Chapter 5: The Question Nobody Wanted Answered
For several seconds, I could not move.
The message on my phone remained glowing in my hand.
Fourteen words.
That was all it took to change the entire room.
*Ask him what happened the night his father died.*
I had spent years protecting William Cross’s final request.
I had carried his letter.
I had waited until the right moment.
I had walked into a mansion full of strangers knowing exactly what they might do to me.
But this was different.
This message did not come from William.
It came from someone watching.
Someone who knew I was there.
Someone who knew exactly what question would break the room apart.
Kaleb noticed my expression immediately.
“What happened?””
His voice was quiet.
Too quiet.
I looked around.
Ashlyn was watching me carefully.
Steven pretended not to care.
Kara looked nervous.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
I locked my phone screen.
“Someone sent me a message.””
Kaleb stepped closer.
“Who?””
“Unknown number.””
“Show me.””
I hesitated.
Only for a second.
Then I handed him the phone.
His eyes moved across the screen.
I watched his face.
At first, nothing.
Then something changed.
A small shift.
A memory.
A wound reopening.
“What happened the night my father died?””
Nobody expected him to repeat the words out loud.
Especially not Kaleb.
The question seemed to freeze everyone.
Ashlyn’s face became pale.
Steven looked away.
Kara’s hand moved toward her necklace.
A nervous habit.
One I had noticed earlier.
Kaleb looked at them.
And that was when I understood.
They knew something.
Maybe not everything.
But something.
“You all heard that question,” Kaleb said.
Nobody answered.
“Interesting.””
Ashlyn forced a laugh.
“Kaleb, this is insane. Some random person sends Eleanor a message and suddenly we’re all supposed to believe some conspiracy?””
Kaleb looked at her.
“Did I say that?””
“No.””
“Then why are you defending yourself?””
The question landed hard.
Ashlyn opened her mouth.
Then closed it.
For once, she had no perfect response.
Kaleb handed the phone back to me.
“Eleanor.””
“Yes?””
“My father’s death was ruled an accident.””
I nodded.
“I know.””
“You know?””
William’s death had been reported everywhere.
A car accident.
A rainy highway.
A tragic loss.
The official story.
But official stories were not always complete stories.
“My father was driving home after meeting someone.””
Kaleb looked toward the window.
“Everyone assumed he was alone.””
I said nothing.
“Because that’s what the police report said.””
His voice became quieter.
“But my father’s assistant told me something different.””
Everyone looked at him.
Even Ashlyn.
“What?””
Kaleb ignored her.
“Two hours before the accident, my father called me.””
The room became silent.
“What did he say?”” I asked.
Kaleb looked down.
“I don’t know.””
My eyebrows tightened.
“You don’t know?””
“He called.””
A pause.
“I answered.””
Another pause.
“But nobody spoke.””
The room felt colder.
“Then the line disconnected.””
I stared at him.
“What happened after?””
“I called back.””
“And?””
“No answer.””
Kaleb’s jaw tightened.
“The police later found his car.””
Nobody spoke.
The memory was clearly painful.
Not because he had lost his father.
Because there was a piece of the story he never understood.
A missing moment.
A missing conversation.
A missing truth.
“What did your father tell you before that?”” I asked.
Kaleb looked at me.
“Nothing unusual.””
I shook my head.
“No.””
He frowned.
“What?””
“Your father didn’t call you by accident.””
The statement surprised him.
“How do you know?””
“Because William Cross was careful.””
I looked at the letter.
“He knew every decision mattered.””
Kaleb stared at me.
“You think he was trying to tell me something?””
“I think he tried.””
The silence that followed was heavy.
Then Steven suddenly spoke.
“This is ridiculous.””
Everyone turned.
He stood straighter.
“This woman appears tonight with a letter, a recording, and now some mysterious message. Don’t you think that’s convenient?””
Nobody responded.
Because the question sounded reasonable.
But only on the surface.
I looked at him.
“You’re right.””
Steven blinked.
“I am?””
“Yes.””
The room became confused.
“This is convenient.””
I stepped closer.
“Too convenient.””
Steven’s expression changed.
Because he realized I was not defending myself.
I was agreeing with him.
