Chapter 5: The Man Behind The Lies
The message remained glowing on Victoria’s phone.
*“You failed. Take Noah tonight, or I tell Daniel what you did.””*
Nobody moved.
Not even Victoria.
The rain outside had stopped, but the silence inside the house felt heavier than any storm.
I stared at the words.
Then I looked at Victoria.
“Who is Mark?””
Her face had no color left.
“Daniel…”
“No.””
My voice was calm.
Too calm.
“I’ve spent two years believing my wife was dead.””
Emily looked down.
“I’ve spent months believing the woman I loved was helping raise my son.””
I pointed at the phone.
“And now I find out both of you have been hiding something from me.””
Victoria’s eyes filled with tears.
“I was trying to protect you.””
I almost laughed.
“Everyone keeps saying that.””
I picked up her phone.
She didn’t stop me.
That scared me.
Because Victoria had always fought for control.
She argued.
She explained.
She convinced.
But now?
She looked defeated.
Like whatever was coming next was worse than anything I already knew.
“Call him.””
Emily immediately looked at me.
“Daniel, don’t.””
I turned toward her.
“Why?””
“Because if he knows you have me here—”
“He already knows.””
Emily went silent.
I held up the phone.
“He sent this message because he knows.””
Rachel stepped closer.
“She’s right. If Mark has been watching Victoria, he may already know everyone is together.””
“Then we stop hiding.””
I looked at Victoria.
“You’re going to tell me everything.””
She lowered her head.
“I can’t.””
My jaw tightened.
“You can’t?””
“I won’t.””
That answer surprised me.
After everything.
After the lies.
After the secrets.
She still had something she was protecting.
Emily noticed too.
“Victoria, you don’t have to protect him anymore.””
Victoria looked at her.
“You don’t understand.””
Emily’s expression hardened.
“No. I understand exactly.””
“You don’t know what he’s capable of.””
The room became quiet.
Because that was the first honest thing Victoria had said all night.
I looked at her.
“Then tell me.””
She sat down slowly.
For the first time since I met her, she looked small.
Not dangerous.
Not confident.
Just afraid.
“Mark was my husband.””
I waited.
“You already knew that.””
Victoria nodded.
“But you don’t know the rest.””
She looked at Noah.
“I met him when I was twenty-two.””
Her voice became quieter.
“He wasn’t like this in the beginning.””
I said nothing.
People always said that.
Nobody started a story by saying, “I fell in love with someone terrible.””
They always started with the good parts.
The promises.
The smiles.
The moments before everything changed.
“He was charming,” Victoria continued.
“He made me feel like I was the only person in the world.””
She swallowed.
“Then he started controlling everything.””
Emily crossed her arms.
“Your money?””
Victoria shook her head.
“No.””
“Your friends?””
“Yes.””
“Your choices?””
Victoria nodded.
“All of it.””
I looked at her.
“Then why did you stay?””
Her eyes moved to mine.
“Because I was afraid.””
That answer hit differently.
Because I knew fear.
I had lived with it after losing Emily.
But this was different.
Victoria continued.
“When I tried to leave, he threatened me.””
“With what?””
She looked down.
“With Noah.””
My blood froze.
“What?””
Victoria looked at Emily.
“He found out Emily was pregnant.””
Emily’s expression changed.
“He knew?””
Victoria nodded.
“He knew before you did.””
I looked at Emily.
She looked sick.
“Why?””
Victoria took a shaky breath.
“Because Mark believed the baby was his.””
Nobody spoke.
I felt my stomach twist.
“That’s impossible.””
Victoria nodded.
“It is.””
“Then why?””
“Because Mark was obsessed with Emily.””
Emily closed her eyes.
I looked at her.
“You knew?””
She nodded slowly.
“Not at first.””
Her voice cracked.
“But after the accident, I remembered things.””
“What things?””
Emily looked at me.
“The way Mark looked at me.””
I felt anger rising.
“You’re saying your attacker was someone you knew?””
Emily nodded.
“He was someone from my past.””
The words hit harder.
“Explain.””
She looked at Noah.
Then at me.
“Before I met you, I knew Mark.””
I felt like the ground moved beneath me.
“What?””
“Daniel, it was years before.””
“How many?””
“Almost five.””
I stared at her.
“You never told me.””
“Because I thought he was gone.””
“Gone?””
Emily nodded.
“He disappeared after I rejected him.””
Victoria looked at her.
“He didn’t disappear.””
Emily looked away.
“No.””
Her voice became almost a whisper.
“He waited.””
A cold feeling moved through me.
“He waited for what?””
Emily looked at Victoria.
“For me to have something he wanted.””
My eyes went to Noah.
“No.””
Emily’s eyes filled with tears.
“He thought if he couldn’t have me…”
She paused.
“…he could have my child.””
The room felt impossible.
Too much.
Too many secrets.
Too many years stolen.
I looked at Victoria.
“You helped him?””
Her face broke.
“No.””
“Then why are you here?””
She looked at the floor.
“Because Mark forced me.””
“How?””
“He knew about my past.””
She wiped her face.
“He knew I had information about Emily.””
Rachel interrupted.
“He used Victoria to get close to Daniel.””
I looked at her.
“How do you know?””
“Because I found messages.””
Victoria looked up.
“You went through my phone?””
Rachel’s expression didn’t change.
“I found them two years ago.””
My eyes narrowed.
“What messages?””
Rachel reached into her bag.
She pulled out printed pages.
Texts.
Between Victoria and Mark.
My hands tightened as I read.
*Mark: Stay close to Daniel.*
*Victoria: I don’t want to do this anymore.*
*Mark: Then you know what happens to the boy.*
I stopped reading.
My eyes moved to Noah.
The boy.
Not Noah.
Not my son.
To Mark, he was just a target.
A possession.
I looked at Victoria.
“You were supposed to take him tonight.””
She started crying.
“Yes.””
The answer was barely audible.
Emily stepped forward.
“Why didn’t you?””
Victoria looked at Noah.
“Because I started loving him.””
Nobody spoke.
Victoria wiped her tears.
“At first, I was pretending.””
She looked at me.
“I told myself I was just doing what I had to do.””
Her voice shook.
“But then he started calling me Victoria.””
She smiled sadly.
“Then one day he called me Vicky.””
Noah looked up.
The nickname.
Something small.
Something innocent.
“I realized I couldn’t do it.””
I looked away.
Because part of me wanted to hate her.
But part of me saw someone who had been trapped.
And I hated that both things could be true.
My phone suddenly buzzed.
A message.
Unknown number.
Everyone froze.
I opened it.
One photo.
A picture taken from outside my house.
My blood ran cold.
It showed us.
Inside.
Right now.
The message below said:
*“You should have listened to Victoria.””*
Then another message appeared.
*“You have ten minutes before I come get my son.””*
Emily grabbed my arm.
“Daniel.””
I looked at her.
Her face was terrified.
“Mark thinks Noah is his.””
I looked at Victoria.
Then Rachel.
Then my son.
“What do we do?””
Nobody answered.
Because before anyone could speak…
The lights went out.
The house became completely dark.
And from somewhere outside the front door…
A man’s voice whispered:
“Daniel.””
A pause.
Then:
“Open the door.””
My heart stopped.
Because I knew that voice.
I had heard it before.
Not in person.
In Emily’s old recordings.
May you like
The voice she said she was afraid of.
Mark.
