Chapter 6: The Friend Who Betrayed Me
Marcus Vale looked older.
But not broken.
That was the first thing I noticed.
Seventeen years had passed, but he still carried himself like the same man who used to walk into a room and make everyone listen.
His hair was gray now.
His face had deeper lines.
But his eyes were unchanged.
Cold.
Focused.
Calculating.
I stood between him and Eli.
“Don’t come any closer.””
Marcus stopped.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then he looked at me.
Not angry.
Not surprised.
Sad.
That almost made me angrier.
“You shouldn’t have found him.””
My hands tightened.
“You knew.””
Marcus said nothing.
“You knew about my son.””
His jaw moved slightly.
“Yes.””
The answer was too easy.
No denial.
No excuse.
Just yes.
I stepped forward.
“Forty-two years.””
My voice shook.
“Forty-two years and you knew?””
Marcus looked away.
“I was trying to protect you.””
I laughed.
The sound was empty.
“Protect me?””
I pointed toward Eli.
“You stole my life.””
Marcus looked at Eli.
Something changed in his face.
Regret.
“You don’t understand.””
“Then explain.””
Silence.
“Explain why a child grew up without his father.””
Marcus looked down.
“Because his father was already dead.””
The words hit me.
Eli moved closer to me.
I looked at Marcus.
“What did you say?””
Marcus shook his head.
“Not physically.””
He looked directly at me.
“The man you were before everything happened was gone.””
I stared.
“You don’t get to decide that.””
“No.””
His voice softened.
“But someone else did.””
The room felt smaller.
“Who?””
Marcus didn’t answer.
That scared me more than anything.
I had spent my life believing Marcus betrayed me.
But now I wondered if he had been afraid too.
I looked at the unfinished letter.
“What happened to Maya?””
Marcus closed his eyes.
For a second, the strong man disappeared.
Only exhaustion remained.
“She tried to come back to you.””
My breath caught.
“When?””
“Many times.””
“Then why didn’t she?””
Marcus looked at Eli.
“Because every time she got close…”
He stopped.
“Something happened.””
My expression hardened.
“What kind of things?””
“Warnings.””
“From who?””
Marcus looked at the door.
Then back at me.
“You really don’t remember.””
I hated that sentence.
Everyone kept saying it.
Like my own memories were pieces someone had stolen.
“I remember enough.””
“No.””
Marcus stepped closer.
“You remember what they wanted you to remember.””
The words made my blood run cold.
I looked at Tasha.
She looked just as confused.
Marcus continued.
“The accident.””
My body went still.
The accident.
The motorcycle crash that changed everything.
The night I lost years of my life.
The night everyone told me Maya left because she couldn’t handle what happened.
“What about it?””
Marcus looked at me.
“You weren’t supposed to survive.””
The room went silent.
Eli’s fingers wrapped around mine.
I looked at Marcus.
“What are you saying?””
“I’m saying the crash wasn’t an accident.””
The words barely reached me.
I remembered the rain.
The road.
The headlights.
The impact.
But there was something else.
A sound.
A voice.
A name.
Something buried deep.
Marcus stepped closer.
“I spent seventeen years trying to fix my mistake.””
I stared at him.
“What mistake?””
His eyes filled with regret.
“The mistake of believing I could handle this alone.””
A phone suddenly vibrated.
Everyone froze.
The sound came from Marcus.
He looked down at the screen.
The color drained from his face.
“What?””
I watched him.
“Who is it?””
Marcus didn’t answer.
He turned the phone toward me.
One message.
One sentence.
From an unknown number.
It read:
*“He found the boy. Finish what you started.””*
Marcus looked at me.
And for the first time in seventeen years…
May you like
I saw fear in his eyes.
Then the lights inside the old garage went out.
