Chapter 8: The Person Behind Every Secret
The face on the screen stared back at them.
Nathaniel couldn’t move.
His mind rejected what his eyes were seeing.
Because the person sitting in the darkness wasn’t supposed to exist.
Not anymore.
Not after eight years.
Not after the funeral.
Not after everyone stood together and watched the coffin disappear beneath the ground.
“Margaret…”
Evelyn whispered the name like it was a prayer and a curse at the same time.
The woman on the screen smiled faintly.
Older now.
Her hair completely silver.
But her eyes were exactly the same.
The eyes that had watched Nathaniel grow up.
The eyes that had comforted him when he cried.
The eyes that had lied to him for decades.
“Hello, Evelyn.””
Nathaniel turned toward his mother.
The fear on her face told him everything.
“You knew.””
Evelyn’s lips trembled.
“Nathaniel…”
“You knew she was alive.””
“No.””
The answer came quickly.
But this time, nobody believed it.
Margaret laughed softly through the speakers.
“She always did this.””
Nathaniel looked back at the screen.
“Did what?””
“Protected you with lies.””
The words cut through the room.
Evelyn stood.
“Margaret, stop.””
Margaret’s expression hardened.
“After thirty years, you still think you can tell me what to do?””
Nathaniel stared at the screen.
“Why are you doing this?””
Margaret looked at him.
For a moment, the cold expression disappeared.
And he saw something familiar.
The woman who used to make him breakfast.
The woman who sang to him when storms scared him.
Then it vanished.
“Because you deserve the truth.””
Nathaniel almost laughed.
“Everyone says that.””
“Because everyone knows you were denied it.””
“Then tell me.””
Margaret leaned closer.
“Your father didn’t disappear because he was being hunted.””
Nathaniel frowned.
“What?””
“He disappeared because he discovered the truth.””
“About what?””
“About you.””
The room became silent.
Nathaniel felt his chest tighten.
“Me?””
Margaret nodded.
“Your father discovered that you were the key to everything.””
Nobody spoke.
Daniel stepped forward.
“Enough.””
Margaret looked at him.
A small smile appeared.
“Daniel.””
The way she said his name was strange.
Not loving.
Not angry.
Like she was speaking about a possession.
Daniel’s face hardened.
“You took everything from me.””
Margaret tilted her head.
“I saved you.””
“No.””
Daniel’s voice shook.
“You erased me.””
Nathaniel looked between them.
“What is she talking about?””
Daniel looked at him.
“I was eight years old when she took me.””
Nathaniel froze.
“What?””
Daniel continued.
“After our father disappeared, she came to the house.””
Margaret watched silently.
“She told me Mom was dead.””
Evelyn covered her mouth.
“I never said that.””
Daniel looked at her.
“You didn’t know.””
The pain in his voice was unmistakable.
“You were searching for me.””
Evelyn began crying.
“For years.””
Daniel nodded.
“I know.””
Nathaniel looked at Margaret.
“You lied to him?””
Margaret didn’t deny it.
“I protected him.””
“From what?””
“From this family.””
Nathaniel stepped closer to the screen.
“You stole a child.””
Margaret’s expression changed.
“Careful.””
“Why?””
“Because you don’t know what your father did.””
Nathaniel stared.
“What did he do?””
Margaret leaned back.
“Your father built an empire.””
“Yes.””
“But he also built a prison.””
Nobody moved.
“What does that mean?””
Margaret smiled.
“It means your family’s fortune was never just money.””
She looked directly at Nathaniel.
“It was evidence.””
Daniel’s face changed.
He already knew.
Nathaniel noticed.
“You know.””
Daniel looked away.
“What?””
“You know what she’s talking about.””
Daniel remained silent.
Nathaniel’s anger grew.
“Everyone knows except me.””
Daniel finally looked at him.
“Our father discovered something about the company.””
“The same thing everyone keeps talking about?””
“Yes.””
“What?””
Daniel took a breath.
“The Whitmore company was used to hide illegal financial operations.””
Nathaniel stared.
“That’s impossible.””
“No.””
Daniel shook his head.
“That’s why people wanted him gone.””
Nathaniel looked at Margaret.
“And you?””
Margaret smiled.
“I helped him.””
Everyone froze.
