Chapter 3: The Voice Behind the Phone
The phone kept ringing.
Nobody moved.
Not Evelyn.
Not Norah.
Not me.
The name glowing on the screen felt impossible.
*Anna.*
Seven years of grief had taught me one thing.
You could survive losing someone.
But you could never prepare yourself for the possibility that you had been mourning a lie.
Evelyn’s hand shook as the phone continued vibrating against the countertop.
I stepped closer.
“Answer it.””
Her eyes snapped toward me.
“No.””
The word came out almost like a warning.
Not a refusal.
A warning.
I looked at the phone again.
“She’s calling you.””
Evelyn swallowed.
“You don’t understand.””
“Then explain.””
“I can’t.””
The ringing stopped.
For one second, the room was silent again.
Then the phone rang.
This time, I grabbed it.
Evelyn reached for my wrist.
“Don’t.””
I looked at her hand.
Then at her face.
“Why?””
She had no answer.
That was the answer.
I picked up the phone.
“Hello?””
Nothing.
Only breathing.
A faint sound.
Like someone trying not to cry.
My grip tightened.
“Who is this?””
The silence lasted three seconds.
Then a voice spoke.
A voice I had spent years trying to forget.
A voice I had heard in every dream and every memory.
“Marco?””
The world tilted.
I closed my eyes.
Because even after seven years, I knew that voice.
I knew the slight tremble at the end of my name.
I knew the way she said it when she was afraid.
“Anna?””
Behind me, Evelyn whispered something.
I didn’t hear it.
I heard only the woman on the phone.
“Marco, listen to me.””
My throat tightened.
“Where are you?””
A pause.
Then:
“I don’t have much time.””
The words sent a cold feeling through my entire body.
“Where are you?””
“Don’t trust Evelyn.””
I looked at the woman standing across from me.
Her face had gone completely pale.
“What happened to you?””
Anna’s breathing changed.
Like she was crying silently.
“I tried to tell you.””
“Tell me what?””
“About Lily.””
My eyes moved toward the doorway.
The little girl was standing there, holding her stuffed rabbit.
Listening.
Waiting.
Anna continued.
“She’s your daughter.””
I closed my eyes.
Even though I already knew.
Hearing it from her made it real.
“Why didn’t you tell me?””
My voice broke slightly.
Not from anger.
From pain.
“Why did you let me believe you were dead?””
There was silence.
Then Anna whispered:
“Because someone wanted me gone.””
My eyes opened.
“Who?””
The line crackled.
“Marco, you need to leave the house.””
“What?””
“Take Lily and leave.””
I looked around the kitchen.
At the walls.
At the cameras.
At the place where I had lived for years believing I was safe.
“Why?””
“Because if Evelyn knows I called you, she’ll—”
The call suddenly cut.
“Anna?””
Nothing.
I looked at the screen.
Disconnected.
I immediately called back.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
I lowered the phone slowly.
Behind me, Evelyn spoke.
“You should have listened to her.””
I turned.
“What?””
She looked exhausted.
Not guilty.
Not innocent.
Just tired.
“You should leave.””
I stared at her.
“You’re telling me to leave my own house?””
“I’m telling you that you don’t know what you’re dealing with.””
I stepped closer.
“Then tell me.””
She looked away.
“It's too late.””
“No.””
My voice hardened.
“You don’t get to say that.””
For six years, Evelyn had controlled everything in this house.
The schedules.
The employees.
The expenses.
She had walked through these rooms like she owned them.
But now she looked like someone trapped inside them.
“What happened seven years ago?”” I asked.
She didn’t answer.
“Where was Anna?””
Silence.
“Why did you hide Lily?””
Her eyes moved toward the little girl.
And something strange happened.
For the first time, Evelyn looked at Lily differently.
Not with irritation.
Not with coldness.
With fear.
“She was never supposed to stay here.””
Lily hugged her rabbit tighter.
I noticed.
The child moved closer to me.
Not Evelyn.
That told me enough.
“Who brought her here?””
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“I did.””
The confession landed quietly.
But it shook the room.
Norah gasped.
I stared at her.
“You?””
She nodded.
“After Anna disappeared.””
“Disappeared?””
“You think I killed her?””
I didn’t answer.
Because I didn’t know.
And because part of me was afraid the answer would be yes.
Evelyn looked at the floor.
“Anna came to me seven years ago.””
“Why?””
“She was scared.””
“Of what?””
“She found out something about your family.””
I frowned.
“My family?””
Evelyn nodded.
“She discovered someone had been moving money from your private accounts.””
I thought about the missing $8,400.
“No.””
Her eyes met mine.
“That wasn’t the first time.””
A chill moved through me.
“What are you saying?””
“I’m saying someone had been stealing from you long before you noticed.””
I looked at the documents on the table.
The invoices.
The transfers.
The signatures.
“Who?””
Evelyn hesitated.
Then said:
“Your brother.””
The name hit harder than I expected.
My older brother, Vincent.
The person who had stood beside me at Anna’s funeral.
The person who had told me to stop searching because “some things had no answers.””
“No.””
Evelyn nodded slowly.
“Yes.””
“That’s impossible.””
“Is it?””
I didn’t respond.
Because suddenly, too many things felt strange.
Vincent had known Anna was investigating something before she died.
He had told me she was stressed.
Distracted.
Unstable.
He had convinced me that the accident was simply bad luck.
“What does Vincent have to do with Lily?””
Evelyn’s face tightened.
“Everything.””
The kitchen seemed smaller.
“Explain.””
She walked toward the table and picked up the old photograph.
“Anna found out Lily existed before anyone else did.””
I looked at the picture.
“My daughter.””
“Yes.””
“Why didn’t she tell me?””
“Because she wanted proof first.””
“Proof of what?””
“That Lily was safe.””
My jaw tightened.
“Safe from who?””
Evelyn looked at the hallway.
Then at the security camera above the kitchen entrance.
Her voice dropped.
“From people who would do anything to keep the truth buried.””
I followed her gaze.
The camera.
“Are you saying someone is watching us?””
Evelyn didn’t answer.
She didn’t need to.
Norah suddenly gasped.
“Mr. Moretti.””
I turned.
She was pointing toward the security monitor near the kitchen office.
The screen showed the hallway outside.
A man was standing there.
Watching.
He wasn’t supposed to be inside.
I knew every employee who worked in the house.
I knew every security guard.
This man was not one of them.
The screen flickered.
Then the image disappeared.
The monitor went black.
I looked at Evelyn.
“Who is that?””
She looked terrified.
“Vincent.””
The name barely left her mouth.
A sound came from upstairs.
A door closing.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Someone was inside the house.
Someone who had been listening.
Lily grabbed my hand.
Her fingers were tiny.
Cold.
“Daddy?””
I looked down.
“Yes?””
Her voice was barely a whisper.
“Is the bad man here?””
My heart stopped.
“What bad man?””
She looked toward the ceiling.
“The man Mommy told me to hide from.””
I felt every muscle in my body tense.
“What man, Lily?””
She squeezed my hand.
“The one who came to our house before Mommy disappeared.””
I looked at Evelyn.
Then at the stairs.
Then at the dark hallway leading upstairs.
Because suddenly I understood something.
The missing money.
The hidden child.
The fake death.
They were not separate secrets.
They were pieces of the same story.
And somewhere inside my house was the person who had spent seven years making sure I never learned the truth.
Then my phone buzzed.
A message.
Unknown number.
One sentence.
May you like
My blood went cold.
*If you want to know what happened to Anna, come upstairs alone.*
