Chapter 2: The Secret Behind the Recording
I watched the footage again.
Then again.
Each time, the same question burned through my mind.
Why would Bianca know something about Eli’s mother?
For six years, I had lived with one painful truth.
My first wife, Amelia, was gone.
Not because we stopped loving each other.
Not because we had a bitter divorce.
She disappeared.
One day, she was there.
The next day, she wasn’t.
The police called it a missing person case. Friends called it a tragedy. Some people whispered that she had abandoned us.
I never believed that.
Not completely.
Because Amelia loved Eli more than anything in this world.
She would never leave him willingly.
But after years without answers, I had forced myself to accept the impossible.
Until my son whispered five words that reopened a wound I had buried.
“Mommy is still alive.””
I carried Eli upstairs to his room while Grace followed behind us.
Bianca stayed downstairs.
For the first time since I met her, she didn’t try to follow me.
That frightened me.
Grace helped Eli sit on his bed.
“Are you okay, sweetheart?””
Eli nodded, but his fingers wouldn’t stop shaking.
I sat beside him.
“Eli, I need you to tell me exactly what happened.””
He looked toward the doorway.
“Is Bianca mad?””
“No,” I said.
But even I didn’t believe my own answer.
Eli lowered his voice.
“She told me not to tell you.””
My chest tightened.
“What did she tell you?””
He stared at his hands.
“She said if I loved Daddy, I would keep secrets.””
Grace covered her mouth.
I felt anger rise inside me, but I pushed it down.
I needed answers.
“What secret?””
Eli looked at me.
“She asked if Mommy ever came back.””
The room went cold.
“When?””
“Yesterday.””
I stood.
“Yesterday?””
Eli nodded.
“She showed me a picture on her phone.””
My heart stopped.
“A picture of who?””
“My mommy.””
Grace stepped closer.
“Victor…”
I turned toward her.
“You knew?””
Grace looked devastated.
“No. I swear I didn’t know about the picture.””
She looked toward the floor.
“But I knew something was wrong.””
“What do you mean?””
Grace hesitated.
Then she said something I never expected.
“Your wife has been afraid for months.””
I frowned.
“Bianca?””
Grace nodded.
“She receives calls late at night. She locks herself in the office. And whenever Amelia’s name comes up…”
She stopped.
“Whenever Amelia’s name comes up, what?””
Grace looked at me.
“She looks like someone who has seen a ghost.””
Before I could respond, my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered immediately.
“Hello?””
Silence.
Then a woman’s breathing.
My heart raced.
“Who is this?””
A whisper came through the speaker.
“Victor…”
I froze.
Because I knew that voice.
A voice I had not heard in six years.
The call ended.
I stared at my phone.
Grace noticed my face.
“Sir?””
I couldn’t speak.
Because the impossible had just happened.
My missing wife had called me.
And someone downstairs had been hiding the truth.
I walked back toward the living room.
Bianca was standing beside the couch.
Waiting.
She already knew.
“How did you know she was alive?”” I asked.
Her expression collapsed.
For a moment, she looked less like my wife and more like someone trapped by her own secret.
“Victor…”
“Answer me.””
She stepped backward.
“I can explain.””
“No.””
My voice echoed through the mansion.
“You can’t explain six years.””
Bianca looked toward the security camera.
Then toward my phone.
Then toward Eli.
And finally, she whispered something that made Grace gasp.
“She wasn’t supposed to find you.””
I stared at her.
“Who?””
Bianca’s lips trembled.
But before she answered, the front door security alarm suddenly activated.
Someone was outside.
And the camera notification appeared on my phone.
A visitor was standing at the entrance.
May you like
The name attached to the alert was one I never expected to see again.
Amelia Hayes.
