Chapter 8: The Man Who Was Never Dead
For three seconds, I forgot how to breathe.
The café noise disappeared.
The voices around me faded.
All I could hear was Arthur’s sentence repeating in my head.
Your father’s partner is alive.
Impossible.
That was the only word my mind could form.
Impossible.
Because I had watched my father lose everything.
I had watched him become weaker every day.
I had watched doctors explain things I was too young to understand.
I had stood beside his hospital bed when he squeezed my hand and told me he was proud of me.
And I had buried him.
There had been a funeral.
There had been a grave.
There had been years of missing him.
A dead man could not be involved in a conspiracy.
A dead man could not be pulling strings.
“Emma?””
Arthur’s voice pulled me back.
I realized I had been silent.
“Who?””
A pause.
“His name is Robert Voss.””
The name meant nothing.
And yet, somehow, it felt familiar.
I looked at Olivia.
Her face had changed.
Not confusion.
Recognition.
“You know that name,” I whispered.
She looked away.
“Olivia.””
She closed her eyes.
“My mother mentioned him.””
The room felt colder.
“What did she say?””
“That he was your father’s closest partner.””
I stood.
“Why didn’t you tell me?””
“Because I thought he was dead.””
“Everyone thought he was dead.””
Olivia looked at me.
“No.””
Her voice was quiet.
“Not everyone.””
I stared at her.
“Explain.””
She hesitated.
Then:
“My mother told me there were rumors.””
“What rumors?””
“That Robert Voss disappeared before your father’s death.””
I felt my stomach tighten.
“Disappeared?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
Olivia shook her head.
“I don’t know.””
I turned back to the phone.
“Arthur.””
“Yes?””
“Where did you find this information?””
“My father.””
That answer surprised me.
“Richard told you?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
Arthur’s voice became tense.
“Because he’s scared.””
I almost laughed.
“Your father?””
“Yes.””
“The same man who tried to use me?””
“Yes.””
The honesty caught me off guard.
“He admitted it?””
“He admitted enough.””
I sat down again.
“Tell me everything.””
Arthur was silent for a moment.
Then he began.
“My father found documents from years ago. Documents connected to your father, Victoria, and Robert Voss.””
“Connected how?””
“He said they were involved in something bigger than business.””
“What does that mean?””
“I don’t know.””
That answer frustrated me.
But then Arthur added:
“My father believes Robert Voss didn’t disappear.””
“Then where was he?””
Arthur lowered his voice.
“Working from the shadows.””
I looked at Olivia.
She looked just as unsettled.
“Why would he do that?””
“I don’t know.””
“Then why tell me?””
A long pause.
Then Arthur said:
“Because I think my family isn’t the only one he’s targeting.””
I ended the call after making Arthur promise one thing.
“If you find anything else, you tell me first.””
He agreed.
But agreement from Arthur no longer felt like trust.
It felt like a temporary arrangement.
After the call ended, Olivia remained silent.
Finally, she spoke.
“Emma.””
“What?””
“I need to tell you something.””
I looked at her.
Another secret.
Another hidden piece.
I was beginning to wonder how many versions of the truth existed.
“What now?””
She looked hurt by the question.
And immediately, I regretted saying it.
But she didn’t get angry.
She simply opened her laptop.
“I found something else while searching your father’s files.””
“What?””
“A document from the year before he died.””
She turned the screen toward me.
It was an old company agreement.
I scanned it.
Then stopped.
There were three names.
My father.
Robert Voss.
Victoria Hale.
A partnership.
My hands went cold.
“They worked together.””
“Yes.””
“But my father hated Victoria.””
“Maybe later.””
I looked closer.
The agreement described an early logistics project.
A project that failed.
Or at least, that was what I believed.
“What is this?””
Olivia looked at the document.
“Your father’s first attempt at building what became Northbridge.””
I shook my head.
“No.””
“Emma.””
“No.””
My voice became sharper.
“Northbridge started with me.””
“Yes.””
“Not them.””
Olivia softened.
“You built Northbridge.””
I looked at her.
“But the idea existed before.””
The words hurt because they were true.
My father had inspired me.
He had taught me everything.
