Chapter 4 - The Woman in Jack’s Office Knew My Father’s Secret Before I Did
Thomas survived.
But he refused to speak.
Doctors said his injuries were serious.
Jack said nothing.
For two days, he barely left the hospital.
I stayed at work.
Pretending everything was normal.
It wasn't.
Every hallway felt watched.
Every elevator made me nervous.
Every stranger looked suspicious.
Then I found something on my desk.
A handwritten note.
YOU SHOULD HAVE STAYED UNEMPLOYED.
I showed it to Jack.
His face hardened.
“You're not going back to the office.”
“I have a job.”
“Not anymore.”
“You can't fire me because someone threatened me.”
“I can put you on paid leave.”
“No.”
“Emily.”
“No.”
He stared.
“You're impossible.”
“You hired me because I was good at my job.”
“I hired you because I needed someone honest.”
“Then let me work.”
He looked at me for several seconds.
“Fine.”
The next morning, the company's chief legal officer, Victoria Hale, requested a private meeting with me.
She was elegant.
Brilliant.
Respected.
And somehow, she seemed too calm.
“Jack trusts you.”
I sat across from her.
“I don't know about that.”
“He does.”
“Why?”
“Because he promoted you before you completed your first week.”
That surprised me.
“Promoted?”
She slid a folder across the desk.
Senior strategic advisor.
A huge salary increase.
I stared.
“This is absurd.”
“He doesn't make ordinary decisions.”
I closed the folder.
“Why are you telling me?”
Victoria leaned back.
“Because Jack has never looked at anyone the way he looks at you.”
My heart skipped.
“What?”
She smiled.
“Be careful, Emily.”
“Of what?”
“Becoming important to him.”
I left confused.
That night, I found Jack on the rooftop.
Boston glittered below.
“You're avoiding me.”
He didn't turn.
“I'm avoiding everyone.”
“Why?”
“I don't know who betrayed me.”
“You think it's Victoria.”
He looked at me.
“Why do you say that?”
“She warned me about you.”
“What exactly?”
“That becoming important to you is dangerous.”
He looked away.
“She’s right.”
I stepped closer.
“Are you dangerous?”
“Yes.”
The answer was immediate.
“But not to you.”
Something in his voice made me believe him.
Then the rooftop door opened.
Victoria appeared.
“Jack.”
He turned.
“We found something.”
She held up a file.
“Your father's old account has been activated.”
Jack took it.
His face changed.
“What?”
“Someone accessed it last night.”
“Where?”
“Northbridge headquarters.”
He looked at me.
Then at Victoria.
“Who has access?”
“Only four people.”
“Names.”
Victoria hesitated.
“Me.”
“Thomas.”
“Thomas.”
“Your mother.”
“She's in Europe.”
“And you.”
Victoria nodded.
Jack looked at me.
“I've never had access.”
Jack's expression became grim.
“My father left an emergency account.”
“What kind?”
“Blackmail.”
The word landed hard.
“All the secrets of the people who threatened the Whitmore family.”
“And someone just accessed it.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Victoria spoke quietly.
“To erase evidence.”
We rushed to the archive room.
The security system had been disabled for eleven minutes.
Exactly long enough.
Someone had removed one file.
My father's.
Then Jack noticed something else.
One fingerprint.
Victoria's.
She went pale.
“I didn't take it.”
Jack said nothing.
“Jack, you know me.”
He did.
That was the problem.
He trusted her.
I remembered the recording.
The person helping Victor was someone Jack trusted more than anyone.
Maybe the answer had been in front of him all along.
Victoria looked at me.
“You think it's me.”
“I don't know.”
Jack closed the archive drawer.
“Neither do I.”
Victoria's expression broke.
“I've protected your family for fifteen years.”
Jack nodded.
“I know.”
“Then believe me.”
He stepped closer.
“I want to.”
She looked down.
Then whispered:
“Your father's file was never the target.”
Jack stopped.
“What?”
“The person who accessed it was looking for something else.”
“What?”
Victoria looked at me.
“Emily.”
My stomach dropped.
“Me?”
“Your identity.”
“Why?”
“Because the original Carter records list you under another surname.”
I stared.
“What?”
Jack grabbed the file.
Inside was my birth certificate.
The surname wasn't Carter.
It was Whitmore.
My heart stopped.
Jack's face went blank.
“What does this mean?”
Victoria swallowed.
“Emily Carter was not your original name.”
I stared at the page.
“My mother never told me.”
Jack looked at me.
And for the first time since I had met him, he looked genuinely shaken.
The document showed:
Mother: Helen Carter.
Father: Daniel Whitmore.
My knees weakened.
“Daniel Whitmore?”
Jack whispered.
“My father's brother.”
I stared at him.
That meant my father wasn't simply an employee.
He was family.
Jack and I were connected by blood.
Not romantically.
Not in the way the growing feelings between us had suggested.
The realization was devastating.
I stepped away from him.
“I need to leave.”
“Emily.”
“No.”
He reached for me.
I pulled back.
“Don't.”
My voice broke.
“You knew something was wrong with my family.”
“I didn't know this.”
“You knew enough.”
“Yes.”
“You should have told me.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“I don't need another person deciding what I can handle.”
I walked away.
Behind me, Victoria whispered:
“Jack.”
He didn't answer.
That night, he found me packing.
“You're leaving.”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Anywhere.”
“You can't go alone.”
“I've been alone my entire life.”
“Not anymore.”
I looked at him.
“That's exactly what scares me.”
He said nothing.
Then my phone rang.
It was my mother.
She was crying.
“Emily, please.”
“What?”
“There is something I should have told you.”
“What?”
“Your father didn't die in an accident.”
I closed my eyes.
“I know.”
“No.”
Her voice trembled.
“He didn't die when you were twelve.”
I froze.
“What?”
“He survived.”
My breath stopped.
“Mom.”
“He lived for three more years.”
“Where?”
May you like
She whispered:
“With the Whitmores.”
Related Stories
