Chapter 7: The Voice From The Past
The phone kept ringing.
Nobody moved.
The old hospital hallway seemed to hold its breath, waiting for someone to answer.
The screen glowed in the darkness.
*VICTORIA HAYES.*
My name.
My phone wasn’t ringing.
The old hospital phone was.
A phone that should have been disconnected years ago.
A phone that should not have had power.
A phone that someone had turned on specifically for this moment.
I stared at it.
My heart was pounding so loudly I could barely hear anything else.
“Don’t answer it,” Daniel said.
His voice was low.
Serious.
I turned toward him.
“Why?””
He looked at the phone.
“Because whoever is calling wants you to.””
“That doesn’t answer my question.””
Daniel didn’t respond.
And once again, his silence told me there was something he wasn’t saying.
I stepped forward.
“Victoria,” my mother whispered.
I looked back.
She was crying.
“Please.””
That word stopped me.
Not because I trusted her.
I didn’t know if I ever could again.
But because I saw something in her face.
Fear.
Real fear.
“Mom,” I said quietly.
She shook her head.
“You don’t understand who you’re dealing with.””
I looked at the phone.
Then at her.
“Neither did you.””
The words hurt her.
But they were true.
Everyone in my life had underestimated the damage they were causing because they believed they were controlling the outcome.
They thought they were protecting me.
Instead, they stole years from me.
Years from Jayden.
I picked up the phone.
“Hello?””
For several seconds, there was nothing.
Only static.
Then a voice.
An old voice.
A familiar voice.
A voice I had not heard in five years.
“Hello, Victoria.””
My blood turned cold.
Because I knew that voice.
Everyone in the room saw it on my face.
Daniel whispered:
“No.””
I couldn’t speak.
The person on the other end continued.
“You always were stubborn.””
My hand tightened around the phone.
“Dad?””
Silence.
Then a soft laugh.
“No.””
The voice changed.
Not much.
But enough.
Enough for me to understand.
It wasn’t my father.
It was someone pretending.
Someone who knew exactly what my father sounded like.
“Who are you?””
The voice didn’t answer.
Instead, it said:
“You finally found him.””
I looked at Jayden.
He was staring at the phone.
“How do you know?””
A pause.
Then:
“Because I helped you find him.””
My stomach dropped.
“What?””
“You wanted the truth.””
The voice became colder.
“So I gave it to you.””
I looked around the room.
Everyone was listening.
Everyone was terrified.
“You sent the messages?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
A quiet laugh.
“Because secrets rot people from the inside.””
I felt anger rising.
“You destroyed my life.””
“No.””
The voice became sharp.
“Your family destroyed your life.””
The words hurt because they were close to the truth.
Too close.
“Who are you?””
Another pause.
Then:
“The person who tried to save Jayden.””
My eyes moved to Amelia.
Then Evelyn.
Then Daniel.
Nobody spoke.
“You’re Rebecca.””
The silence after that confirmed everything.
I didn’t need an answer.
I knew.
The woman who erased the records.
The woman who disappeared.
The woman everyone thought was dead.
She was alive.
And she was on the phone.
“Where are you?””
Rebecca laughed softly.
“Still trying to find things before you understand them.””
“I want answers.””
“You always did.””
My anger exploded.
“You took my son.””
“No.””
The answer came immediately.
“I protected him.””
I felt sick.
“Protected him?””
“Yes.””
“You hid a child from his mother.””
“I hid him from people who wanted him gone.””
I looked at Jayden.
My heart broke.
Because part of me hated that there might be truth mixed with the cruelty.
“Where is my father?””
The phone went silent.
Then Rebecca said:
“Dead.””
I closed my eyes.
“I know that.””
“No.””
Her voice became quieter.
“You know he died.””
A pause.
“You don’t know why.””
My eyes opened.
“What are you saying?””
Daniel stepped closer.
“Victoria, don’t listen to her.””
Rebecca heard him.
“Oh, Daniel.””
Her voice changed.
Almost amused.
“You’re still pretending you’re the hero.””
Daniel’s face hardened.
“Leave her alone.””
“You had eight years.””
