Chapter 8: The Voice From The Past
My mother’s name glowed on the screen.
*Mom.*
Six letters.
A name I hadn’t seen appear on my phone in twenty-three years.
My brain refused to accept it.
It was impossible.
A cruel trick.
A fake number.
Someone trying to destroy the little trust I had left.
But then another message appeared.
*“I know you’re scared. I know you don’t believe this is real. But I have been waiting for this moment.””*
My hands started shaking.
Daniel noticed.
“What happened?””
I locked my phone.
Too quickly.
His eyes narrowed.
“What did you see?””
I stared at him.
The question sounded innocent.
But after everything I had learned, innocence was no longer enough.
“I received a message.””
“From who?””
I didn’t answer.
Daniel stepped closer.
“Jessi.””
I moved back.
The reaction hurt him.
I saw it.
But I couldn’t apologize.
Not anymore.
Because my entire life had been built on trusting people who didn’t deserve it.
“My mother.””
The words barely left my mouth.
Daniel froze.
“What?””
“My mother sent me a message.””
His face changed.
Not shock.
Not surprise.
Fear.
That was what I noticed.
Fear.
“You know something.””
“No.””
“You do.””
Daniel shook his head.
“Jessi, listen to me—”
“No.””
I held up the phone.
“She told me not to trust you.””
The silence was immediate.
Daniel looked like someone had physically hit him.
Then he whispered:
“She’s alive.””
It wasn’t a question.
It was a realization.
I stared at him.
“You knew there was a possibility.””
“No.””
“Then why did you say that?””
He looked away.
And again, I saw it.
The hesitation.
The thing I had learned to fear.
“Daniel.””
He closed his eyes.
“When Margaret died, she left instructions.””
“What instructions?””
“That if you ever discovered the truth, I was supposed to protect you.””
I laughed bitterly.
“Protect me?””
“Yes.””
“By bringing me here?””
His expression tightened.
“This is where Margaret wanted you to come.””
“Did she also tell you to hide things from me?””
“No.””
“Then why did you?””
Daniel didn’t answer.
And that silence was enough.
I stepped away from him.
“I trusted you.””
“I know.””
“No.””
My voice cracked.
“You don’t know.””
I pointed at the files around us.
“You knew about my mother.””
“Yes.””
“You knew she might be alive.””
“I suspected.””
“You knew Luca was involved.””
“Yes.””
“And you still stood beside me pretending you were helping.””
His face fell.
“I was trying to keep you alive.””
The words stopped me.
“What?””
Daniel looked around the archive room.
“Jessi, your mother disappeared because she found something dangerous.””
“About Victor.””
“Yes.””
“And?””
He hesitated.
“About someone else.””
I felt cold.
“Who?””
Before he could answer, the lights went out.
Completely.
The room disappeared into darkness.
I heard Daniel move.
“Don’t move.””
A strange thing to say.
Because the second he said it, I knew I should.
I reached for my phone.
The flashlight turned on.
A shadow moved near the shelves.
Not Daniel.
Someone else.
“Who’s there?””
No answer.
Then a voice came from the darkness.
A woman’s voice.
Soft.
Familiar.
“Jessi.””
My heart stopped.
I knew that voice.
I had heard it in old recordings.
In childhood memories.
In dreams.
“Mom?””
The shadow stepped forward.
The light caught her face.
And the world stopped.
She looked older.
Of course she did.
Twenty-three years had passed.
Her hair was darker in some places, silver in others.
Lines marked her face.
But her eyes…
Those were the same.
The same eyes that looked at me from every old photograph.
My knees almost gave out.
“Jessi.””
She covered her mouth.
Like she couldn’t believe she was seeing me either.
I couldn’t move.
I couldn’t breathe.
All those years.
All those questions.
All those nights wondering why she left.
And now she was standing ten feet away.
Alive.
“Mom?””
The word broke something inside me.
She started crying.
“I’m sorry.””
That was the first thing she said.
