Chapter 3: The Person I Buried Years Ago
The person standing outside my diner was impossible.
For a moment, my mind refused to understand what my eyes were seeing.
The rain poured down between us, blurring the figure behind the glass.
But I knew that face.
I knew the shape of that smile.
I knew the way that person tilted their head slightly when they were waiting for someone to recognize them.
My hand covered my mouth.
“No…”
Edward looked at me.
“Mia?””
I couldn’t answer.
Because the person outside Rosewood Corner was someone I had watched disappear from my life eight years ago.
Someone whose funeral I had attended.
Someone everyone told me I had to accept was gone.
My father.
Daniel Carter.
The man who had vanished when I was sixteen.
The man my mother spent years refusing to talk about.
The man whose name became a forbidden word inside our home.
The man I thought I would never see again.
The diner door opened slowly.
The bell above it rang.
The sound was exactly the same as it had been every day for twenty-seven years.
But this time, it felt like a warning.
My father stepped inside.
His dark coat was soaked from the rain.
His hair was grayer than I remembered.
There were lines on his face that hadn’t been there before.
But it was him.
It was really him.
“Mia.””
Hearing my name from his mouth broke something inside me.
I stepped backward.
“No.””
His expression changed.
Pain.
Regret.
Something close to shame.
“I know this is difficult.””
I laughed quietly.
Difficult?
The word felt too small.
“You’re dead.””
The entire diner went silent.
My father looked down.
“I know what they told you.””
“They showed me a death certificate.””
“I know.””
“They had a funeral.””
“I know.””
“My mother cried every night for months.””
His jaw tightened.
“Mia…”
“No.””
My voice cracked.
“You don’t get to say my name like you’ve been here.””
My father looked like he wanted to come closer.
But he didn’t.
Maybe he knew he didn’t deserve to.
Edward moved beside me.
“Daniel.””
My father looked at him.
“Edward.””
There was no surprise between them.
They knew each other.
Of course they did.
At this point, nothing surprised me anymore.
I looked at Edward.
“You knew?””
His eyes lowered.
“I suspected.””
“You suspected my father was alive?””
“Mia—”
“No.””
Anger rose inside me.
“You knew things about my mother. You knew about the key. You knew about him.””
I pointed toward my father.
“And you still let me believe I was alone?””
Edward looked hurt.
“I was trying to protect you.””
I shook my head.
“Everyone keeps saying that.””
My father closed his eyes.
“Your mother said the same thing.””
I turned toward him.
“Don’t talk about her.””
His expression broke.
“I loved your mother.””
“Then why did you leave?””
The question came out faster than I expected.
Years of pain came rushing back.
“You left her.””
My voice became louder.
“You left me.””
My father looked at the floor.
“I didn’t have a choice.””
I almost smiled.
“That’s what people say when they don’t want to explain.””
Clara watched silently from the corner.
For the first time since she entered, she looked uncomfortable.
Not because of the danger.
Because she was witnessing something personal.
My father slowly reached into his pocket.
I immediately stepped back.
“I’m not here to hurt you.””
“Then why are you here?””
He pulled out a small envelope.
“Because I made a promise to your mother.””
My heart stopped.
He walked toward the table and placed it down.
“I was supposed to give this to you when you were old enough to understand.””
I stared at the envelope.
My mother’s handwriting was on the front.
Mia.
My hands started shaking.
“No.””
My father looked at me.
“I know you hate me.””
“I don’t hate you.””
The words surprised him.
I swallowed.
“Hate would mean I still expected something from you.””
Nobody spoke.
I reached for the envelope.
But before I touched it, Clara moved.
“That letter doesn’t belong to her.””
Edward immediately turned.
“Clara.””
She ignored him.
“You have no idea what you’re opening.””
I looked at her.
“Why are you afraid?””
Her face hardened.
“I’m not.””
“You are.””
I held up the letter.
“You’re more scared of this than you are of me.””
For a moment, her mask slipped.
And I saw it.
Fear.
Real fear.
Edward noticed too.
“Clara,” he said quietly, “what did you do?””
She looked at him.
“You still don’t understand.””
“Understand what?””
“That your precious company was never the thing they were trying to destroy.””
The room became cold.
“What does that mean?”” I asked.
Clara looked at me.
“Your mother.””
My fingers tightened around the envelope.
“What about her?””
“She knew everything.””
Edward’s face changed.
“She knew the truth about the Bennett family.””
My father stepped forward.
“Enough.””
Clara turned toward him.
“You don’t get to protect her anymore, Daniel.””
The way she said his name made my stomach turn.
Like they had a history.
A terrible one.
My father looked at Edward.
“She’s lying.””
Clara smiled.
“Am I?””
She walked toward the center of the diner.
“Tell Mia what her mother discovered.””
Nobody answered.
“Tell her why your mother kept that key hidden.””
Edward’s silence was enough.
I looked at him.
“Edward.””
He looked away.
That hurt more than anything.
Because I was starting to trust him.
And now he was hiding something too.
“What is the key?”” I asked.
Edward finally spoke.
“Your mother found evidence.””
“Evidence of what?””
He hesitated.
Then my father answered.
“A crime.””
The word landed heavily.
“What crime?””
My father looked at the old photograph on the table.
“The night your mother took that photograph was the night everything changed.””
I frowned.
“I don’t understand.””
“You were eight years old.””
He looked at me.
“I brought you and your mother to this diner because I needed Edward’s help.””
“Why?””
“Because someone inside Bennett Enterprises was planning to frame him.””
Edward nodded slowly.
“They wanted me removed.””
“And my mother?””
My father’s expression became painful.
“She found proof.””
“What proof?””
“That the person behind everything was closer than we thought.””
The lights flickered again.
Everyone looked up.
Then the diner phone rang.
Nobody moved.
It rang once.
Twice.
Three times.
Finally, I picked it up.
“Hello?””
No answer.
Only breathing.
Then a voice.
A woman’s voice.
Cold.
“Mia Carter.””
My blood froze.
“How do you know my name?””
“You have something that belongs to me.””
I looked at the key.
“Who is this?””
A quiet laugh came through the phone.
“You really don’t remember me.””
I felt a strange chill.
The voice continued.
“Your mother begged me to leave you alone.””
My grip tightened around the receiver.
“What did you do to my mother?””
Silence.
Then:
“I was the last person she spoke to before she died.””
The diner went completely still.
Edward moved closer.
“Mia, hang up.””
But I couldn’t.
Because the voice said one more thing.
Something that made my entire body go cold.
“She didn’t die because of an accident.””
My breath stopped.
“What?””
The voice lowered.
“She died because she chose you over the key.””
I looked at Edward.
I looked at my father.
Neither of them spoke.
Because they already knew.
The voice continued.
“And now you have the key.””
A pause.
“Which means I have to finish what I started eight years ago.””
The line went dead.
The phone slipped from my hand.
My father caught it before it hit the floor.
I stared at him.
“Who was that?””
He didn’t answer.
“Who killed my mother?””
His silence was the answer.
And then Edward looked toward the locked diner door.
His face had gone pale.
Because taped to the outside glass was a note.
A note none of us had seen anyone leave.
Edward walked toward it slowly.
Then he read the words.
His hands began to shake.
I moved closer.
“What does it say?””
Edward turned around.
And for the first time since I met him, the powerful man who built an empire looked terrified.
“It says…”
May you like
He swallowed.
“Your mother’s killer is inside this diner.””