“The timing is not random,” I continued.
Kaleb watched me carefully.
“Explain.””
“Someone wanted me here tonight.””
Ashlyn immediately shook her head.
“You’re saying someone planned this?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
I looked at the Watson family.
“Because they wanted Kaleb to see something.””
Kara crossed her arms.
“And what exactly did they want him to see?””
I answered honestly.
“The truth.””
Nobody liked that answer.
Because truth was dangerous when people had spent years hiding things.
Kaleb walked back to his desk.
He opened the letter again.
“There is something I don’t understand.””
“What?””
“My father trusted Eleanor.””
He looked at me.
“But why did he not come to me directly?””
That question had been waiting.
I had asked myself the same thing many times.
“Because he was afraid.””
Kaleb looked surprised.
“My father?””
“Yes.””
Nobody spoke.
William Cross was remembered as fearless.
A man who negotiated with corporations.
A man who built an empire.
A man who made people listen.
But courage did not mean never being afraid.
Sometimes courage meant knowing exactly what you could lose.
“He told me something the last time I saw him.””
Kaleb leaned forward.
“What?””
I remembered William sitting across from me at the small kitchen table in my apartment.
No assistants.
No security.
Just an old man who looked tired.
He had held the letter in his hands.
And he had looked at me with a sadness I did not understand.
“He said, ‘The people closest to you are the ones who know exactly where to hurt you.’”
Kaleb became still.
Because those words sounded like his father.
“Who did he mean?”” he asked.
“I don’t know.””
That was the truth.
“I asked him.””
“What did he say?””
I looked at Ashlyn.
Then Steven.
Then Kara.
“He said if he named the person too early, I would become a target before I could protect myself.””
The room went quiet.
Ashlyn’s expression hardened.
“So you’ve been hiding information from Kaleb for years?””
I turned toward her.
“No.””
“You expect us to believe that?””
“I was protecting his father’s last request.””
Ashlyn laughed.
“You barely knew him.””
The words were cruel.
But this time, nobody laughed with her.
Because everyone in the room understood something.
Knowing someone for years did not matter as much as knowing their character.
William had seen me.
Really seen me.
The Watson family had not.
Kaleb looked at Ashlyn.
“Enough.””
One word.
But it silenced her.
He walked toward the window.
For several moments, he stared into the dark garden.
Then he said:
“I want everyone investigated.””
Ashlyn looked shocked.
“Everyone?””
“Yes.””
“Even me?””
Kaleb turned.
His eyes were painful.
“Especially the people who think they are above suspicion.””
The sentence hit her harder than anger would have.
Because it was not an accusation.
It was disappointment.
The kind that could not be repaired with an apology.
Steven stepped forward.
“You’re making a mistake.””
Kaleb looked at him.
“Maybe.””
A pause.
“But I’d rather make a mistake searching for the truth than make one protecting a lie.””
Nobody responded.
The assistant entered the room.
“Mr. Cross.””
Kaleb turned.
“What?””
“We found something.””
The assistant looked uncomfortable.
“In the security footage.””
“What?””
“The person who entered the archive room.””
Everyone waited.
The assistant looked at me.
Then at Kaleb.
“It wasn’t any of the Watson family.””
A strange relief moved through the room.
Until he finished.
“It was Eleanor Hayes.””
My blood turned cold.
“What?””
The assistant continued quickly.
“The camera shows someone using your identity badge access.””
Kaleb looked at me.
I could see the question in his eyes.
Not anger.
Not yet.
Confusion.
Because he wanted to believe me.
But evidence was evidence.
And someone had just placed my name at the center of the mystery.
Ashlyn slowly smiled.
Not the cruel smile from earlier.
A different one.
A dangerous one.
“Interesting.””
Nobody answered.
She looked at me.
“Maybe the woman everyone thinks is the victim…”
Her smile grew.
“Was actually the person who came here to destroy us.””
I stared at the security report.
At my name.
At the impossible accusation.
Because I knew one thing.
I had never entered that archive room.
Which meant only one possibility remained.
Someone had stolen more than documents.
May you like
They had stolen my identity.
And they had just made Kaleb Cross question the only person his father trusted.
