls remained.
The same sunlight entered through the windows.
The same chairs stood in the same places.
But everything meant something different.
Daniel went to his father's old office.
The room had been locked since his father died.
He had never understood why Elena spent so much time there before her death.
Now he knew.
She wasn't remembering the past.
She was searching it.
The key was still in Daniel's possession.
He unlocked the door.
Dust covered everything.
Old books.
Old files.
Old memories.
He began searching.
It took almost an hour before he found the hidden compartment beneath the desk.
Inside were documents.
Financial records.
Letters.
And one photograph.
Daniel picked it up.
His hands went cold.
The picture showed his father standing beside a woman he didn't recognize.
A young woman.
A woman who looked familiar.
He turned the photo over.
Written on the back were four words.
*The beginning of everything.*
Daniel searched through the documents.
Then he found it.
A birth certificate.
A name.
Renata Cross.
But not the name that shocked him.
The name beneath it.
Mother.
Daniel read it twice.
Then a third time.
Because the woman listed as Renata's mother...
Was someone connected to his father's biggest business scandal.
A woman his father had publicly blamed for fraud.
A woman who disappeared afterward.
Daniel sat down slowly.
The truth was becoming clearer.
Renata had not entered his life randomly.
She had come because of the past.
Because of something his father had done.
But Elena had discovered more.
Much more.
A final document was hidden beneath the others.
A handwritten note.
Not from his father.
From Elena.
Daniel opened it.
*Daniel,*
*I finally understand why Renata came here.*
His heart raced.
*But the truth is worse than I imagined.*
He continued reading.
*She does not only want revenge.*
A pause.
*She believes someone in our family caused what happened to her mother.*
Daniel looked up.
Someone in our family.
Not his father.
Not only his father.
Someone else.
The final sentence made his blood run cold.
*Daniel, before you confront Renata, you need to find out what your father was protecting you from.*
A sound came from behind him.
Daniel turned.
Sofia stood in the doorway.
"Daddy.""
He quickly hid the papers.
But she had already seen his face.
"What happened?""
Daniel forced himself to breathe.
He walked toward her.
"Sweetheart, why are you awake?""
She looked scared.
"I heard someone downstairs.""
Daniel froze.
"Who?""
Sofia looked behind him.
"The woman.""
His heart stopped.
"What woman?""
Sofia whispered:
"Renata.""
Daniel looked toward the hallway.
Impossible.
She had been taken away.
Then he heard it.
A soft sound.
A door closing downstairs.
May you like
Someone was in the house.
And they were not supposed to be there.
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