Chapter 8: The Night My Mother Disappeared
Nobody spoke.
Not for several seconds.
Maybe a minute.
Maybe longer.
Because some sentences were too heavy to immediately answer.
I stared at Adrian.
My brother.
The person who had spent the last hour looking guilty.
The person who had lied to me.
The person who had hidden my mother’s letter.
And now he was telling me something impossible.
“My mother was killed?””
My voice barely sounded like mine.
Adrian looked down.
“I don’t know.””
I felt anger rise immediately.
“You don’t know?””
He flinched.
“You just said—”
“I said I was there.””
The room became silent again.
Miriam stepped closer.
“Adrian, you need to explain carefully.””
He nodded.
His hands were shaking.
“I was twenty-eight.””
I stared at him.
“You were thirty-two.””
He looked away.
“Right.””
That small mistake bothered me.
Not because of his age.
Because it showed how panicked he was.
He wasn’t telling a rehearsed story.
He was remembering.
“I was supposed to meet Mom that night,” he said.
“Why?””
“She asked me to come to her office.””
“About what?””
His eyes moved toward the window.
“About money.””
Of course.
Money.
It always came back to money.
“What money?””
“The company accounts.””
My chest tightened.
“She knew?””
“Yes.””
“Knew what?””
“That Victor was stealing.””
Everyone went quiet.
Adrian continued.
“She had found evidence.””
I looked at Desmond.
He was listening carefully.
Almost painfully.
“What happened when you arrived?””
Adrian swallowed.
“I wasn’t the first one there.””
My stomach dropped.
“Who was?””
He looked at Desmond.
The silence answered before the words did.
“No.””
I stepped back.
“No.””
Desmond immediately shook his head.
“Wren.””
“Don’t.””
“I didn’t kill your mother.””
“I didn’t say you did.””
But my voice betrayed me.
Because a part of me was afraid.
Afraid because every time I thought I had found the truth, another secret appeared.
Desmond looked devastated.
“I swear to you.””
I looked away.
“Keep going, Adrian.””
He nodded.
“When I arrived, Desmond was already there.””
“Why?””
“I don’t know.””
Desmond spoke.
“Your mother called me.””
Adrian looked at him.
“You said you weren’t there.””
“I said I didn’t know what happened.””
The two men stared at each other.
Two people who had shared a secret for years.
Two people who had allowed me to live without the truth.
“What happened next?”” I asked.
Adrian closed his eyes.
“I heard shouting.””
“Between who?””
“Mom and Victor.””
My heart stopped.
“He was there?””
“Yes.””
“Then what?””
Adrian’s face tightened.
“Mom told Victor she had proof.””
“Proof of what?””
“That he had been manipulating company records.””
I nodded.
That matched everything.
“But then?””
Adrian hesitated.
And I knew I wouldn’t like the answer.
“Mom collapsed.””
The room went quiet.
“Collapsed?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
“I don’t know.””
I looked at him.
“You don’t know?””
“I saw her fall.””
His voice cracked.
“I thought she was having a heart attack.””
My breath caught.
“What did you do?””
“I called emergency services.””
“Did you?””
“Yes.””
Desmond spoke quietly.
“He did.””
I looked at him.
“You were there.””
“Yes.””
“Then why didn’t either of you tell me?””
Neither answered.
That was worse.
I walked toward Adrian.
“Why?””
His eyes filled.
“Because Victor threatened us.””
The room changed.
“What?””
“He said if anyone talked, he would destroy everything.””
“Everything?””
“The company. Our family. You.””
I stared.
“You believed him?””
Adrian looked ashamed.
“Yes.””
I wanted to scream.
I wanted to ask how fear could be stronger than love.
But then I remembered something.
Fear had controlled Desmond too.
Fear had controlled me.
Fear made people do terrible things.
But it didn’t excuse them.
“What happened after Mom died?””
Adrian looked at the floor.
“Victor convinced everyone it was a medical emergency.””
“And you let him.””
“Yes.””
The honesty hurt.
“I was scared.””
I shook my head.
“You were my brother.””
“I know.””
“You were supposed to protect me.””
His tears fell.
“I know.””
For a moment, I saw the little boy who used to follow me around our house.
The boy who cried when our dog died.
The boy who promised me we would always be together.
Then I remembered the man who hid the truth for eight years.
“I don’t know who you are anymore.””
That hurt him more than anything else I could have said.
An hour later, we were sitting in Corvina’s old archive room.
Miriam had requested every file connected to my mother’s final year.
Every email.
Every meeting record.
Every security report.
The room smelled like dust and old paper.
Like memories that had been waiting to be found.
Daniel stood beside a table covered with documents.
“We need to understand one thing.””
I looked at him.
“What?””
“Victor didn’t act alone.””
I nodded.
“Because he had Adrian.””
“And someone else.””
I looked at Desmond.
He shook his head.
“Not me.””
Daniel placed a file down.
“Someone with access to your mother’s personal records.””
Miriam opened another folder.
“These were removed after Margaret Ellison’s death.””
I frowned.
“Removed by who?””
She turned the page.
My eyes widened.
The authorization signature belonged to:
*Wren Ellison.*
Again.
My name.
My signature.
My identity being used against me.
“This is impossible.””
Daniel nodded.
“That’s why we investigated.””
He opened his laptop.
“We found the source.””
Everyone moved closer.
On the screen was a login history.
A user account.
My account.
But the location was impossible.
Boston.
The same night I was in another state.
Someone had accessed my identity.
Someone who knew my passwords.
Someone close.
My stomach sank.
“Who had access?””
Nobody answered.
Then Desmond spoke.
“Your brother.””
I looked at Adrian.
His face went pale.
“No.””
“Adrian.””
“I never accessed her account.””
Daniel looked at him.
“I believe you.””
Everyone turned.
Daniel continued.
“The access was created using your credentials, but the device wasn’t yours.””
Adrian exhaled.
“Then who?””
Daniel hesitated.
“We found the device.””
My heart raced.
“Where?””
He looked at me.
“In Victor Hale’s private storage facility.””
Silence.
“So Victor framed Adrian.””
“Yes.””
“And framed me.””
“Yes.””
I looked at Desmond.
“And what about you?””
Daniel didn’t answer.
That was enough.
I turned.
“Why was Desmond’s account used?””
Daniel looked uncomfortable.
“We don’t know yet.””
But before anyone could respond, the archive room lights flickered.
Then went out.
Everyone froze.
The emergency lights turned on seconds later.
Miriam checked her phone.
“No signal.””
Daniel looked toward the door.
“That’s not normal.””
Then we heard it.
A sound from the hallway.
A door closing.
Someone was inside the archive floor.
Desmond immediately moved in front of me.
The instinct was automatic.
Protect.
For one second, I hated that part of me still noticed.
Then a voice came from the darkness.
“Wren.””
I recognized it.
Victor.
My blood went cold.
The lights flickered again.
He stepped into view.
Older than his photographs.
Calmer than anyone should be.
“You look just like your mother when you’re angry.””
I stared at him.
“You killed her.””
He smiled slightly.
“No.””
The answer was too calm.
“I didn’t.””
“Then explain.””
Victor looked around the room.
At the files.
At Desmond.
At Adrian.
Then back at me.
“Your mother was not killed because she discovered my plan.””
He stepped closer.
“She was killed because she discovered the person helping me.””
My heart pounded.
Everyone became still.
“Who?””
Victor smiled.
And then he looked directly at Desmond.
“No one told you the whole truth about your husband.””
Desmond’s face changed.
Victor continued.
“Because Desmond wasn’t my partner.””
May you like
A pause.
“He was my son.””
