Chapter 5: The Voice That Should Not Exist
Daniel forgot how to breathe.
The phone pressed against his ear felt impossibly heavy.
The world around him blurred.
The hallway.
The open bedroom door.
The frightened faces behind him.
Everything disappeared except the voice coming through the speaker.
A voice he had spent six years trying to forget.
“Daniel?””
He closed his eyes.
“No.””
The word came out as a whisper.
On the other end, the woman started crying.
“I know what this sounds like.””
Daniel’s grip tightened around the phone.
“No.””
“Please listen to me.””
“No.””
His voice cracked.
“Because you’re not real.””
The silence that followed was worse than anything.
Then the voice answered softly.
“I know.””
Daniel looked around.
Everyone was watching him.
Vanessa.
Eleanor.
Marcus.
All of them frozen.
Because they knew.
They knew who was calling.
Daniel lowered the phone slightly.
“You’re saying Myra is alive?””
Nobody answered.
That was enough.
His eyes moved toward Vanessa.
Her face was destroyed.
Not shocked.
Not confused.
Like someone who had just watched a secret buried for years crawl out of the ground.
Daniel raised the phone again.
“Where is Lily?””
A pause.
Then:
“She’s with me.””
His heart stopped.
“No.””
“She’s safe.””
“You took my daughter?””
“I saved her.””
Daniel’s anger exploded.
“You kidnapped my child.””
“I didn’t kidnap her.””
“Then where is she?””
The voice became desperate.
“Daniel, you have to understand. Vanessa knows I’m alive.””
Daniel looked at Vanessa.
She looked away.
That small movement told him everything.
“You knew.””
Vanessa whispered:
“Daniel…”
“You knew.””
His voice shook.
“How long?””
Vanessa didn’t answer.
“How long have you known my wife was alive?””
The phone went silent.
Myra spoke again.
“Vanessa found out first.””
Daniel stared at her.
Vanessa closed her eyes.
“I was going to tell you.””
Daniel laughed.
It wasn’t a happy sound.
It was the sound of someone realizing the entire foundation of his life had cracked.
“When?””
Vanessa looked at him.
“When were you going to tell me?””
No answer.
Daniel turned away.
The phone remained against his ear.
“Myra.””
The woman on the other end cried.
“I’m sorry.””
“No.””
His voice became colder.
“You don’t get to say sorry.””
“I know.””
“You let me bury you.””
“I know.””
“You let my children grow up without their mother.””
“I know.””
“You let me believe I failed you.””
A long silence.
Then Myra whispered:
“I was trying to keep them alive.””
Daniel froze.
“What?””
“I wasn’t hiding because I wanted to hurt you.””
“Then why?””
“Because someone was watching our family.””
Daniel looked toward Eleanor.
Then Marcus.
Then Vanessa.
“Who?””
Myra didn’t answer.
Daniel felt his patience disappear.
“Who?””
“Vanessa.””
Everyone in the hallway heard the name.
Vanessa stepped back.
“No.””
Daniel stared at her.
Myra continued.
“I found out too late.””
Daniel shook his head.
“No. I need you to explain.””
“I discovered Vanessa wasn’t who she said she was.””
“That’s what everyone keeps saying.””
His voice cracked.
“But nobody tells me why.””
Myra breathed shakily.
“Because I was afraid you wouldn’t believe me.””
Daniel looked at Vanessa.
A thousand memories rushed through his mind.
The first time Vanessa met Lily.
The first time she helped Noah.
The way she cried at Myra’s funeral.
The way she held Daniel’s hand.
Was all of it fake?
“Where are you?””
Myra hesitated.
“I can’t tell you.””
Daniel’s anger returned.
“You took my daughter and you won’t tell me where you are?””
“She isn’t safe there.””
“Safe from what?””
A pause.
Then Myra said:
“From Vanessa.””
Vanessa covered her mouth.
“No.””
Daniel looked at her.
For the first time, he didn’t recognize the woman standing in front of him.
“Daniel,” Vanessa whispered.
