Chapter 4: The Name Hidden in His Father’s Past
Lucas felt as if the air had been pulled out of the room.
For twelve years, he had lived with the same memory.
His mother’s funeral.
The endless gray sky.
His father standing beside him, silent and broken.
Everyone had told Lucas the same thing.
His mother had been unlucky.
A tragic accident.
A loss that no one could have prevented.
But now Vanessa was standing in front of him, telling him something impossible.
That his mother’s death had not been an accident.
That someone had killed her.
And his father had hidden the truth.
Lucas slowly looked at the photograph again.
His hands were cold.
“Say it again.””
Vanessa swallowed.
“Your mother was murdered.””
Nobody moved.
Even the security officers looked uncomfortable.
Marcus lowered his phone.
“Mr. Hale…”
Lucas raised a hand.
“Not now.””
His eyes remained on Vanessa.
“I want to hear it from her.””
Vanessa nodded.
“I know this is hard.””
“No.””
His voice was sharp.
“You don’t get to say that.””
Vanessa flinched.
“You spent months controlling my medication. You watched me lose my strength. You watched me become someone who couldn’t even carry his own daughter upstairs.””
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I know.””
“No, you don’t.””
Lucas pointed toward the cabinet.
“You sat beside me every day while I got weaker.””
His voice broke slightly.
“You watched me wonder if I was dying.””
Vanessa looked down.
“I know.””
“And now you want me to believe you were protecting me?””
“I was trying to.””
Lucas laughed bitterly.
“By poisoning me?””
Vanessa didn’t respond.
Because there was no defense.
No explanation that could erase what she had done.
Lucas looked at Marcus.
“Get the police.””
Vanessa closed her eyes.
“I understand.””
Marcus nodded and stepped away.
But before he could make the call, Lucas stopped.
“Wait.””
Marcus looked back.
Lucas hated that part of him still wanted answers.
Still needed the missing pieces.
“Tell me everything first.””
Vanessa looked surprised.
“Lucas…”
“Everything.””
He pointed at the photograph.
“Who was my sister? Why did my father hide her? And what happened to my mother?””
Vanessa slowly sat down.
For the first time, she looked like someone preparing to confess something she had carried for years.
“Emma was born before you.””
Lucas frowned.
“Before me?””
“Yes.””
“How much older?””
“Three years.””
Lucas stared.
Three years.
He had an older sister.
A person who shared his blood.
A person who had existed his entire life.
And he never knew.
“Your father met Emma’s mother when he was young,” Vanessa continued.
“Before he built Hale Global. Before he became the man everyone knew.””
Lucas listened silently.
“Her name was Claire.””
Vanessa looked at the photograph.
“She was the only person your father ever loved before your mother.””
Lucas looked away.
The words felt strange.
He loved his father.
But hearing about this hidden life made him question everything.
“What happened?””
“Your grandfather didn’t approve.””
Lucas knew exactly who she meant.
His grandfather had been a powerful man.
Cold.
Demanding.
A man who believed the Hale family name mattered more than happiness.
“He forced your father to leave Claire.””
Lucas shook his head.
“My father would never let someone control him.””
Vanessa gave a sad smile.
“That’s what everyone thought.””
She looked at him.
“But your father had one weakness.””
“What?””
“You.””
Lucas frowned.
“Me?””
“When your father finally married your mother, he had already made enemies.””
“Because of Emma?””
“Because of the family business.””
Marcus quietly listened from the side.
Vanessa continued.
“Your father discovered that someone inside the company was stealing money.””
Lucas’s expression changed.
“Who?””
“He didn’t know at first.””
“Then why hide Emma?””
“Because Emma was the only person who knew where certain documents were hidden.””
Lucas leaned forward.
“What documents?””
“The original ownership records of Hale Global.””
Marcus immediately looked up.
“Wait.””
Everyone turned.
Marcus walked closer.
“Your father’s original company documents?””
Vanessa nodded.
“Yes.””
Marcus frowned.
“That doesn’t make sense. Those documents were supposedly destroyed during the restructuring.””
Vanessa looked at him.
“They weren’t destroyed.””
Lucas felt his heartbeat increase.
“Where are they?””
“I don’t know.””
“You expect me to believe that?””
Vanessa looked at him.
“I know where they were last seen.””
“Where?””
She hesitated.
“Your mother had them.””
The room went silent.
Lucas remembered something.
A small memory from childhood.
His mother sitting in her study late at night.
Papers spread across her desk.
His father arguing with someone on the phone.
He had been too young to understand.
He only remembered his mother looking scared.
“Why would my mother have company documents?””
Vanessa answered softly.