Thomas stepped forward.
“What?””
Margaret continued.
“Alexander trusted me.””
Evelyn looked disgusted.
“You betrayed him.””
“No.””
Margaret’s voice became colder.
“I was the only one who understood him.””
Nathaniel felt a chill.
“Then why did he disappear?””
Margaret looked at the screen.
“Because he found out who was behind everything.””
“Who?””
She smiled.
“Your grandfather.””
Nathaniel frowned.
“That again?””
“Yes.””
“But my grandfather died before all this.””
Margaret nodded.
“His body did.””
A silence followed.
“What does that mean?””
Margaret didn’t answer.
Thomas stepped closer.
“Richard Whitmore had people working for him.””
Margaret looked at him.
“Good. You remember.””
Thomas’s face darkened.
“Some of them survived.””
Nathaniel looked around.
“Stop talking like I’m not here.””
Nobody responded.
He slammed his hand against the table.
“I want the truth.””
The room went quiet.
Then Margaret spoke.
“Fine.””
She looked at him.
“Your grandfather created a system.””
“What system?””
“A way to control the family fortune.””
Nathaniel frowned.
“Control?””
“Yes.””
She paused.
“He created a trust that could only be unlocked by one person.””
“Who?””
Margaret smiled.
“You.””
Nathaniel froze.
“Me?””
“Your father changed the rules after discovering the truth.””
“What truth?””
“That the person who inherited everything would also inherit the evidence.””
Nathaniel felt his heartbeat increase.
“The evidence of what?””
Margaret looked at Daniel.
“Of who killed Richard Whitmore.””
Nobody spoke.
Nathaniel swallowed.
“My grandfather was murdered?””
Daniel nodded slowly.
“Yes.””
Margaret continued.
“And the person responsible blamed Alexander.””
Nathaniel looked at Isabella.
Her face had gone pale.
Because her family had been blamed.
Her entire revenge was built on a lie.
Nathaniel looked back at Margaret.
“Why are you telling me this now?””
“Because the final piece has arrived.””
He frowned.
“What final piece?””
Margaret smiled.
“Your brother.””
Daniel’s expression changed.
“What?””
“You were never supposed to come back.””
Daniel stepped forward.
“Why?””
“Because you know where Alexander hid the evidence.””
Nathaniel looked at Daniel.
“You do?””
Daniel shook his head.
“I don’t.””
Margaret laughed.
“You do.””
“No.””
“Yes.””
She leaned closer to the camera.
“Your father trusted you with something he couldn’t trust anyone else.””
Daniel’s face changed.
A memory.
Something buried.
Nathaniel noticed.
“What?””
Daniel looked at him.
“When I was a child…”
He stopped.
“What?””
Daniel closed his eyes.
“I remember my father giving me something.””
Nathaniel waited.
“What?””
Daniel’s voice became quiet.
“A key.””
Everyone froze.
Margaret smiled.
“There it is.””
Daniel looked at her.
“What?””
“You remembered.””
Nathaniel stepped closer.
“What key?””
Daniel touched his jacket.
Slowly.
Then he pulled out a small metal object.
Old.
Rusty.
Worn.
Nathaniel stared.
“How long have you had that?””
Daniel looked at it.
“Thirty years.””
Margaret smiled.
“That key opens the place where Alexander hid everything.””
Nathaniel looked at the object.
“Where?””
Nobody spoke.
Then Thomas’s phone vibrated.
He checked the screen.
His face changed.
“What?””
Nathaniel looked at him.
“What happened?””
Thomas slowly turned the phone around.
A message appeared.
*THEY FOUND THE KEY.*
Nathaniel frowned.
“Who sent that?””
Thomas looked at the message below.
A second line had appeared.
*THEY ARE ALREADY INSIDE THE BUILDING.*
At that exact moment, the lights in the penthouse went out.
Complete darkness.
A second later, the emergency lights turned on.
Red.
Flashing.
Then a sound came from the hallway.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Calm.
Someone walking toward them.
Daniel moved instantly.
“Everyone back.””
Nathaniel looked at him.
“What’s happening?””
Daniel’s face was tense.
“The people who took me thirty years ago…”
May you like
He stared at the dark hallway.
“…have finally come to finish what they started.””
