Chapter 10 - THE GHOST FROM MY PAST

I stood in the middle of my living room, staring at the phone in my hand.

My fingers felt numb.

My mind kept replaying the same sentence.

“You already know.”

But I didn’t want to know.

Because deep down…

I did.

There was only one person who could make my entire body react like that.

One person whose voice could bring back ten years of anger, pain, and memories I had buried.

My father.

Michael Carter.

The man who disappeared from my life when I was seventeen.

The man who walked away from my mother.

The man who left me with a promise he never kept.

But that was impossible.

My father was gone.

At least, that was what everyone told me.

“Daddy?”

Sophie’s voice pulled me back.

I turned around.

She was standing on the stairs, holding her rabbit.

Her eyes were filled with fear.

I immediately softened.

“Hey, sweetheart.”

“Who was calling?”

I walked toward her.

“Nobody you need to worry about.”

She looked at me.

The same way she always did when she knew I wasn’t telling the truth.

“You’re scared.”

Those words hit me harder than anything.

Because my five-year-old daughter could see what everyone else missed.

I knelt down.

“I’m just trying to figure something out.”

“Is someone going to take me?”

My heart broke.

“No.”

I held her face gently.

“Listen to me. Nobody is taking you anywhere.”

She nodded.

But she didn’t look convinced.

Because promises were just words.

And someone had already taught her not to trust words.

The next morning, Detective Harris arrived with new information.

“Daniel, we found something.”

I looked at him.

“What?”

He placed a file on the table.

“We traced the number that called you.”

My heart started beating faster.

“And?”

He opened the file.

“The number belongs to a company.”

“What company?”

He looked at me.

“Carter Family Holdings.”

I froze.

My family’s old company.

The company my father built.

The company that collapsed after he disappeared.

“That’s impossible.”

Detective Harris shook his head.

“No.”

He turned the file around.

“Your father is alive.”

The room went silent.

I stared at the picture.

Older.

Different.

But unmistakable.

Michael Carter.

Alive.

And standing beside him…

Was Rachel.

My stomach turned.

“No.”

Detective Harris watched my reaction.

“You knew?”

“No.”

I stepped back.

“I didn’t know anything.”

But suddenly everything made sense.

Rachel’s confidence.

Her planning.

Her ability to manipulate people.

She wasn’t working alone.

She had someone teaching her.

Someone who understood how to destroy people.

My father.

That afternoon, Rachel called.

I almost didn’t answer.

But I needed answers.

“Daniel.”

Her voice was calm.

Too calm.

“Where are you?”

A pause.

“Does it matter?”

“Yes.”

She laughed softly.

“You finally figured it out.”

My grip tightened around the phone.

“You worked with him.”

Another pause.

“Yes.”

The honesty shocked me.

“Why?”

“Because he wanted his family back.”

I almost laughed.

“Family?”

My voice became bitter.

“He abandoned us.”

Rachel’s tone changed.

“He made mistakes.”

“No.”

I looked at Sophie.

“He made choices.”

Silence.

Then Rachel whispered:

“You don’t understand what your father is capable of.”

I froze.

“What does that mean?”

The call ended.

Again.

But this time…

I knew something.

May you like

THE MAID’S DAUGHTER

“GET OUT OF MY HOUSE,” HIS FIANCÉE TOLD THE MAID—THEN THE MAFIA BOSS LOOKED AT HER LITTLE GIRL“Get out of my house. And take that...

**MY HUSBAND CALLED ME A “BARREN LEECH”—HE DIDN’T KNOW MY MONEY WAS KEEP...

My husband threw his wedding ring at my feet and told security to remove the “barren leech” from the ballroom.He had no idea he wa...

MY DAUGHTER’S NOTE STOPPED MY WEDDING—AND EXPOSED MY BRIDE

MY DAUGHTER SLIPPED ME A NOTE BEFORE “I DO”—AND EXPOSED MY BRIDE’S PLANPART 1 — TEN MINUTES BEFORE THE VOWS“Daddy, if you marry he...

Rachel wasn’t protecting my father.

She was afraid of him.