Chapter 7 - The Father Behind the Curtain
Adrian watched the footage repeatedly.
His father looked older, thinner, but unmistakably alive.
Claire stood behind him.
“Are you sure?”
Adrian didn't answer.
He enlarged the image.
The man had a small scar above his left eyebrow.
Adrian remembered how his father had gotten it.
A boating accident when Adrian was twelve.
There was no mistaking it.
They returned to the mansion immediately.
The intruder had vanished.
But someone had left a photograph on the dining table.
It showed Adrian's father holding a newborn baby.
Lucas.
On the back were four words.
You were never the father.
Adrian felt the room close around him.
Claire looked at the picture.
“Who took this?”
“Probably Daniel.”
“Or your father.”
Before Adrian could answer, a voice came from the hallway.
“You always were too quick to blame Daniel.”
Adrian turned.
An older man stood near the staircase.
He wore a dark suit.
His hair was almost completely gray.
His face was thinner than Adrian remembered.
But it was him.
“Father?”
The man nodded.
“Hello, son.”
Adrian didn't move.
For five years, he had carried his father's death like a stone inside his chest.
Now the man was standing in his home.
Alive.
“What did you do?” Adrian asked.
His father sighed.
“I survived.”
“You let me bury you.”
“I needed Daniel to believe I was dead.”
“You let me believe you were dead.”
“I had no choice.”
Adrian laughed bitterly.
“You had five years to tell me.”
His father looked toward Claire.
“And you brought her back into this family.”
Claire stepped forward.
“I never left. You people made sure I couldn't reach him.”
The older man studied her.
“You were young.”
“I was pregnant.”
“I know.”
“Then you knew about the twins?”
He nodded.
“I knew.”
Claire felt rage flood her chest.
“You knew I was carrying your son's children, and you let Daniel threaten me?”
“I was trying to protect the family.”
“From what?”
The man looked at Adrian.
“From a scandal that could have destroyed the company.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“You stole my child.”
“I protected him.”
“You falsified records.”
“I arranged a safe placement.”
“You lied to me.”
His father looked suddenly tired.
“Daniel was preparing to take control of the company. He had evidence of financial misconduct. He threatened to expose everything unless I cooperated.”
“So you staged your death?”
“Yes.”
“And you allowed Daniel to separate Claire from me?”
His father hesitated.
That hesitation told Adrian everything.
“You knew,” Adrian whispered.
“I thought it would be temporary.”
Claire shook her head.
“Temporary? I spent five years raising three children while believing their father had chosen to abandon us.”
His father looked at her.
“I never wanted that.”
“Wanting something doesn't erase what you did.”
Before he could respond, Emma appeared at the top of the stairs.
“Mom?”
Claire turned.
Emma held a small envelope.
“I found this under the door.”
Adrian took it.
Inside was a printed photograph of the children sleeping.
The picture had been taken inside the mansion.
Someone had been watching them.
A handwritten note followed.
Your father is not the only person who came back from the dead.
Adrian's father went pale.
“Daniel.”
Then every light in the mansion went out.
A crash sounded upstairs.
May you like
Claire screamed.
When the emergency lights came on, Lucas was gone.