Not hello.
Not I missed you.
Sorry.
I wanted to run to her.
I wanted to scream.
I wanted to ask a thousand questions.
Instead, I whispered:
“Why?””
Her face collapsed.
“Because I was trying to protect you.””
I laughed through tears.
“Everyone says that.””
She looked at Daniel.
Then back at me.
“I know.””
“Everyone protects me by lying.””
“I know.””
“You let me believe you abandoned me.””
Her eyes filled.
“I know.””
“Do you understand what that did to me?””
She nodded.
“I thought about you every day.””
“Then why didn’t you come back?””
Her silence answered before her words did.
“Because I couldn’t.””
I stared.
“Couldn’t?””
She stepped closer.
“Someone was watching me.””
“Who?””
Her eyes moved toward the archive door.
“Victor.””
I shook my head.
“No.””
My voice hardened.
“You don’t get to just blame Victor.””
Her expression changed.
“What?””
“You all keep saying Victor did this. Victor did that.””
I looked between her and Daniel.
“But nobody tells me the whole truth.””
My mother looked at Daniel.
“He didn’t tell you.””
I turned.
“Tell me what?””
Daniel looked away.
My mother closed her eyes.
“Daniel was the one who helped me disappear.””
The room became silent.
I looked at Daniel.
“What?””
He didn’t deny it.
And that hurt more than anything.
“Why?””
Daniel’s voice was quiet.
“Because she was going to die.””
My mother nodded.
“Victor knew I had proof.””
“What proof?””
She looked at the files.
“The proof that he wasn’t stealing from Sterling Holdings alone.””
I waited.
“Who helped him?””
My mother looked at me.
And I knew from her expression that the answer would hurt.
“The person who raised you.””
I shook my head.
“No.””
“Jessi—”
“No.””
I stepped back.
“I already read that.””
My mother looked surprised.
“You found the letter.””
“Yes.””
She looked at Daniel.
“You weren’t supposed to let her find that yet.””
Yet.
That one word caught my attention.
“Yet?””
Nobody answered.
I looked at Daniel.
“You knew.””
He finally looked at me.
“I knew the truth would destroy you.””
“Try me.””
He looked exhausted.
“Your father wasn’t the only person involved.””
I froze.
“My father?””
My mother lowered her eyes.
“Your father knew.””
The room went silent.
I had never known much about him.
He left when I was young.
Then died before I could ask questions.
I always assumed he was just another person who abandoned me.
But now?
Nothing was simple.
“What did he know?””
My mother took a shaky breath.
“He knew Victor was moving money.””
“Did he help him?””
“No.””
“Then why say he was involved?””
“Because he helped hide something else.””
“What?””
She looked at me.
“Your identity.””
I frowned.
“My identity?””
Daniel opened another file.
Inside was a birth certificate.
Not mine.
At least, not the one I had seen before.
My mother took it.
“When Victor realized he couldn’t control the Sterling inheritance, he searched for another way.””
I stared at the paper.
“What does that mean?””
She looked at me with tears in her eyes.
“Jessi…”
She paused.
“Your name was changed.””
My heart stopped.
“What?””
“You were not born Jessi Carter.””
The room spun.
I grabbed the table.
“What was my name?””
My mother looked at me.
And whispered:
“Jessi Sterling.””
I couldn’t speak.
Sterling.
My aunt’s name.
The family name I thought I had married into.
The name I thought belonged to someone else.
It was mine.
Then my phone buzzed again.
Another message.
From my mother’s number.
But this time, she was standing in front of me.
The message wasn’t from her.
It was a video.
I pressed play.
The screen showed my house.
My children.
Sleeping upstairs.
And a man standing in the hallway.
A man holding a camera.
A man who should not have been inside.
My blood froze.
Because the man turned toward the camera.
And smiled.
Victor Carter.
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The final frame showed his message:
*“Now that Jessi knows who she really is, it’s time she learns who her children really belong to.””*
