Chapter 4: The Woman My Father Tried to Hide
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Not me.
Not Victor.
Not even Lily.
The only sound in the hidden room was the faint crackle of the old phone against my ear.
“I’m Lily’s mother.””
The woman’s voice was quiet.
Tired.
But there was something else beneath it.
Fear.
I looked at the little girl sitting beside me.
She was watching my face carefully.
Children knew more than adults thought.
They knew when someone was lying.
They knew when the world around them was changing.
And right now, she knew something was happening.
I swallowed.
“Where are you?””
The woman hesitated.
“I can’t tell you.””
“Why?””
“Because if they find me, Lily won’t be safe.””
My eyes moved toward Victor.
His expression had gone pale.
“Who are you afraid of?””
The silence on the other end lasted too long.
Then she whispered:
“Your father.””
My chest tightened.
“That doesn’t make sense.””
“It will.””
“My father is dead.””
“I know.””
Her voice broke slightly.
“And I know you loved him.””
The words bothered me.
Because they sounded like they came from someone who knew me.
Not the billionaire.
Not the public figure.
Me.
The boy who had lost his father.
The boy who spent years believing he understood his family.
“How do you know me?””
The woman took a shaky breath.
“Because I watched you grow up.””
I froze.
“What?””
“I was there.””
A cold feeling moved through me.
“Where?””
“At the hospital.””
The room became silent.
“The night your mother died.””
My hand tightened around the phone.
I remembered that night.
Barely.
I was eight years old.
Rain had covered the city.
My father had held my hand in the hospital hallway while doctors rushed around us.
Everyone told me my mother was gone.
Everyone told me some accidents happened for reasons nobody understood.
But nobody ever told me there was another woman there.
Another child.
Another story.
“What were you doing at the hospital?”” I asked.
The woman’s voice became softer.
“I was saying goodbye.””
“To who?””
A pause.
Then:
“To your father.””
I looked at Victor.
His eyes lowered.
He knew.
“You knew about this.””
Victor didn’t answer.
That was answer enough.
I stepped away from him.
“You knew.””
“Damon—”
“You knew she was alive.””
“Yes.””
“And Lily?””
“Yes.””
“How long?””
Victor looked at the floor.
“Since the day she was born.””
The anger came before I could control it.
“You let me believe my entire life was a lie.””
“No.””
“You knew I had a sister.””
“I knew you had a sister who would be killed if anyone discovered her.””
The words stopped me.
Victor stepped closer.
“Do you think I enjoyed watching you grow up without knowing? Do you think I wanted Lily hidden away?””
“Then why didn’t you tell me?””
“Because your father made me promise.””
I laughed bitterly.
“My father.””
Again.
Everything came back to him.
Every secret.
Every missing piece.
Every unanswered question.
The woman on the phone spoke again.
“Damon.””
I lifted the phone.
“What?””
“Your father wasn’t the man you think he was.””
My jaw tightened.
“Everyone keeps saying that.””
“Because everyone knows something you don’t.””
“Then tell me.””
Silence.
Then:
“I can’t.””
My patience disappeared.
“You called me.””
“Yes.””
“You found me.””
“Yes.””
“You risked everything.””
“Yes.””
“Then tell me the truth.””
Her voice trembled.
“Because the truth is what got your father killed.””
Nobody moved.
Even Lily stopped looking at the food in front of her.
The woman continued:
“Your father discovered that the company he built wasn’t controlled by him anymore.””
“What does that mean?””
“It means the people closest to him had been using him.””
“Who?””
She didn’t answer.
I already knew.
The name came into my mind.
Adrian Voss.
Elisa Rochefort.
People who smiled beside my family.
People who attended our dinners.
People who called themselves friends.
“Was it them?””
The woman was silent.
That was enough.
I looked at Victor.
“Adrian Voss.””
Victor nodded slowly.
“Yes.””
My stomach twisted.
I had negotiated with Adrian.
I had trusted his advice.
I had allowed him into my company’s private meetings.
And all this time, he had been hiding something.
The woman whispered:
“There is something you need to find.””
“What?””
“Your father’s final message.””
“I have his files.””
“No.””
Her voice became urgent.
“Not the files in the room. The real message.””
I looked around the hidden chamber.
“There’s nothing else here.””
“There is.””
“How do you know?””
“Because your father told me.””
My eyes moved to the photograph.
“What did he say?””
“He said Damon would only find it when he was ready to know the truth.””
I hated those words.
Ready.
Everyone kept deciding what I could handle.
Everyone kept protecting me by keeping me powerless.
“Where is it?””
The woman hesitated.
“Your father’s office.””
“My father’s office was destroyed.””
“No.””
My heart stopped.
“What?””
“It was made to look destroyed.””
I looked at Victor.
He immediately understood.
“Where is it?””
The woman answered:
“Under the old Cross headquarters.””
My father’s first company.
The building that burned down twelve years ago.
The place everyone believed was empty.
I whispered:
“That building doesn’t exist anymore.””
“It does.””
Her voice became almost impossible to hear.
“And someone has been protecting it ever since.””
The call suddenly crackled.
Then a sharp noise.
Like something hitting the phone.
“Wait.””
My grip tightened.
“What happened?””
The woman breathed quickly.
“Damon, listen to me.””
“I’m listening.””
“Do not trust anyone who tells you they’re protecting you.””
The warning sent a chill through me.
Then she said something else.
Something that made Victor’s face change completely.
“Especially Victor Hale.””
The line went dead.
I stared at the phone.
Slowly, I looked at Victor.
He looked away.
“Explain.””
He said nothing.
“Explain!””
Lily flinched.
I immediately lowered my voice.
But my eyes stayed on him.
“Why did she warn me about you?””
Victor remained silent.
That silence hurt more than any answer.
Then Lily spoke.
A small voice.
Barely above a whisper.
“Mr. Victor didn’t hurt my mommy.””
Both of us looked at her.
She was holding the edge of my jacket.
“He saved us.””
Victor closed his eyes.
Like hearing those words hurt him.
I looked between them.
“What does that mean?””
Lily looked down.
“When bad men came to our house, Mr. Victor took us away.””
My heart slowed.
“How long ago?””
She counted on her fingers.
“Many sleeps.””
“Many?””
She nodded.
“He told mommy not to call anyone.””
“Why?””
“Because he said the bad people were listening.””
Victor finally spoke.
“I knew they were watching.””
“Who?””
He looked at me.
“The same people who are watching us now.””
Before I could respond, the lights in the mansion suddenly returned.
A second later, every phone in the room received the same notification.
Mine.
Victor’s.
Even the old phone.
A message.
From an unknown number.
I opened it.
And felt every muscle in my body freeze.
It was a photograph.
Taken moments earlier.
A photograph of us inside the hidden room.
Someone had been watching.
The caption beneath it contained only six words.
*Your father made the same mistake.*
Then another message appeared.
This time with a name.
A name that turned my blood cold.
May you like
*From: Marcus Cross.*
My father.
