Chapter 3: The File That Was Never Supposed To Be Found
Daniel stood in the doorway holding the medical records like he had been waiting for this exact moment.
For a few seconds, neither of us spoke.
The office felt smaller than it had a minute earlier.
The old wooden shelves that had always made Arthur feel safe now seemed like walls closing in around me.
I still had the handwritten note in my hand.
Arthur’s words burned into my mind.
Daniel did not cause my stroke, but he knows who did.
I quickly folded the paper and slipped it behind my back.
Daniel noticed.
Of course he noticed.
He had spent his entire life studying details.
That was something he inherited from Arthur.
Except Arthur used attention to protect people.
Daniel used it to control them.
“What are you doing in here?”” Daniel asked.
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
I looked at the medical records in his hand.
“I could ask you the same thing.””
A faint smile appeared on his face.
“Could you?””
He stepped into the office.
“You’re acting like you caught me breaking into my own father’s house.””
“Your father’s office.””
Daniel looked around.
“Our father’s office.””
I almost laughed.
Because the word sounded ridiculous coming from him.
“You haven’t been in here in months.””
“That doesn’t mean I’m not allowed.””
“No,” I said quietly.
“It means you stopped caring.””
His jaw tightened.
For a brief second, the mask slipped.
Then it came back.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about.””
I held his gaze.
“Actually, I think I’m starting to.””
Daniel walked toward the desk.
“What did you find?””
I didn’t answer.
He glanced at the cabinet.
Then at the open folders.
His expression changed.
Not anger.
Panic.
Only for a second.
But I saw it.
“You went through his things?””
“Why are you worried?””
“I’m not.””
“You are.””
Daniel laughed softly.
“You’re imagining things.””
“Am I?””
He looked at me.
“Yes.””
Then he reached out his hand.
“Give me whatever you found.””
I didn’t move.
“Why?””
“Because those are private documents.””
“Private from who?””
His face hardened.
“Marissa.””
The way he said my name was a warning.
Not a request.
I had heard that tone before.
The tone he used when he wanted me to stop asking questions.
But something had changed.
Maybe it was because Arthur had opened his eyes.
Maybe it was because I finally understood that silence had been protecting the wrong people.
“I’m not giving you anything.””
Daniel stared at me.
Then he smiled.
A cold, empty smile.
“You really think you’re helping him.””
“I am.””
“No.””
He shook his head.
“You’re helping yourself feel important.””
The words hit harder than I wanted them to.
Because that was exactly what he had been trying to make me believe.
That I was just someone desperate to matter.
But then I remembered Arthur’s hand squeezing mine.
His fear.
His warning.
I stepped closer.
“Your father remembers everything.””
Daniel stopped.
The room became completely silent.
I watched his face.
The smallest reaction.
A flicker in his eyes.
“You’re lying.””
There it was.
Not confusion.
Not surprise.
Fear.
“You knew,” I whispered.
Daniel looked away.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.””
“You knew he could hear.””
His silence answered me.
I felt sick.
For six months, he had stood in that bedroom.
He had said those things.
He had called his father a body.
And Arthur had heard every word.
Daniel finally spoke.
“People in his condition don’t always understand what’s happening.””
“You’re not answering me.””
He walked around the desk.
“You need to be careful, Marissa.””
“Is that another warning?””
“No.””
He leaned closer.
“It’s advice.””
“From someone who emptied his father’s accounts?””
His expression changed instantly.
“What did you say?””
I held up the folder I had taken from the cabinet.
“You thought no one would notice?””
Daniel’s eyes moved to the papers.
Then back to me.
“What did you find?””
I realized something.
He didn’t know.
He didn’t know what Arthur had saved.
He didn’t know what evidence existed.
He only knew there was something.
And that terrified him.
“I found enough.””
Daniel stepped back.
Then he laughed.
A short, humorless laugh.
“You have no idea what you found.””
“Then explain it.””
“I don’t have to explain anything to you.””
“Your father might disagree.””
His face went cold.
“You need to understand something.””
“What?””
“This family has always been complicated.””
“No.””
I shook my head.
“Your family has always protected Daniel.””
That sentence seemed to hit a nerve.
Because his expression changed.
“My father never understood sacrifice.””
I stared at him.
“Sacrifice?””
“Yes.””
Daniel’s voice grew louder.
“You know what it’s like growing up with someone like Arthur?””
I said nothing.
“He was perfect.””
The bitterness in his voice surprised me.
“Perfect grades. Perfect career. Perfect reputation.””
He pointed toward the shelves.
“Everyone loved him.””
“And that bothered you?””
Daniel looked away.
“You wouldn’t understand.””
“Try me.””
For a moment, he looked like he might actually say something honest.
Then the wall came back up.
“Forget it.””
He reached for the folder.
I pulled it away.
“No.””
His eyes narrowed.
“Give it to me.””
“No.””
The silence between us stretched.
Then Daniel whispered something that made my stomach drop.
“You really want to know what happened to my father?””
I froze.
“What?””
He looked directly at me.
“You think I’m the villain because I stopped pretending.””
My heart pounded.
“What are you saying?””
Daniel looked toward the hallway.
Toward Arthur’s bedroom.
Then back at me.
“I’m saying you don’t know what he did.””
I frowned.
“What does that mean?””
“You think Arthur was innocent because he’s old and sick.””
“He is your father.””
“That doesn’t make him a saint.””
The anger in his voice felt personal.
Deep.
Almost rehearsed.
“What did he do?””
Daniel didn’t answer.
Instead, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.
He tapped the screen.
Then turned it toward me.
A photograph appeared.
Arthur.
Younger.
Standing outside a courthouse.
Next to another man.
I looked closer.
“Who is that?””
Daniel’s expression became unreadable.
“Someone you should ask Arthur about.””
I stared at the picture.
“Why?””
“Because my father spent his whole life making people believe he was honest.””
“And?””
Daniel took back the phone.
“And some secrets are expensive.””
Before I could respond, my own phone buzzed.
I looked down.
A message.
Unknown number.
My blood ran cold when I opened it.
*You found the cabinet. Good. Now find the second drawer before Daniel does.*
I looked up.
Daniel was watching me.
“You got a message.””
It wasn’t a question.
“How did you know?””
“Because your face changed.””
I quickly locked my phone.
“Who is it?””
“I don’t know.””
Daniel stared at me.
But I couldn’t tell if he was lying.
Then another message arrived.
This time with a picture.
A picture of Arthur’s office.
Taken from inside the room.
Taken today.
My hands went numb.
Someone had been watching me.
Someone had been here.
I looked around the office.
The closed curtains.
The old books.
The locked cabinets.
Then I looked at Daniel.
“Who sent you?””
His eyebrows pulled together.
“What?””
“The message.””
“I didn’t send anything.””
For the first time, he sounded genuinely confused.
The confusion scared me more than his anger.
Because if Daniel wasn’t behind it…
Then someone else was.
Someone who knew about the cabinet.
Someone who knew Arthur had been awake.
Someone who knew I was searching.
Daniel stepped toward me.
“What did it say?””
I hesitated.
Then I showed him the screen.
He read the message.
And for the first time since I met him, Daniel looked afraid.
Not angry.
Not defensive.
Afraid.
Because underneath the message was one final line.
A name.
A name that made Daniel whisper:
“No…”
I looked at the screen.
May you like
And my heart stopped.
Because the person who sent the message was someone Daniel had told me was dead.
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