Chapter 4 - The House Full of Lies
My childhood home had not changed.
That was the first thing that disturbed me.
Same iron gates.
Same oak trees.
Same stone steps.
Same windows my mother used to decorate every Christmas.
Yet I felt like a stranger walking through it.
My father had died six years earlier.
My mother had died the year before him.
Nathan was still officially missing.
I had inherited everything.
Except the truth.
Maya and Lily waited in the car while I entered the house alone.
I searched my father's study.
Nothing.
Then I remembered something Nathan used to say.
Dad never hid things where adults looked.
He had been twelve when he first taught me how to open the secret compartment behind a bookshelf.
I pulled the third book from the left.
Nothing happened.
The fourth.
Nothing.
The fifth.
A click.
A panel opened.
Inside was a file.
I opened it.
Nathan.
Daniel Cross.
Leonard Mercer.
And Maya Collins.
Her name was there.
Seven years before she had ever met me.
I called her inside.
She read the page.
“This is my father.”
She pointed to another name.
“Ethan, that's Daniel's father.”
I kept reading.
My father had funded a private investigation into a woman named Evelyn Collins.
Maya's mother.
She had worked in a municipal records department.
She had discovered an illegal biometric database.
Then she disappeared.
Maya whispered,
“My mother was killed when I was ten.”
“I know.”
“No.”
She looked at me.
“That's what I believed.”
The file contained photographs.
Evelyn meeting my father.
Evelyn meeting Nathan.
Evelyn handing a child to someone.
That child was Lily.
Maya stared.
“That isn't possible.”
I read the date.
Seven years ago.
The date matched Daniel's disappearance.
“This photo was taken before Lily was born.”
Maya's expression hardened.
“Then who is that baby?”
We searched every page.
Nothing.
Then another photograph.
Evelyn holding a newborn.
The baby's face was visible.
Brown eyes.
Curly dark hair.
The exact features Lily had as a child.
Maya's hands started shaking.
“That's her.”
“But the date—”
“There was a mistake.”
“Maybe.”
“No.”
She looked at me.
“Lily was born three weeks earlier than the official date.”
I stared.
“Why?”
“Because I changed the paperwork.”
“Why?”
“Daniel told me to.”
The house seemed to grow colder.
Maya sat down.
“They told me Lily was born early.”
“Who?”
“The doctor.”
“Which doctor?”
She whispered the name.
I recognized it.
He had once worked for my father.
“He retired years ago.”
“Maybe not.”
We found his address.
He lived outside Chicago.
We drove there immediately.
An old man opened the door.
The moment he saw Maya, he looked terrified.
“Mrs. Collins.”
“You know me.”
“I knew your husband.”
“Where is he?”
The old man shook his head.
“Alive.”
Maya's breath caught.
“Where?”
“I can't tell you.”
“Why?”
“Because the people you are looking for already found me once.”
I stepped forward.
“My name is Ethan Mercer.”
The man's face went pale.
“You shouldn't be here.”
“What did my father do?”
“Your father tried to expose them.”
“Who?”
The doctor closed his eyes.
“Your brother.”
“Nathan?”
“Yes.”
“Is he alive?”
“Yes.”
The room went silent.
Maya whispered,
“Where is Daniel?”
The doctor looked at her.
“Daniel and Nathan were working together.”
“To protect Lily?”
“To protect a lot of people.”
“What happened?”
He sat down.
“Seven years ago, Daniel discovered that someone was using a private network to manipulate identity records. Birth certificates. medical files. employment histories.”
I looked at Maya.
“That explains the photograph.”
The doctor nodded.
“Lily's original birth record was altered.”
“Why?”
“Because someone wanted her to disappear.”
Maya stepped back.
“Why would anyone care about my daughter?”
The doctor looked at me.
“Because Lily is not just Daniel's daughter.”
Maya stared.
“What does that mean?”
“She is the legal heir to an account worth nearly nine hundred million dollars.”
Silence.
“What?”
“Daniel's father created it.”
I looked at Maya.
“This isn't about your husband's money.”
“No.”
The doctor shook his head.
“The account was created to finance evidence against the people running the database.”
“Who controls it?”
“Lily.”
“When she's eighteen.”
Maya's face drained.
“Then why are they looking for her now?”
“Because the account contains a private archive.”
“What archive?”
“Names.”
“Whose names?”
“Everyone involved.”
The doctor leaned closer.
“Politicians. judges. executives. police commanders. security contractors.”
A chill moved through me.
“And Daniel?”
“He tried to move the archive.”
“What happened?”
“He was betrayed.”
“By whom?”
The doctor looked at me.
“Someone in your family.”
Before I could ask, a car engine roared outside.
The doctor stood.
“They found you.”
Two black SUVs stopped in the driveway.
I pulled Maya toward the back door.
“Go.”
The doctor shook his head.
“No.”
“We can take you.”
“I'm too old to run.”
He handed Maya a small envelope.
“Give this to Lily when she is old enough.”
Maya's eyes filled.
“What is it?”
“Her birth certificate.”
The back door slammed.
Footsteps entered the house.
I looked at the doctor.
“Who betrayed Nathan?”
He whispered,
“Your father.”
I froze.
Then he added,
“Not willingly.”
Gunfire cracked outside.
Maya screamed.
I pulled her down.
“Stay low.”
We moved through the kitchen.
Lily held my hand.
She was trembling.
“It's okay.”
She looked up.
“You don't sound scared.”
“I am.”
“Then why are you smiling?”
“Because you're with me.”
We escaped through the garage.
Behind us, glass shattered.
We drove until the house disappeared.
Maya finally opened the envelope.
Inside was a birth certificate.
The name of the mother was Maya Collins.
The father was Daniel Cross.
But the date was different.
One year earlier.
Maya looked at me.
“I knew I was right.”
“What?”
“Lily was born early.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“Lily was registered twice.”
The second document had another name.
Lydia Mercer.
I stared.
“Mercer?”
Maya whispered,
“Why would your family register my daughter as a Mercer?”
I didn't know.
Then I remembered something my father used to say when I was young.
Family is not always who shares your blood. Sometimes it is who protects your name.
At the time, I had thought it was sentimental.
Now it sounded like a warning.
That night, Daniel called again.
Maya answered.
“Where are you?”
No response.
Then a man's voice.
Not Daniel.
“Tell Ethan Mercer the truth.”
Maya looked at me.
“What truth?”
The caller said,
“His father did not betray Nathan.”
“Then who did?”
A pause.
“His mother.”
May you like
The call ended.
My entire body went cold.
