Chapter 7: The Car That Was Never Found
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
The house that had always felt too large suddenly felt impossibly small.
I stared at Vanessa.
Then at Marcus.
Then back at Vanessa.
"Say that again.""
My voice barely came out.
Vanessa looked at me with tired eyes.
"The car that night belonged to Marcus.""
Marcus immediately stood.
"That's a lie.""
The speed of his reaction frightened me.
Not because I believed Vanessa.
Not because I believed him.
But because I realized I had reached the point where neither answer surprised me anymore.
My entire life had become a collection of secrets.
And every person I trusted had been holding one.
"Why would you say that?"" Marcus asked Vanessa.
His voice was sharp.
Dangerously calm.
Vanessa looked at him.
"Because I'm done protecting you.""
The room went silent.
I looked between them.
"Protecting him?""
Vanessa laughed softly.
A bitter sound.
"You think I wanted to spend years pretending everything was fine?""
Marcus shook his head.
"Don't do this.""
"No, Marcus.""
Her voice hardened.
"You don't get to tell me what to do anymore.""
I had heard Vanessa use that tone before.
The same cold confidence she used when ordering me around.
But this time, it wasn't directed at me.
It was directed at him.
And for the first time, I wondered if I had only ever seen one side of Vanessa.
The cruel side.
The controlling side.
The side she chose to show me.
"Explain," I said.
Both of them looked at me.
I stepped forward.
"I want the truth.""
Marcus looked away.
Vanessa took a deep breath.
"Six years ago, the night your mother died, I received a phone call.""
"From who?""
She hesitated.
"Marcus.""
My heart sank.
"Why?""
Vanessa looked at him.
"He told me there had been an accident.""
Marcus’s expression changed.
"Vanessa.""
"No.""
She turned toward him.
"You need to hear this.""
Then she looked back at me.
"He told me to come to the location before anyone else arrived.""
My stomach tightened.
"You went there?""
She nodded.
"What did you see?""
Her hands began trembling.
"The car was against a tree.""
I waited.
"The driver's side was crushed.""
I swallowed.
"And my mother?""
Vanessa looked down.
"She was alive.""
The room went cold.
"What?""
My voice cracked.
"She was alive?""
Vanessa nodded slowly.
"For a few minutes.""
I couldn't breathe.
Six years.
Six years of believing my mother died instantly.
Six years of imagining she never knew what happened.
But she had been alive.
She had been there.
She had been alone.
"What happened next?""
Vanessa closed her eyes.
"I called emergency services.""
"You said Marcus called you first.""
"I know.""
Her voice broke.
"I know how it sounds.""
I stared at her.
"It sounds like you both were there.""
Nobody answered.
And that silence was enough.
Marcus walked toward me.
"Nia, listen.""
I stepped back.
"No.""
He stopped.
"I don't know what Vanessa told you, but—"
"You were there?""
His mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
That was all I needed.
"You were there.""
Marcus looked devastated.
"I didn't hurt her.""
I stared at him.
"I didn't ask that.""
The words surprised him.
Because they were true.
I didn't know if he had caused the crash.
I didn't know if Vanessa was telling the truth.
But I knew one thing.
He had hidden something.
Again.
"What happened that night?""
Marcus rubbed his face.
"I went to talk to Daniel.""
My heart raced.
"Why?""
"Because I found out what he was doing.""
"What was he doing?""
Marcus looked at Vanessa.
She looked away.
"He was planning to leave the country.""
I frowned.
"What?""
Marcus continued.
"He was afraid the authorities would find him. He wanted to take your mother and you away.""
I shook my head.
"My mother wouldn't leave without telling me.""
"She was trying to protect you.""
"Everyone says that.""
My voice grew louder.
"Everyone says they were protecting me.""
I pointed at him.
"But nobody ever protected me from the truth.""
Marcus lowered his eyes.
For once, he had no defense.
"I confronted Daniel that night.""
"And?""
"We argued.""
"About what?""
He didn't answer.
"Marcus.""
His face tightened.
