Chapter 9: The Secret Buried Before Isaiah
The door opened slowly.
Danielle expected to see a ghost.
A memory.
A trick.
Anything except what stood in front of her.
A woman stepped into the study.
Older.
Tired.
Alive.
Danielle stopped breathing.
“Mom?””
Margaret Hart looked at her daughter with tears in her eyes.
“I know.””
Danielle couldn’t move.
For six years, she had visited a grave.
For six years, she had placed flowers on cold stone.
For six years, she had mourned a woman who was apparently standing in front of her.
“No.””
The word came out weak.
“No, this isn’t real.””
Margaret’s face broke.
“I wish it was.””
Danielle looked at Evelyn.
Then at Isaiah.
Then back at the woman in front of her.
Her entire world had become a place where nothing was true.
“You died.””
Margaret swallowed.
“Yes.””
Danielle’s eyes narrowed.
“No.””
Her voice grew stronger.
“You don’t get to say yes like that.””
The anger she had carried for ten years suddenly had a new target.
“You let me bury you.””
“I know.””
“You let me believe I had lost everyone.””
“I know.””
Danielle shook her head.
“Stop saying that.””
Margaret looked down.
“I deserve your anger.””
“You deserve more than that.””
Silence.
Then Isaiah stepped forward.
“Who are you?””
Margaret looked at him.
And the expression on her face destroyed Danielle.
It was recognition.
Pain.
Love.
Like she had been waiting years to see him.
“My grandson.””
Isaiah stepped back.
Danielle immediately moved between them.
“Don’t.””
Margaret nodded.
“I understand.””
“No, you don’t.””
“I do.””
Danielle’s voice broke.
“You all keep saying that.””
She pointed around the room.
“My husband.””
“My brother.””
“Evelyn.””
“And now you.””
Her eyes filled.
“Everyone knew.””
Margaret looked at the floor.
“Yes.””
The honesty hurt.
“How long?””
“Since the beginning.””
Danielle stared.
“What?””
Margaret took a slow breath.
“Since before Isaiah was born.””
The room went quiet.
Danielle felt cold.
“What does that mean?””
Margaret looked at the documents on the desk.
“It means your family was involved with Northbridge long before Daniel ever worked there.””
Danielle looked confused.
“My family?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
Margaret looked at Isaiah.
“Because of something your father discovered.””
Danielle froze.
“My father?””
Her father had died when she was nineteen.
A heart attack.
At least that was what everyone told her.
Margaret’s eyes filled.
“Your father didn’t die naturally.””
The words hit harder than anything before.
Danielle stared.
“No.””
“I’m sorry.””
“No.””
She stepped back.
“You’re lying.””
“I wish I was.””
Danielle laughed painfully.
“This is insane.””
Margaret nodded.
“It is.””
“Then explain.””
Margaret looked around the room.
“At first, Northbridge was not what it became.””
She walked slowly toward the desk.
“It started as medical research.””
Danielle crossed her arms.
“And then?””
“Then people realized they could make money from discoveries.””
“Using children?””
Margaret looked away.
“Yes.””
Isaiah looked frightened.
Danielle immediately took his hand.
“You’re okay.””
But she wasn’t sure she believed it.
Margaret continued.
“Your father found out they were studying children with specific genetic traits.””
“And he tried to stop them?””
“Yes.””
“Then why was he killed?””
Margaret’s face changed.
“Because he found out something worse.””
“What?””
Margaret looked directly at Danielle.
“He discovered the research was connected to your family.””
Danielle felt confused.
“What?””
“Your father’s family.””
The room went silent.
“My father?””
“Yes.””
Danielle shook her head.
“No.””
“Your father was one of the original investors.””
The words barely made sense.
“My father hated companies like that.””
“He did.””
Margaret looked sad.
“That’s why they killed him.””
Danielle felt dizzy.
All her memories.
Her childhood.
Her family.
Everything had hidden pieces.
“So my father tried to expose them.””
“Yes.””
“And then?””
Margaret looked at Isaiah.
“Then they found out about you.””
Danielle’s stomach dropped.
“Me?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
Margaret hesitated.
“Because you were pregnant.””
The room became silent.
Danielle stared.
“What?””
“They discovered Isaiah’s genetic marker before he was born.””
“That’s impossible.””
Margaret shook her head.
“No.””
Her voice softened.
“That’s why they watched you.””
Danielle remembered.
The strange calls.
The people asking questions.
The doctors who seemed too interested.
She had thought she was imagining things.
She hadn’t.
“They wanted Isaiah before he was even born.””
Margaret nodded.
“And Daniel found out.””
Danielle looked down.
“So everything started because of me.””
“No.””
Margaret’s voice became firm.
“Never say that.””
“But—”
“You were a mother protecting your child.””
Danielle looked at Isaiah.
A tear fell.
“I wasn’t there.””
Isaiah squeezed her hand.
“You are now.””
The simple words almost broke her.
Then a loud crash came from downstairs.
Everyone froze.
Evelyn immediately moved toward the window.
“We’re not alone.””
Margaret looked afraid.
“Did they follow you?””
Danielle looked at her.
“Who?””
Margaret didn’t answer.
She didn’t need to.
Everyone knew.
Northbridge.
The people who had controlled their lives.
The people who had taken Isaiah.
Daniel was still missing.
And now they were trapped.
Evelyn checked the hallway.
“There’s another way out.””
Danielle looked at her.
“Another secret passage?””
Evelyn nodded.
“This house was built with more exits than rooms.””
A bitter smile crossed Danielle’s face.
“My whole life was a secret.””
Then a voice echoed from downstairs.
“Danielle.””
Everyone froze.
Michael.
Her brother.
His voice came through the house.
“I know you’re up there.””
Danielle’s hands curled into fists.
Margaret whispered:
“He came.””
“You knew he would?””
Margaret looked ashamed.
“Yes.””
Danielle stared.
“What else did you hide?””
Margaret closed her eyes.
“Something you need to know.””
“What?””
Michael’s footsteps moved closer.
Margaret looked at Isaiah.
“The reason they wanted him…”
She paused.
“Was not because of his DNA.””
Danielle’s eyes narrowed.
“Then why?””
Margaret whispered:
“Because Isaiah saw who ordered your father’s murder.””
The room went completely still.
Isaiah’s face changed.
A memory.
A terrible one.
“I remember.””
Everyone looked at him.
His breathing became fast.
“I remember the man.””
Danielle knelt beside him.
“Who?””
Isaiah looked toward the door.
His voice shook.
“The man who came after my uncle.””
A long silence.
“Who was he?””
Isaiah looked at Danielle.
And the answer destroyed her.
“Your father.””
Danielle froze.
“My father is dead.””
Isaiah shook his head.
“No.””
Tears filled his eyes.
“He wasn’t.””
The footsteps downstairs stopped.
Then Michael called out:
“Danielle.””
A pause.
“You finally know.””
The voice became colder.
“You finally know why we could never let Isaiah come home.””
Danielle stood.
Her entire body shaking.
Because suddenly the question was no longer who took her son.
The question was:
May you like
Who was still alive?
And who had been hiding in the shadows all these years?
