Chapter 4 - The Truth My Father Hid for Twenty Years
We found my father in an abandoned church.
Alive.
Weak.
Older than I remembered.
But alive.
He stood at the altar when I entered.
He looked at me.
“My little girl.”
I wanted to hug him.
Instead, I slapped him.
The sound echoed through the church.
He closed his eyes.
“You deserved that.”
“You let me believe Mom was dead.”
“Yes.”
“You let me think you were alone.”
“Yes.”
“You lied about Noah.”
“Yes.”
“You lied about everything.”
He nodded.
“I know.”
I started crying.
“Why?”
“Because I thought secrets would keep you alive.”
“They almost killed me.”
He looked at Noah.
“I see you brought him.”
“He saved me.”
My father smiled sadly.
“I knew he would.”
Noah stepped forward.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“You told her I couldn't be trusted.”
“I needed you to protect her without her trusting you completely.”
Noah's expression hardened.
“That makes no sense.”
“It made sense twenty years ago.”
My father sat.
He told us everything.
He had worked for Gabriel.
Not willingly.
He had been forced to create the financial records Gabriel used to control politicians, police officials, judges, and businessmen.
My father secretly copied everything.
He planned to expose Gabriel.
But Gabriel discovered the betrayal.
He threatened my mother.
So my father staged her death.
Then he hid her.
Years later, Gabriel came after Noah's family.
Noah's brother Adrian disappeared.
My father rescued Noah after the shooting.
But the cost was enormous.
My father had to disappear too.
“Why come back now?”
“Because Gabriel found the final ledger.”
“Where is it?”
My father looked at me.
“You have it.”
I stared.
“The patterns.”
“Yes.”
“That's the ledger?”
“No.”
“What then?”
“The patterns tell you where the ledger is hidden.”
Noah frowned.
“Where?”
My father looked at the tailoring needles on his table.
“Inside the walls of your shop.”
We returned.
The police were there.
My father showed them proof that the shop had been under surveillance.
But before we could search, Tessa Moretti appeared.
Noah's aunt.
She had always been kind to me.
She hugged me.
“I am so glad you're safe.”
Then my father froze.
“No.”
Tessa smiled.
“What?”
“You.”
She laughed.
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
My father whispered:
“You were Gabriel's daughter.”
Noah turned.
“Tessa?”
Her smile disappeared.
She pulled a gun.
Everything happened at once.
Noah moved.
My father shoved me aside.
A shot exploded.
My father fell.
“Dad!”
I dropped beside him.
Blood spread across his shirt.
Tessa ran.
Noah chased her.
I pressed both hands against my father's wound.
“Stay with me.”
He looked at me.
“Find the third wall.”
“What?”
“The wall with the gold thread.”
I stared.
“Which wall?”
He smiled weakly.
“You'll know.”
His eyes closed.
I screamed for help.
He survived.
But barely.
We found the wall that night.
Behind a section of decorative fabric was a hidden steel compartment.
Inside was the ledger.
And another file.
Noah opened it.
His face went white.
“What?”
He handed it to me.
It contained photographs of Gabriel.
And Adrian.
Noah's missing brother.
Alive.
Working beside Gabriel.
My stomach turned.
“Your brother.”
Noah stared at the photographs.
“He was with him.”
“But why?”
We turned the page.
A confession.
Adrian had been forced to work with Gabriel.
His daughter had been kidnapped.
Gabriel threatened to kill her.
Noah lowered the papers.
“He wasn't a traitor.”
He looked at me.
“He was a hostage.”
Then another photograph fell from the file.
A little girl.
Maybe twelve years old.
She looked directly at the camera.
On the back was written:
Adrian's daughter.
And below it:
Maya Bell.
My heart stopped.
“No.”
Noah looked at me.
“That's your name.”
I shook my head.
“Coincidence.”
“No.”
My father had always called me Maya Bell.
Never Maya Bellamy.
My legal surname had come from my father's last name.
But Bell was my mother's family name.
The girl in the photo shared my exact face.
Noah stared.
“You were born a Bell.”
I looked at my father in the hospital bed.
“What does that mean?”
May you like
He opened his eyes.
“That's your sister.”
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