"He admitted he had been hiding money.""
I looked at Vanessa.
She nodded slightly.
"So you fought?""
"Yes.""
"And then?""
Marcus took a slow breath.
"Then I left.""
"Where did you go?""
Silence.
The kind that reveals more than words.
I felt my chest tighten.
"You followed my mother.""
"No.""
The answer was immediate.
But this time, it didn't sound like certainty.
It sounded like fear.
"I went back because I thought Daniel would hurt her.""
"And?""
Marcus looked at the floor.
"I saw the crash.""
The room became completely silent.
"You saw it happen?""
Marcus nodded.
"I was driving behind them.""
My heart stopped.
"Then why didn't you tell anyone?""
His face changed.
And I saw something I had never seen before.
Shame.
"Because when I got there...""
He stopped.
"Because when I got there, your mother said something.""
"What?""
Marcus looked at me.
"She told me not to let Daniel find you.""
I frowned.
"What does that mean?""
"I don't know.""
"You don't know?""
He shook his head.
"She was injured. She was scared. She kept saying one thing.""
"What?""
Marcus whispered,
"Don't let him take Nia.""
I felt a chill.
Because that didn't sound like someone afraid of a stranger.
It sounded like someone afraid of a person she knew.
"Daniel.""
Marcus nodded.
"That's what I thought.""
"But?""
His eyes moved toward Vanessa.
"But later I found out something.""
"What?""
Marcus swallowed.
"Daniel wasn't at the crash.""
I froze.
"What?""
"He arrived after me.""
My thoughts tangled.
"Then who was driving?""
Nobody answered.
Then Vanessa quietly said,
"That's what we never found out.""
I looked at her.
"You said the car belonged to Marcus.""
She nodded.
"It did.""
"Why?""
Vanessa looked uncomfortable.
"Because Marcus had given the car to your mother earlier that day.""
Marcus turned toward her.
"Vanessa.""
"What?""
She looked angry now.
"She deserves to know.""
I looked at Marcus.
"You gave her your car?""
He nodded slowly.
"Yes.""
"Why?""
"Because hers wouldn't start.""
The answer felt ordinary.
Too ordinary.
Like something simple inside a nightmare.
"Then why did you tell everyone it was an accident?""
Marcus looked away.
"Because that's what it looked like.""
"No.""
I shook my head.
"That's what you wanted people to think.""
Marcus didn't respond.
I stepped backward.
The room felt like it was spinning.
My father.
My uncle.
My mother.
My stepmother.
All of them connected by a night I couldn't remember.
A night that had stolen everything from me.
Then my phone rang.
Everyone looked at it.
Unknown number.
My heart jumped.
I answered.
"Hello?""
At first, there was only silence.
Then a man's voice.
Older.
Tired.
Familiar.
"Nia.""
I froze.
Because I knew that voice.
Not from memory.
From today.
"Daniel?""
Marcus immediately reached for the phone.
I moved away.
Daniel continued.
"You need to leave that house.""
My heart raced.
"Why?""
His voice lowered.
"Because they know you found the letter.""
I looked at Marcus and Vanessa.
Both were watching me.
Daniel continued.
"And because there is something your mother hid from all of us.""
I tightened my grip.
"What?""
A pause.
Then he said,
"The night she died, she wasn't trying to escape from me.""
My breathing stopped.
"She was trying to escape from Marcus.""
The call suddenly ended.
I stared at the phone.
Then slowly looked at the man who raised me.
Marcus was pale.
But he wasn't looking at me.
He was looking at something behind me.
I turned.
On the wall was the old family photograph.
The one from before Vanessa entered our lives.
The one with me, my mother, and Marcus.
Except now I noticed something I had never seen before.
The photograph had been cut.
Someone had removed another person standing beside us.
And beneath the frame was a small piece of paper I had never noticed.
I pulled it out.
Three words were written on it.
*"Ask Marcus why.""*
I looked up.
And for the first time...
May you like
I wondered if the man who raised me had spent six years protecting me.
Or hiding from me.