But I had always believed the company was the one thing that belonged completely to me.
Now I wondered if even that had a hidden history.
I kept reading.
Then I saw something.
A handwritten note.
My father’s handwriting.
Robert believes the system can change the industry. Victoria believes control is the only way to succeed.
I stared.
Two different visions.
Two different people.
And my father caught between them.
Then another sentence.
If anything happens to me, Emma must never know.
My heart stopped.
“What?””
Olivia leaned closer.
“What does it say?””
I moved the screen.
She read it.
Her expression changed.
“Emma…”
My father had written my name.
He had known something could happen.
He had prepared.
But why?
That night, I went to my father’s house.
The house had been empty since his death.
I rarely visited.
Too many memories.
Too much silence.
But now I needed answers.
I unlocked the door.
The smell hit me immediately.
Old wood.
Dust.
The faint scent of the cologne he used to wear.
I walked through the rooms slowly.
Everything was exactly the same.
His office remained untouched.
His books.
His desk.
His chair.
The place where he spent years building ideas.
I searched through drawers.
Nothing.
Then I remembered something.
A habit my father had.
Whenever he wanted to hide something, he didn’t hide it.
He placed it somewhere obvious.
Because he believed people rarely looked at what they assumed was normal.
I walked to his bookshelf.
Third shelf.
Second row.
A business book.
I pulled it out.
Behind it was a small compartment.
Inside was a key.
My hands trembled.
A key.
Not a document.
Not a message.
A key meant something was still locked.
I searched the room.
Then I noticed a small wooden box under his desk.
The key fit.
Inside was a phone.
An old one.
The kind people stopped using years ago.
I pressed the power button.
Nothing.
I plugged it into the charger on his desk.
Five minutes later, the screen lit up.
One file.
One recording.
Created eight years ago.
The night before he died.
I pressed play.
My father’s voice filled the room.
Older.
Tired.
But still him.
“Emma.””
I froze.
Hearing him again almost broke me.
“If you’re listening to this, then something happened.””
I sat down.
His voice continued.
“I wanted to tell you the truth myself.””
A pause.
“I failed.””
My eyes filled.
My father never admitted failure.
Not once.
“Northbridge was never just a company.””
The room seemed to stop.
“It was the final piece of something Robert and I started years ago.””
Robert.
Again.
“He believed the industry could be changed. He believed people could build something better.””
My father paused.
“But Victoria believed power mattered more than progress.””
I listened carefully.
“Emma, if Robert comes back, do not assume he is your enemy.””
I frowned.
That wasn’t what I expected.
“He made mistakes. But he also tried to stop something.””
My father’s voice became quieter.
“Someone inside our circle betrayed us.””
I held my breath.
“Someone we trusted.””
The recording crackled.
Then:
“I don’t know who it was.””
A chill moved through me.
Because my father had never known.
Not even at the end.
But then he said:
“However, I know one thing.””
The recording became distorted.
I moved closer.
“What?””
His next words were barely audible.
But I heard them.
And they changed everything.
“The person who betrayed me…”
A pause.
“…is the same person who will betray Emma.””
The recording ended.
I sat in silence.
Because now I understood.
This wasn’t about Arthur.
It wasn’t about marriage.
It wasn’t even about Northbridge.
It started years before I ever met any of them.
My father had been afraid of someone.
Someone close.
Someone patient.
Someone who had waited eight years.
My phone suddenly rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
“Hello?””
A man’s voice responded.
Older.
Calm.
Familiar in a way I couldn’t explain.
“Emma Carter.””
I stood.
“Who is this?””
A pause.
Then:
“I’m the man your father wanted you to find.””
My heart raced.
“Robert Voss?””
Silence.
Then the man said:
“Yes.””
I gripped the phone.
“Where are you?””
Another pause.
“I’m somewhere I should have left years ago.””
“What does that mean?””
His voice became quieter.
“It means I know who destroyed your father.””
My breathing stopped.
“Who?””
The answer came slowly.
And when he said the name, I felt the entire world tilt.
“Emma…”
A pause.
“Your father’s killer is someone who has been standing beside you for years.””
The call ended.
May you like
And for the first time in my life…
I was afraid of the people I loved.
