Chapter 8: The Person Who Had Been Beside Him All Along
For several seconds after the call ended, nobody moved.
Lucas kept the phone against his ear even though there was no longer anyone speaking.
Vanessa’s final words repeated in his mind.
*The person behind this has been living in your house.*
Not near him.
Not watching him.
Living with him.
Eating at his table.
Walking through his halls.
Touching his medication.
Lucas slowly lowered the phone.
His eyes moved from Richard to Emma.
Then to Marcus.
Three people standing in front of him.
Three people carrying pieces of a truth he had never known.
But only one thought consumed him.
Lily.
His daughter was still at the mansion.
Alone.
With the person who had been hurting him.
“Marcus.””
The security chief immediately understood.
“We leave now.””
Richard stepped forward.
“You still don’t understand.””
Lucas looked at him.
“What?””
Richard pointed toward the phone.
“Vanessa told you someone inside your house was responsible.””
“Yes.””
“But she didn’t tell you who.””
Lucas’s expression hardened.
“Do you know?””
Richard didn’t answer.
That was enough.
Lucas rolled toward him.
“Tell me.””
Richard looked at Emma.
Then at Lucas.
“You’re finally asking the right questions.””
Lucas’s patience disappeared.
“Tell me.””
Richard sighed.
“The person closest to you is not Samuel Grant.””
“Then who?””
Richard looked directly at him.
“Your security chief.””
The room went silent.
Lucas stared.
“No.””
Marcus didn’t move.
But his face changed.
Just slightly.
And Lucas saw it.
The smallest hesitation.
The smallest crack.
“Marcus?””
The security chief looked at him.
“Sir…”
Lucas’s voice dropped.
“Tell me he’s lying.””
Marcus said nothing.
The silence felt like a gunshot.
Lucas looked at Richard.
Then back at Marcus.
“How long?””
Marcus closed his eyes.
“Mr. Hale…”
“How long have you known?””
Emma stepped back.
Even she looked shocked.
Marcus slowly removed his security badge.
“I never wanted you to find out this way.””
Lucas felt something inside him collapse.
Another person.
Another lie.
“Answer me.””
Marcus looked down.
“Twelve years.””
Lucas’s hands tightened.
“Twelve years?””
“Yes.””
“You knew about Emma?””
“Yes.””
“You knew about my father?””
“Yes.””
“You knew someone was trying to destroy me?””
Marcus’s silence was painful.
“Yes.””
Lucas stared.
The man who had protected him.
The man who had pushed his wheelchair.
The man who had stood beside him through every medical appointment.
The man he trusted more than anyone.
Had known.
“You watched me get sick.””
Marcus looked devastated.
“Yes.””
Lucas looked away.
For a moment, he couldn’t speak.
The betrayal was different from Vanessa’s.
Vanessa had entered his life with a hidden agenda.
But Marcus?
Marcus had been there before everything.
He had been family.
“Why?””
Marcus swallowed.
“Because your father asked me to.””
Lucas froze.
“What?””
Marcus looked at the phone on the desk.
“Daniel knew someone was coming after you.””
Richard shook his head.
“Convenient story.””
Marcus ignored him.
“Your father ordered me to protect you at any cost.””
Lucas stared.
“By hiding the truth?””
“Yes.””
“By letting me suffer?””
Marcus’s face broke.
“No.””
“Then why didn’t you tell me?””
“Because your father believed the truth would get you killed.””
Lucas laughed bitterly.
“So you decided I was safer not knowing?””
Marcus looked at him.
“Yes.””
The honesty hurt.
Lucas looked at Emma.
“Did you know?””
Emma shook her head.
“No.””
Richard looked satisfied.
“Interesting.””
Lucas turned toward him.
“What?””
Richard smiled faintly.
“Now you see why your father kept secrets.””
Lucas frowned.
“What are you talking about?””
Richard stepped closer.
“Because everyone around him was dangerous.””
Marcus immediately interrupted.
“Don’t listen to him.””
Lucas looked at Marcus.
“Why?””
“Because Richard is the reason this happened.””
Richard laughed.
“And here we are again.””
He looked at Lucas.
“Everyone blaming someone else.””
Lucas felt exhausted.
