Chapter 9: The Enemy Inside the Family
Anthony’s words echoed through the kitchen.
The person who betrayed Thomas is not the person you think.
I looked at Brielle.
She looked back at me.
For the first time all night, we shared the same emotion.
Confusion.
Anthony had just destroyed the simple story everyone believed.
Brielle was not the only person hiding something.
“Where are you?”” I asked.
Silence.
Then:
“Somewhere I should have come back from years ago.””
My eyebrows tightened.
“What does that mean?””
“It means I made mistakes.””
I heard regret in his voice.
Real regret.
Not the kind people perform.
The kind that comes after carrying something heavy for too long.
“Anthony, you owe me answers.””
“I know.””
“Then give them.””
Another pause.
“I can’t explain everything over the phone.””
“Why not?””
“Because if I’m right, someone may already be listening.””
Everyone looked around.
The kitchen suddenly felt different.
Every camera.
Every phone.
Every device.
A room full of witnesses.
And yet somehow, we were still surrounded by secrets.
Marcus stepped closer.
“Who is listening?””
Anthony didn’t answer.
Then the call ended.
Just like that.
I lowered the phone.
Daniel looked concerned.
“Did he say anything else?””
I shook my head.
“Only that someone betrayed Thomas.””
Brielle laughed softly.
“Naturally.””
I looked at her.
“What?””
She shook her head.
“You’re going to believe him?””
“I believe he knows something.””
“He’s my father’s partner.””
“And he’s my husband’s friend.””
Her expression hardened.
“Exactly.””
Marcus looked exhausted.
“Can everyone stop talking in circles?””
He ran a hand through his hair.
“I don’t know who to trust anymore.””
That sentence hurt.
Because I understood.
His entire world had shifted in one evening.
The woman he married had hidden her identity.
His father’s old partner had returned with warnings.
His mother’s home was being targeted.
And somehow, he was standing in the middle.
I walked toward him.
“Marcus.””
He looked at me.
“I’m sorry.””
His face softened.
“For what?””
“For putting you in this position.””
He shook his head.
“No, Mom.””
His voice cracked.
“This isn’t because of you.””
I wanted to believe him.
But guilt has a way of finding places to live.
Even when it doesn’t belong.
Daniel gathered the documents.
“We need to secure everything.””
I nodded.
“What happens now?””
“We investigate the transfer attempts, the forged signature, and the original document.””
“And Brielle?””
Everyone looked at her.
She stood quietly.
Almost small.
Almost human.
But then I remembered the cake.
The lies.
The stolen documents.
The months of planning.
“I didn’t know everything,” she said suddenly.
Nobody responded.
She looked at me.
“I knew about the trust. I knew about the house. I knew my father believed Thomas betrayed him.””
“But you still tried to take it.””
Her eyes filled.
“I thought I was fixing something.””
“No.””
I shook my head.
“You were repeating something.””
She looked confused.
“What?””
“Your father’s anger.””
That hit her.
Because deep down, I think she knew.
She hadn’t just inherited his information.
She inherited his resentment.
Her phone buzzed again.
This time, she didn’t look.
Marcus noticed.
“Who keeps messaging you?””
She didn’t answer.
Rachel walked over.
“Brielle.””
Slowly, Brielle handed over the phone.
The message was from the same unknown number.
But this time there was no text.
Only a photo.
Daniel opened it.
His face changed.
“What?””
He turned the screen around.
It was a picture taken inside my house.
Tonight.
The kitchen.
The destroyed cake.
All of us standing there.
But the photo had been taken from outside the room.
Someone had been watching.
Someone had been close enough to capture everything.
Marcus looked toward the windows.
“Who took that?””
Nobody knew.
Then another message appeared.
This one was only three words.
“Check the basement.””
My heart stopped.
The basement.
A place I rarely entered anymore.
A place where Thomas had stored old business files before he died.
A place I hadn’t opened in years.
Daniel looked at me.
“Mrs. Carter…”
I already knew.
The secret wasn’t in the document.
The secret was in my own house.
I walked toward the basement door.
Marcus followed.
“Mom, wait.””
But I couldn’t.
Not anymore.
For twelve years, I had protected Thomas’s memory.
Tonight, I needed to know if he had been protecting me.
I turned the handle.
The basement door opened slowly.
The lights flickered.
And on the floor, directly beneath the stairs, was a locked wooden box.
A box I had never seen before.
A box with one name carved into the top.
Not Thomas.
Not Anthony.
Mine.
EVELYN.
I stepped closer.
Then I noticed the key sitting beside it.
And attached to the key was a note.
Written in my husband’s handwriting.
“Evelyn, if you are reading this, it means someone finally came for what I hid.””
My hands began to shake.
Because the next line was worse.
“Trust no one.””
And below it was a name.
The name Thomas had written before he died.
The name that made Marcus whisper:
May you like
“No…”
Because it belonged to someone in our family.
