Chapter 10 - THE WOMAN WHO NEVER LEFT
For nineteen years, I visited Elena’s grave.
Every birthday.
Every anniversary.
Every moment when I missed her voice.
I stood in front of a stone with her name carved into it.
I placed flowers there.
I talked to her.
I told her about Renata.
I told her about the life we built.
I told her I was sorry.
But now…
I wondered if I had been speaking to an empty grave.
Because my daughter had just told me something impossible.
“My mother was alive.”
The words echoed inside my head.
I sat beside Renata’s hospital bed.
Unable to move.
Unable to think.
“Say it again.”
My voice was barely above a whisper.
Renata looked terrified.
“I saw her.”
“Where?”
She looked down.
“At the old house.”
The old house.
The one Elena and I bought before Renata was born.
The place where we planned our future.
The place I sold after Elena’s supposed death because I couldn’t stand being there.
“You went there?”
Renata nodded.
“When?”
“Six months after Mom died.”
I stared at her.
“Why?”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Because I missed her.”
That answer broke something inside me.
Because I understood.
She was only a child.
A fifteen-year-old girl looking for a mother she had lost.
And instead…
She found a secret.
“What happened?”
Renata closed her eyes.
“I saw someone inside.”
“Who?”
Her lips trembled.
“Mom.”
The room became silent.
I looked at her.
“Renata…”
My voice shook.
“Are you sure?”
She immediately nodded.
“Yes.”
“Did she speak to you?”
A tear rolled down her cheek.
“She told me I couldn’t tell you.”
My heart tightened.
“Why?”
Renata looked at me.
“Because she said you would come back.”
“Come back to what?”
She whispered:
“To being The Ghost.”
I closed my eyes.
Even after nineteen years…
Elena was still trying to protect me from myself.
But she had made one mistake.
She underestimated what a father would do when his daughter was hurt.
I stood up.
“Where is she?”
Renata shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
“Renata.”
She grabbed my hand.
“Dad, please.”
I stopped.
“She wasn’t hiding from you because she didn’t love you.”
I looked at her.
“She was hiding because she was protecting you.”
Those words hurt.
Because maybe Elena had never betrayed me.
Maybe she had sacrificed herself.
I left the hospital room and called Marcus.
He answered immediately.
“You found out.”
I froze.
“You knew?”
Silence.
“Marcus.”
His voice lowered.
“Yes.”
My anger rose.
“You knew Elena was alive?”
“I knew she survived.”
“And you said nothing?”
“Because she asked me not to.”
I gripped the phone.
“She let me believe she was dead.”
“She had no choice.”
“No choice?”
My voice became dangerous.
“She had me bury her.”
Marcus sighed.
“Daniel, listen to me.”
“No.”
I interrupted.
“For nineteen years, I mourned my wife.”
A pause.
“I raised my daughter believing her mother was gone.”
“Because Elena wanted you alive.”
I stopped.
“What?”
Marcus continued.
“The night of the accident wasn’t an accident.”
“I know.”
“No.”
His voice became serious.
“You don’t know.”
Silence.
“Thomas planned everything.”
My eyes narrowed.
“What happened that night?”
Marcus answered slowly.
“Elena discovered that Thomas had access to your organization.”
“Then?”
“She confronted him.”
“And?”
“Thomas tried to kill her.”
I clenched my fists.
“But she survived.”
“Yes.”
“Then why disappear?”
Marcus hesitated.
“Because she learned something worse.”
“What?”
His answer came quietly.
“Thomas wasn’t working alone.”
I looked at the hospital hallway.
“Who was with him?”
A pause.
Then:
“Someone inside your family.”
My blood ran cold.
“My family?”
Marcus didn’t answer.
Because he knew.
I knew too.
There was only one person who had access to everything.
Only one person who knew every detail.
Only one person who could move freely around Elena.
I whispered the name.
“Thomas.”
“No.”
Marcus interrupted.
“Not Thomas.”
My expression changed.
“Then who?”
The line went silent.
Then Marcus said:
“Your brother.”
I froze.
My brother.
A man I had not spoken about in nineteen years.
A man I thought was dead to me long before Elena died.
A man who hated me.
Because he believed The Ghost destroyed our family.
Before I could ask another question…
The hospital alarms suddenly activated.
Doctors rushed down the hallway.
Renata’s room.
My heart stopped.
I ran.
The door was open.
The machines were still working.
The bed was empty.
My daughter was gone.
A nurse stood frozen near the window.
“What happened?”
She looked terrified.
“Someone entered five minutes ago.”
“Who?”
She shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
I looked around.
On the pillow was a piece of paper.
A single sentence.
Written in black ink.
YOU WANTED THE TRUTH.
NOW COME FIND YOUR DAUGHTER.
Below the message was a symbol.
A black circle.
A white line through the center.
The mark of Argentis Holdings.
And beneath it…
A second message.
FROM ELENA.
My breathing stopped.
Because the note ended with words only my wife would know.
DANIEL, I’M SORRY.
BUT RENATA WAS NEVER SAFE WITH YOU.
I stared at the paper.
The woman I loved.
The daughter I protected.
The enemy I thought I understood.
Everything was changing.
And for the first time in nineteen years…
May you like
I didn’t know who I was fighting anymore.
TO BE CONTINUED...