But beneath the exhaustion was something stronger.
Determination.
“No more.””
Everyone stopped.
“I’m done being moved around like a piece on a chessboard.””
Lucas looked at each person.
“I want the truth.””
Marcus nodded slowly.
“Then I’ll tell you.””
He took a breath.
“Your father discovered Richard and Samuel were working together.””
Richard’s expression changed.
Marcus continued.
“They weren’t trying to steal the company.””
Lucas frowned.
“Then what?””
“They were trying to erase evidence.””
“Evidence of what?””
Marcus looked at Emma.
“Your mother’s death.””
Emma went still.
Lucas looked at Marcus.
“Explain.””
“Your mother discovered financial crimes inside Hale Global.””
Richard interrupted.
“She discovered your father’s crimes.””
Marcus turned.
“Liar.””
Richard smiled.
“You still protect him.””
Marcus stepped forward.
“I protect the truth.””
Lucas raised his hand.
“Enough.””
He looked at Marcus.
“What did my mother find?””
Marcus hesitated.
Then:
“She found that someone had been moving company assets into secret accounts.””
Lucas looked at Richard.
“And you?””
Richard said nothing.
Marcus continued.
“Your mother was going to expose them.””
“What happened?””
“She died before she could.””
Lucas closed his eyes.
The same story.
The same missing pieces.
But now he understood something.
Everyone had been fighting over the truth.
And everyone believed they were protecting him.
Marcus continued.
“After your mother died, your father became obsessed with finding out who was responsible.””
Lucas looked at the phone.
“And then?””
“He found out.””
“Richard?””
Marcus nodded.
“And Samuel.””
Richard’s expression hardened.
“You have no proof.””
Marcus looked at him.
“Yes, I do.””
Everyone turned.
Marcus reached into his jacket.
He removed a small envelope.
Lucas stared.
“What is that?””
“Something your father gave me before he disappeared.””
Lucas froze.
“Disappeared?””
Marcus nodded.
“He wasn’t dead.””
Nobody spoke.
“He wanted everyone to believe he died.””
Lucas felt dizzy.
“Why?””
“Because he discovered someone planned to kill him.””
Emma whispered:
“So he went into hiding.””
Marcus nodded.
“Yes.””
Lucas looked at the phone.
“My father has been alive all this time?””
“Yes.””
“Where?””
Marcus looked at him.
“I don’t know.””
Richard suddenly laughed.
Everyone turned.
“You really don’t understand what Daniel did.””
Lucas stared.
“What?””
Richard shook his head.
“Your father didn’t disappear to protect you.””
“Then why?””
Richard’s smile faded.
“Because he was protecting himself.””
Before Lucas could respond, Emma’s phone rang.
She looked down.
Her face changed.
“What is it?””
She didn’t answer.
Lucas noticed.
“Emma?””
She slowly handed him the phone.
A message was displayed.
One sentence.
*Stop looking for the truth, or Lily disappears.*
Lucas’s entire body went cold.
The world narrowed.
His daughter.
His little girl.
Marcus immediately reached for his weapon.
“Where is she?””
Emma shook her head.
“I don’t know.””
Lucas looked at Richard.
Then Marcus.
Then the phone.
His voice became dangerously calm.
“Who sent this?””
Nobody answered.
Then another message arrived.
A photo.
Lucas opened it.
His heart stopped.
It was Lily.
Standing inside the mansion.
Crying.
And behind her was a person Lucas recognized.
A person he trusted.
A person who had held Lily’s hand countless times.
A person who had been welcomed into his home.
The message appeared beneath the image.
*You should have listened when I told you to trust the right person.*
Lucas stared at the screen.
Then whispered the name.
“Vanessa.””
Emma shook her head.
“No.””
Lucas looked at her.
“What?””
Emma’s face was pale.
“That’s not Vanessa.””
Lucas looked closer at the picture.
At the person standing behind Lily.
At the shape.
The clothing.
The familiar posture.
Then he realized.
Emma was right.
It wasn’t Vanessa.
It was someone else.
Someone older.
Someone who had always been part of his family.
Lucas felt his blood turn cold.
Because the person standing behind his daughter…
May you like
was his own uncle.
The man everyone believed had been dead for twelve years.
