Chapter 9: My Mother’s Letter
I didn’t open the envelope immediately.
I couldn’t.
My hands were shaking too badly.
Everyone around me waited.
Agent Morgan.
The investigators.
Vanessa.
Even my father, who had arrived minutes earlier and stood silently near the doorway.
All of them wanted the same thing.
Answers.
But I wasn’t sure I wanted them anymore.
Because every answer destroyed something I thought I knew.
Finally, I opened it.
Inside was one piece of paper.
One page.
My mother’s handwriting.
The first words nearly broke me.
*Marcus, if you are reading this, I failed to keep you away from the truth.*
I stopped.
My vision blurred.
I kept reading.
*I need you to know something first. I never abandoned you.*
My chest tightened.
**I watched you grow up from a distance. I saw your first apartment. I saw you marry.
I saw Lily being born. Every time I wanted to come back, I remembered what happened when I tried before.**
I looked up.
Everyone was silent.
I continued.
*Your father believes Adrian Vale is the enemy. Your sister believes she can fix what happened. They are both wrong.*
My heart pounded.
*Because neither of them understands what I discovered.*
I turned the page.
There was only one sentence.
*Adrian was not the person who created the system.*
I stopped.
A cold feeling moved through me.
Then I read the next line.
*He inherited it.*
The room went quiet.
I looked at Vanessa.
Then my father.
Neither of them looked surprised.
That scared me.
The letter continued.
*The organization existed long before Adrian. Long before Bright Future. Long before the names you know.*
My hands tightened.
*Your family has been involved with it for generations.*
I looked at the old photographs.
The secrets.
The lies.
Everything.
*Your grandfather knew. Your father discovered it. Vanessa inherited it. And I tried to destroy it.*
I stopped reading.
“Grandfather?””
Nobody answered.
My father finally spoke.
“I didn’t know how much.””
I looked at him.
“How much what?””
He looked devastated.
“How deep it went.””
I stared back at the letter.
My mother continued:
*Marcus, I know what you are thinking. You believe I am responsible too. You are right.*
My heart stopped.
*I made choices I regret. Choices that hurt innocent people.*
I looked up.
“What does that mean?””
Vanessa looked away.
My father closed his eyes.
Agent Morgan noticed.
“You knew?””
My father said nothing.
That was answer enough.
I turned back to the letter.
*I joined them because I thought I could control the damage from inside. I was wrong.*
The words blurred.
*I became part of the machine I wanted to destroy.*
I lowered the paper.
“No.””
My mother.
The person I spent my whole life missing.
The person I imagined as perfect.
She wasn’t.
She was human.
And she had secrets.
The final paragraph was shorter.
*Marcus, if you still believe there is good in me, find Lily and leave. Do not investigate. Do not follow the evidence. Walk away.*
A pause.
Then:
*Because the person who started everything knows about your daughter.*
I dropped the paper.
“Lily.””
Everyone moved.
At the same time.
Agent Morgan grabbed her phone.
My father rushed toward the door.
Vanessa looked terrified.
“What happened?””
I looked at her.
“The person who started everything.””
My voice barely came out.
“They know about Lily.””
Then my phone buzzed.
A message.
No number.
Just a photo.
My daughter.
Sitting in her bedroom.
Sleeping.
Taken minutes ago.
My blood turned cold.
Under the photo was a message.
*You should have listened to your mother.*
May you like
And beneath it:
*Now I have the granddaughter I always wanted.*
