Chapter 3 - THE FILE HIDDEN FOR TWENTY YEARS
Edward stared at his daughter.
For years, he had believed Sarah’s death was the most painful thing that had ever happened to him.
But standing there, hearing Emma say those words, he realized something worse.
Maybe he had never known the truth at all.
“Emma,” he said quietly, “what makes you think your mother’s death wasn’t an accident?”
Emma looked nervous.
Because she knew once she opened this door, there was no going back.
“Because I found something in Victoria’s room.”
Edward’s expression changed.
“You went into Victoria’s room?”
“I wasn’t trying to spy on her,” Emma quickly explained. “I was looking for my birth certificate.”
“Why?”
Emma looked down.
“Because Victoria told me I wasn’t really your daughter.”
The words hit Edward like a punch.
“What?”
“She said Mom had secrets. She said you only kept me because you felt guilty.”
Edward stepped back.
His face turned pale with anger.
“She said that to you?”
Emma nodded.
“Many times.”
For a moment, Edward couldn’t speak.
Then he grabbed the document from the desk.
“What did you find?”
Emma reached into her pocket and pulled out a small flash drive.
“This.”
Edward looked at it.
“Where did you get this?”
“Inside a locked drawer in Victoria’s closet.”
Edward immediately called his security team.
Ten minutes later, his private investigator, Marcus Reed, arrived at the mansion.
Marcus had worked for Edward for fifteen years.
He was the only person Edward trusted with secrets.
“What happened?” Marcus asked.
Edward handed him the flash drive.
“Find out what’s inside.”
Marcus connected it to his laptop.
The room became silent.
Files appeared.
Financial records.
Private messages.
Medical documents.
Then one folder caught Edward’s attention.
A folder labeled:
SARAH HAYES — INCIDENT REPORT
Edward stopped breathing.
“That’s impossible.”
Marcus looked confused.
“Sir?”
“My wife’s accident report was destroyed years ago.”
Marcus opened the file.
His eyes moved quickly.
Then his face changed.
“Edward…”
“What?”
Marcus turned the laptop around.
Inside was a document signed by a private investigator.
A statement from a witness.
A witness who claimed Sarah Hayes did not die from a car accident.
She was being followed.
And the person who ordered the surveillance…
was someone inside Edward’s own house.
Edward looked toward the doorway.
Victoria was standing there.
Listening.
Her face had lost all color.
“You should have stayed away from that file,” she whispered.
Edward slowly turned.
“What did you say?”
Victoria realized she had made a mistake.
A terrible mistake.
Because she had just admitted she knew about the file.
And Edward knew one thing.
An innocent person would have asked what file.
May you like
Not warned him away.
TO BE CONTINUED…
