Chapter 7: The Woman Who Knew Too Much
The message stayed on my screen.
*Ask Linda why she helped Emily disappear.*
I read it once.
Then again.
Then a third time.
Every time, the words looked different.
Because my mind kept trying to reject them.
Linda?
The woman who had held my daughter after Emily died.
The woman who cried beside me at the funeral.
The woman who had helped me learn how to raise a little girl alone.
The woman who had just helped me uncover Amanda’s lies.
The idea that she was hiding something felt impossible.
But then again…
So had Amanda.
“Daniel?””
Linda’s voice pulled me back.
I looked up.
She was watching me carefully.
“You got another message.””
It wasn’t a question.
She already knew.
I slowly turned the phone toward her.
Her face changed.
Not confusion.
Recognition.
That was the moment my heart sank.
“You know who sent it.””
Linda didn’t answer.
I stood.
“Who?””
“Daniel…”
“Who sent that message?””
She looked toward the room where Sophie was sleeping.
Then lowered her voice.
“Not here.””
I stared at her.
“My daughter is asleep in the next room, and apparently everyone in my life has been keeping secrets from me. I think I deserve the truth.””
Linda closed her eyes.
“You do.””
“Then tell me.””
She sat down slowly.
“I didn’t help Emily disappear.””
The way she said it bothered me.
Because she didn’t say, “I didn’t know anything.””
She said something much more specific.
I felt cold.
“What did you help her do?””
Linda looked at the envelope in my hand.
“She asked me to protect something.””
“What?””
“You.””
I laughed quietly.
“Everyone keeps saying they were protecting me.””
“I know.””
“But somehow I’m always the last person to know.””
Linda looked hurt.
But she didn’t argue.
Because she knew it was true.
“She came to me three days before the accident,” Linda said.
I froze.
“Three days?””
“Yes.””
“You told me she was visiting you because she missed you.””
“She was.””
“Then why didn’t you tell me?””
“Because she made me promise.””
I looked away.
I hated that answer.
But I hated even more that I understood it.
Emily had always been careful.
She didn’t make decisions emotionally.
If she hid something, there had to be a reason.
“What did she say?””
Linda looked at the envelope.
“She said she had proof.””
“Proof of what?””
“That someone was trying to take Sophie.””
My hands tightened.
“Ethan?””
Linda shook her head.
“No.””
That surprised me.
“Then who?””
She hesitated.
“Someone closer.””
The room felt colder.
“Who?””
Linda looked down.
“She never told me the name.””
I stared.
“That doesn’t make sense.””
“She didn’t trust phones.””
“She could have told you in person.””
“She was afraid someone was following her.””
I looked toward the window.
The curtains were closed.
But suddenly I wondered how many times someone had watched this house.
“How did she die?””
Linda looked at me.
“I don’t know.””
“You said it wasn’t simple.””
“It wasn’t.””
“Then tell me what you know.””
Linda took a deep breath.
“The night before the accident, Emily called me.””
“What did she say?””
“She said if anything happened, I needed to find you.””
“Find me?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
“Because she believed someone would try to control the story.””
I felt my stomach tighten.
“And they did.””
Linda nodded.
“The police report said she lost control of the car because of bad weather.””
I remembered that day.
The rain.
The phone call.
The officer standing at my door.
The words tragic accident.
“But?””
Linda looked at me.
“But Emily’s car had been checked two weeks earlier.””
My breathing stopped.
“What?””
“She had taken it to a mechanic.””
“Why?””
“Because she thought something was wrong.””
I stood.
“Did she tell me?””
Linda looked away.
“No.””
A painful silence followed.
Emily had kept secrets.
Not because she didn’t love me.
Because she was scared.
And now I had to live with the fact that I never knew.
“Why didn’t anyone investigate?””
Linda’s eyes filled with anger.
“Because everyone believed the story they were given.””
“Who gave them the story?””
“I don’t know.””
“But you suspect someone.””
She didn’t answer.
I stepped closer.
“Linda.””
She whispered:
“Your father’s old attorney.””
I frowned.
“My father’s attorney?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
“Because after your father died, he was the person managing the family trust.””
I felt a chill.
“The trust.””
Linda nodded.
“The same trust Sophie inherited.””
I looked at the envelope.
Everything kept coming back to that.
Money.
Control.
Power.
But Emily’s warning had said something else.
The real target was my daughter.
I picked up the envelope.
“Why did Emily leave this for me?””
Linda swallowed.
“Because she wanted you to know the truth if she couldn’t tell you herself.””
I broke the seal.
Inside was a small flash drive.
No letter.
No explanation.
Just a label.
*For Daniel.*
I plugged it into Linda’s laptop.
One file appeared.
A video.
Created two days before Emily died.
My hands shook as I pressed play.
The screen showed Emily sitting at our kitchen table.
My kitchen.
Our home.
She looked tired.
Scared.
But she was smiling.
That smile almost destroyed me.
“Daniel,” she said.
Hearing her voice after so long made my chest hurt.
“If you’re watching this, then I wasn’t able to explain everything.””
I covered my mouth.
Emily looked directly into the camera.
“I need you to listen carefully.””
She paused.
“Sophie is safe because you are her father.””
Tears formed in my eyes.
“But there are people who believe they can control her future by controlling you.””
She looked down.
“I tried to stop them.””
A tear fell from her face.
“But I made one mistake.””
I leaned closer.
“What mistake?””
Emily continued.
“I trusted the wrong person.””
My heart stopped.
She wasn’t talking about Amanda.
Amanda wasn’t in her life yet.
Not like that.
She was talking about someone before Amanda.
Someone who had been there earlier.
Someone who had access.
Emily took a breath.
“The person helping me find the truth was the same person who betrayed me.””
The video paused.
A shadow moved behind her.
Someone walking past the kitchen doorway.
I froze.
Emily looked toward the hallway.
Her expression changed.
Fear.
Real fear.
Then the video ended.
The room went silent.
I stared at the screen.
“Who was behind her?””
Linda looked terrified.
“I don’t know.””
But then something caught my eye.
The video file had information attached.
The last person who edited it.
A name.
My heart stopped.
Because it wasn’t Ethan.
It wasn’t Amanda.
It wasn’t Linda.
It was someone else.
Someone I had trusted for years.
I turned the laptop toward Linda.
She looked at the name.
Then covered her mouth.
“No.””
“What?””
“That’s impossible.””
I stared.
“Who is it?””
Linda couldn’t answer.
So I read it myself.
*Thomas Carter.*
My father.
I stepped back.
“That can’t be right.””
Linda looked at me.
“Daniel…”
“My father has been dead for six years.””
She didn’t speak.
The silence was unbearable.
I looked at the screen again.
The file information.
The name.
The impossible truth.
Then the laptop suddenly went black.
The power light turned off.
Linda stood.
“What happened?””
I didn’t answer.
Because from outside the house…
I heard a car door close.
Someone had arrived.
Then three slow knocks came from the front door.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Sophie woke up upstairs.
“Daddy?””
I looked toward the hallway.
Linda whispered:
“Daniel…”
I looked at her.
Her face had gone completely white.
“Who is it?””
She stepped backward.
May you like
And whispered the name I never expected to hear.
“Thomas.””