He ignored her.
“Myra, if you’re really alive, why didn’t you come home?””
The silence lasted several seconds.
Then Myra answered:
“Because I couldn’t.””
“Why?””
“Because the night I disappeared…”
Her voice broke.
“I saw who was responsible for the accident.””
Daniel felt cold.
“What?””
“I know who tried to kill me.””
Nobody moved.
Even the children’s empty bedroom seemed to hold its breath.
Daniel looked at the floor.
The old memories returned.
The crash.
The hospital.
The police report.
The funeral.
Everything he had accepted as reality.
“What happened that night?””
Myra’s voice became quieter.
“I was driving to meet you.””
Daniel closed his eyes.
“You said you were going to a friend’s house.””
“I lied.””
“Why?””
“Because I didn’t know who I could trust.””
Daniel looked at Vanessa.
“Was it her?””
Myra didn’t answer immediately.
That silence was terrifying.
“Daniel…”
“What?””
“I need you to listen carefully.””
He waited.
“Do not let Vanessa know where you are going.””
Daniel looked around.
“Why?””
“Because she already knows more than she should.””
The call suddenly crackled.
Daniel heard a sound.
A door closing.
Then Lily’s voice.
“Mom?””
Daniel’s eyes widened.
“Lily?””
“Daddy!””
The phone shook in his hand.
“Lily! Are you okay?””
A small sob came through.
“Daddy, I’m sorry.””
“No, no, sweetheart, listen to me.””
Daniel’s voice broke.
“Are you hurt?””
“No.””
“Where are you?””
Before Lily could answer, Myra spoke.
“She’s okay.””
Daniel swallowed.
“Let me talk to her.””
“You will.””
“When?””
“When you come alone.””
Daniel’s expression changed.
“No.””
A pause.
“Daniel.””
“I’m not trading my daughter for answers.””
“You’re misunderstanding.””
“Then explain.””
Myra’s voice became urgent.
“Vanessa is not the only person involved.””
Daniel looked at Eleanor.
“What does that mean?””
“It means the person who helped her hide everything is still close to you.””
The phone went silent.
Daniel looked at the people around him.
Vanessa.
Marcus.
Eleanor.
Everyone looked suspicious.
Everyone had secrets.
Then Myra whispered:
“You need to ask Marcus what happened the night I disappeared.””
Daniel turned.
Marcus went pale.
“What?””
Myra continued:
“He was there.””
Marcus shook his head.
“No.””
Daniel stared at him.
“What does she mean?””
Marcus looked terrified.
“I didn’t…”
“Were you there?””
Marcus said nothing.
Daniel stepped toward him.
“Were you there the night my wife disappeared?””
Marcus looked down.
That was his answer.
Daniel’s chest tightened.
“You lied too.””
Marcus whispered:
“I was trying to protect you.””
Daniel almost laughed.
“Everyone keeps saying that.””
He looked toward the phone.
“Myra.””
“Yes?””
“If you’re alive…”
His voice softened for one second.
“If you’re really alive…”
A painful silence.
“Why did you let me mourn you?””
On the other end, Myra cried.
“Because I thought I was protecting you.””
Daniel looked at the missing piece of his life.
The wife he thought he lost.
The children he almost lost.
The people who had been lying.
Then Myra said something that made every person in the hallway freeze.
“Daniel…”
Her voice trembled.
“Before you come for Lily, you need to know something.””
“What?””
“I didn’t disappear after the accident.””
A pause.
“I disappeared before it happened.””
Daniel frowned.
“What does that mean?””
Myra whispered:
“The woman who died in that car…”
The line crackled.
Then she said:
“Was not me.””
The call ended.
Daniel stood completely still.
Nobody spoke.
Then, from behind him, Vanessa whispered:
“Daniel…”
He turned.
And she was holding something.
Something hidden in her hand.
A small photograph.
An old photograph.
Her face was filled with fear.
Because Daniel recognized the picture immediately.
May you like
It was taken the night Myra disappeared.
And Vanessa was standing beside the car.