Silence.
“You could have told her.””
Daniel looked away.
My heart sank.
Rebecca continued.
“You could have admitted you found Jayden.””
I turned toward him.
Daniel closed his eyes.
“Daniel?””
He didn’t answer.
“Tell her.””
Rebecca’s voice was calm.
“Tell her what happened after you found the boy.””
I stared at my husband.
“What happened?””
Daniel looked broken.
“I found him.””
The room went silent.
Jayden froze.
“You found me?””
Daniel nodded.
“Yes.””
“When?””
“Three years ago.””
My breath disappeared.
Three years.
He knew.
Three years ago.
Jayden had already spent five years without me.
And Daniel had found him.
“What did you do?””
Daniel’s eyes filled with tears.
“I tried to take you back.””
Jayden stared at him.
“Then why didn’t you?””
Daniel looked down.
“Because I was too late.””
The words didn’t make sense.
“What does that mean?””
Rebecca answered.
“It means someone had already claimed him.””
I looked at the phone.
“Who?””
The line became quiet.
Then Rebecca said:
“Your father.””
My face went blank.
“My father was dead.””
“Not when he took Jayden.””
A cold silence filled the room.
I felt dizzy.
“No.””
Rebecca continued.
“Richard Hayes didn’t want Jayden hidden forever.””
“Then what did he want?””
“He wanted control.””
The word echoed.
Control.
“Explain.””
“He created a legal arrangement.””
My hands shook.
“He planned to raise Jayden under another name.””
“Why?””
“Because he believed your family needed an heir who could be controlled.””
I felt disgust.
“My child was a business decision.””
“Yes.””
The answer was immediate.
“He never saw Jayden as a person.””
Jayden looked down.
I immediately moved beside him.
“You are not what they made you believe.””
He nodded.
But I knew those words could not erase eight years.
Rebecca continued.
“There’s one thing you need to know.””
“What?””
“Richard wasn’t the only one who signed the papers.””
My eyes moved to Daniel.
Then my mother.
“Who else?””
Rebecca didn’t answer.
Instead, she said:
“Look inside the folder.””
I looked down.
The hospital file.
The one we found in the elevator.
I opened it again.
There were more pages.
Hidden underneath.
My fingers trembled as I pulled them out.
A legal document.
A custody transfer.
My eyes moved down the page.
Then stopped.
Because I saw the signature.
My mother gasped.
Daniel stepped closer.
Evelyn covered her mouth.
And Jayden whispered:
“Mom…”
The signature at the bottom belonged to the person who legally gave him away.
Not my father.
Not Rebecca.
Not the hospital.
It belonged to someone else.
Someone who had told me for eight years that they loved me.
Someone who had held me while I cried.
Someone who had promised they would always protect me.
I looked up slowly.
And the entire room changed.
Because the signature belonged to:
*Daniel Hayes.*
I dropped the paper.
“No.””
Daniel’s face collapsed.
“Victoria, listen—”
But I stepped away.
My husband.
The man who said he tried to save my son.
The man who said he was trapped.
Had signed the document.
Jayden looked at him with tears in his eyes.
“You gave me away.””
Daniel shook his head.
“No.””
His voice broke.
“I was trying to save you.””
Before anyone could say another word, the phone crackled again.
Rebecca’s voice returned.
“Now you understand.””
I grabbed the receiver.
“Why are you doing this?””
Her answer was barely a whisper.
“Because the person you should be afraid of…”
A pause.
“…is not the person you think.””
The line went dead.
Everyone stood frozen.
Then Evelyn looked at the document.
Her face turned pale.
“Victoria…”
I looked at her.
“What?””
She pointed at the signature.
Her hands shaking.
“That isn’t Daniel’s signature.””
I stared.
“What?””
She stepped closer.
“That’s not his.””
The room went silent.
Because if Daniel didn’t sign it…
Then someone had signed his name.
Someone who wanted us to believe he was guilty.
Someone who had been manipulating all of us from the beginning.
And then Jayden noticed something written on the back of the document.
A single sentence.
A warning.
May you like
Written in fresh ink.
*The person who started this is still inside your family.*