“Because she discovered the truth.””
“What truth?””
“That someone in your father’s company wasn’t just stealing money.””
Marcus looked uneasy.
“What else?””
Vanessa looked at Lucas.
“They were trying to take control of everything.””
Lucas stared.
“Who?””
Vanessa didn’t answer.
Instead, she reached into her purse again.
Marcus immediately moved forward.
But Lucas stopped him.
“It’s okay.””
Vanessa removed a folded piece of paper.
She placed it on the table.
Lucas opened it.
Inside was an old company report.
At the bottom was a signature.
His father’s.
And beneath it was another name.
A name Lucas recognized.
A name he had seen hundreds of times.
His eyes narrowed.
“No.””
Marcus stepped closer.
“What is it?””
Lucas didn’t answer.
Because he couldn’t.
The name on the document belonged to someone he trusted.
Someone who had been part of his life since childhood.
Someone who had attended his mother’s funeral.
Someone who had helped him inherit his father’s empire.
Lucas finally whispered:
“Richard Voss.””
Marcus’s face turned serious.
“Mr. Hale…”
Lucas looked at him.
“You knew.””
Marcus was silent.
That silence was enough.
Lucas felt betrayed again.
“Everyone knew except me.””
Marcus shook his head.
“No, sir.””
“Then explain.””
Marcus took a breath.
“I knew your father had concerns about Richard.””
“But?””
“But your father ordered me never to tell you.””
Lucas stared.
“My father ordered you?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
Marcus looked down.
“Because he believed the person closest to you would be the person most dangerous.””
Lucas felt a chill.
“The person closest to me…”
His eyes moved toward Vanessa.
Then toward Marcus.
Then toward the photograph.
A terrifying thought entered his mind.
“What happened the night my mother died?””
Vanessa became quiet.
Lucas noticed.
“You know.””
She didn’t respond.
“You know what happened.””
Vanessa looked at him.
“I know what your father believed happened.””
“What did he believe?””
She took a deep breath.
“Your mother found proof that Richard Voss had been manipulating company accounts.””
Lucas listened.
“She confronted him.””
“And?””
“Your mother never made it home.””
The room went silent.
Lucas’s fingers tightened around the photograph.
“How did she die?””
Vanessa looked away.
“Her car went off the road.””
Lucas closed his eyes.
The official story.
The story everyone knew.
But now it sounded different.
“Who investigated?””
Vanessa answered:
“Richard Voss.””
Lucas opened his eyes.
The realization hit immediately.
The same man accused of wrongdoing.
The same man who controlled the investigation.
The same man who handled the inheritance.
The same man who was still connected to his company.
His father’s old lawyer.
His family’s trusted adviser.
“Why would my father let him investigate?””
“Because your father didn’t know the truth yet.””
Lucas looked at Vanessa.
“When did he find out?””
Vanessa’s voice became barely audible.
“The day before he died.””
Lucas froze.
His father’s death.
Another event everyone accepted.
A heart attack.
A natural ending.
But now nothing felt natural.
Lucas whispered:
“My father was killed too.””
Vanessa didn’t answer.
She didn’t need to.
The fear in her eyes said enough.
Marcus suddenly looked at his phone.
His expression changed.
“Mr. Hale.””
Lucas turned.
“What?””
Marcus hesitated.
“I found something.””
“What?””
Marcus looked at the screen.
“Emma Hale.””
Lucas felt his heart stop.
“She’s alive.””
Vanessa stood immediately.
“What?””
Marcus looked at both of them.
“And she’s not far away.””
Lucas leaned forward.
“Where?””
Marcus swallowed.
“She’s been living in this city for the past six months.””
A cold feeling moved through Lucas.
Six months.
Someone had been close.
Watching.
Waiting.
Then Marcus read the final detail.
“The address listed…”
He looked at Lucas.
“It’s the same building where your father kept his private office.””
Lucas stared.
His father’s abandoned office.
A place locked since his death.
A place nobody had entered in twelve years.
Except now someone had.
Lucas looked at the photograph of the woman holding the baby.
His unknown sister.
His father’s hidden secret.
And the truth waiting behind a locked door.
“Take me there.””
Marcus immediately shook his head.
“Sir, your condition—”
Lucas looked at him.
“My condition was created by someone.””
His voice hardened.
“I’m done sitting here waiting for people to decide what happens to me.””
Vanessa stepped forward.
“Lucas, don’t go.””
He looked at her.
“Why?””
For the first time, Vanessa looked truly terrified.
“Because if Emma wants you to find that office…”
May you like
She whispered:
“It means she wants you to discover what your father died trying to hide.””
