Chapter 10 - The Secret Callan Buried For Years
The room felt smaller after Callan admitted the truth.
I couldn’t hear anything except my own heartbeat.
The man standing in front of me was the same man who held my hand on our wedding day.
The same man who whispered promises under the lights.
The same man who told me he would never let anyone hurt me.
But now I discovered he had spent years protecting the people who destroyed my family.
My father.
My family.
My entire life.
“Say it again.”
My voice was barely a whisper.
Callan looked at me.
“I was sixteen.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
His eyes filled with regret.
“I saw what happened.”
The room became silent.
“Your father came to our house that night.”
I stared at him.
“My father?”
He nodded.
“He was angry.”
“He had discovered something.”
“What?”
Callan looked at Melissa.
Then away.
“Financial fraud.”
“Your father found out my father was stealing money from the company.”
My hands started shaking.
“So my father tried to expose him.”
“Yes.”
“And then he died.”
Callan closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
The answer destroyed something inside me.
I wanted to hate him.
I wanted to scream.
But somehow…
The pain was bigger than anger.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Callan looked broken.
“Because I was afraid.”
“Afraid of what?”
“Losing everything.”
I laughed.
A painful laugh.
“You mean losing your family?”
“Yes.”
The honesty hurt even more.
Because he wasn’t pretending anymore.
He was finally showing me who he was.
Melissa stepped forward.
“Callan was a child.”
I looked at her.
“A child who watched my father get destroyed.”
Her face hardened.
“You don’t understand the situation.”
“No.”
I looked around the room.
“I understand perfectly.”
“You all protected yourselves.”
“You all protected your money.”
“And nobody cared about the people you destroyed.”
Victoria quietly watched everything.
She looked almost satisfied.
Because she wanted this family to fall apart.
But I knew something.
She wasn’t helping me.
She had her own reason.
I turned toward her.
“You knew all of this?”
She nodded.
“My father knew too.”
“Your father?”
“Yes.”
“Everyone with power knew.”
My stomach turned.
“So many people knew…”
“And nobody said anything.”
Victoria looked at me.
“Because the Harrington name protected everyone.”
Then she opened the folder again.
“There is something else.”
I looked at her.
“What?”
She removed a photograph.
An old photograph.
My father.
Callan’s father.
And another person.
Someone I didn’t recognize.
“Who is that?”
Victoria looked at Melissa.
“Ask her.”
Melissa said nothing.
“Who is he?”
Finally, Melissa answered.
“My husband’s attorney.”
“Why does that matter?”
Victoria smiled.
“Because he was the last person to see your father alive.”
The room went cold.
I looked at Callan.
“Did you know?”
He shook his head.
“No.”
For the first time, I believed him.
Because he looked genuinely shocked.
Then my phone suddenly rang.
Unknown number.
Everyone looked at me.
I answered.
A man’s voice came through.
“Anastasia.”
I froze.
“Who is this?”
“You need to stop digging.”
My blood ran cold.
“Who are you?”
A pause.
Then the man said,
“The same person who protected the Harrington family for twenty years.”
I looked at everyone.
Then he continued.
“And the same person who can prove your father was murdered.”
My breathing stopped.
“Murdered?”
“Yes.”
“But if you want the truth…”
“You need to come alone.”
The call ended.
I stared at my phone.
Nobody spoke.
Then Callan whispered,
“Don’t go.”
I looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because whoever that is…”
“He knows more than we do.”
I stared at the screen.
The truth was finally within reach.
But it was also becoming more dangerous.
And I knew one thing.
Someone had been hiding my father’s death for twenty years.
May you like
They would do anything to keep it buried.
---
