Chapter 7: The Truth Inside the Envelope
I didn’t sleep that night.
I couldn’t.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Michael standing in that hidden room beneath Grandpa’s garage.
I saw the pain in his face when he said Sarah was his daughter.
I heard his final words.
Ask David who your real father was.
The sentence kept repeating.
My real father.
A person I had spent seventeen years believing was simply gone.
A person whose name was never spoken in our house.
A person Grandpa had erased from every conversation.
By morning, Eleanor found me sitting on the front porch with the envelope still in my hands.
She had barely slept either.
Her hair was loose.
Her expensive clothes from the gala were replaced with a simple sweater.
For the first time, she looked less like Eleanor Bennett, billionaire businesswoman.
She looked like someone who had lost everything.
“You haven’t opened it,” she said.
I looked down.
“No.””
“Why?””
I ran my thumb along the edge.
“Because I’m scared of what’s inside.””
Eleanor sat beside me.
“I understand.””
I looked at her.
“You waited thirty years for answers.””
She nodded.
“And sometimes answers hurt more than questions.””
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then I opened the envelope.
Inside was a letter.
The paper was old.
The handwriting was Grandpa’s.
My hands shook as I began reading.
Dear Nia,
If you are reading this, then I am either no longer able to protect you or you have discovered the truth before I was ready.
I swallowed.
Eleanor watched my face carefully.
I continued.
First, I need you to know one thing.
Everything I did was because I loved you.
My eyes blurred.
Grandpa always said that.
Every difficult moment.
Every time life felt unfair.
He always reminded me that love was the reason behind everything.
But this time, I wasn’t sure if love was enough.
Your mother, Sarah, was the bravest person I ever knew.
I stopped.
My mother.
A woman who had been a mystery my entire life.
She discovered what Michael and I had created together.
I frowned.
Together?
The invention was never the most dangerous thing. The information surrounding it was.
I looked at Eleanor.
“What does that mean?””
She shook her head.
“I don’t know.””
I kept reading.
Sarah found documents proving that several people had tried to steal our research. She wanted to expose them.
That was why they came after her.
My breathing became shallow.
But Sarah wasn’t alone.
The next line made my entire body freeze.
She had someone protecting her.
I turned the page.
Then I saw the name.
*Thomas Carter.*
My father.
I whispered it.
“Thomas.””
Eleanor looked at me.
“Who is that?””
“My father.””
The room went quiet.
Because suddenly, the missing pieces started forming a picture.
My father wasn’t just some man who disappeared.
He was connected.
Everything was connected.
I read the next paragraph.
Thomas was not the man people believed him to be.
He worked with me. He helped develop the technology. He loved Sarah more than anything.
My throat tightened.
I had spent my whole life thinking my father abandoned me.
But Grandpa was telling me something different.
He didn’t leave.
The words blurred.
He was taken.
I stopped reading.
“What?””
Eleanor leaned closer.
“What does it say?””
I handed her the letter.
She read silently.
Then her face changed.
“Oh my God.””
I took it back.
The next sentence felt impossible.
Thomas discovered Michael’s betrayal.
My eyes moved faster.
He found out Michael had been selling parts of the research to people who wanted to control it.
I looked up.
“Michael?””
Eleanor looked devastated.
“He betrayed David?””
The letter continued.
But Michael wasn’t the only person involved.
My heart sank.
There was more.
The Bennett family was also connected.
Eleanor froze.
“My family?””
I read the final lines.
Eleanor, if you are reading this, I am sorry.
I know you deserved the truth years ago.
But I believed protecting you was the only way.
The person who destroyed all our lives is someone you trust.
The letter ended there.
No name.
No explanation.
Just a warning.
Someone we trusted.
Two hours later, Eleanor took me to her office.
Not her home.
Not a hotel.
Her private office.
The place where she handled everything.
She locked the door behind us.
“You think someone in my family did this,” I said.
“I don’t know.””
“But your father was involved.””
She looked away.
“My father died years ago.””
“Could he have had someone working for him?””
“Yes.””
Her answer came too quickly.
That worried me.
“You have an idea.””
She sighed.
“There was one person.””
“Who?””
Before she answered, the office phone rang.
Both of us froze.
Eleanor looked at the caller ID.
Unknown number.
She answered.
“Hello?””
Silence.
Then a voice.
A man.
Calm.
Cold.
“Eleanor.””
Her face changed.
I knew immediately.
She recognized him.
“Who is this?”” I whispered.
She didn’t answer.
The man continued.
“You should have stopped looking.””
Eleanor gripped the phone.
“Where is David?””
A pause.
Then:
“Still protecting secrets after all these years.””
My blood ran cold.
“You know where he is?””
The man ignored me.
“Ask yourself why David never told Nia the truth.””
Eleanor stood.
“Who are you?””
The voice lowered.
“You already know.””
The call ended.
Eleanor slowly placed the phone down.
I stared at her.
“Who was it?””
She looked at me.
And for the first time since I met her…
She looked afraid.
“It was my brother.””
I froze.
“Your brother?””
May you like
She nodded.
“Someone I thought was dead.””
