Chapter 8: The Confession of Margaret Hayes
Nobody spoke.
Not because there was nothing to say.
Because the truth that had just entered the room was too heavy for anyone to carry.
Ethan stared at Margaret.
The woman who had looked at him with kindness.
The woman who had defended him from his own arrogance.
The woman who had told him his father was hiding the past.
Now she was standing there admitting something impossible.
She was the reason he was separated from his mother.
Ethan took a step backward.
"No."
His voice was quiet.
"No, that doesn't make sense."
Margaret lowered her head.
"I know."
"You told me my father was lying."
"He was."
Ethan froze.
The answer shocked him.
Margaret looked up.
"Richard lied."
She took a breath.
"But so did I."
The words were worse than any accusation.
Because Ethan had expected one person to be guilty.
Not everyone.
"Why?"
His voice cracked.
"Why would you do that?"
Margaret looked at the old photograph on the table.
The photograph of Anna holding baby Ethan.
"Because I was afraid."
Ethan laughed bitterly.
"Afraid?"
He pointed toward himself.
"You changed my entire life because you were afraid?"
Margaret accepted the anger.
She deserved it.
"Yes."
Daniel looked away.
He had known this moment would come.
Ethan noticed.
"You knew?"
Daniel didn't answer.
"Did you know?"
Daniel slowly nodded.
The betrayal felt endless.
Ethan looked around the room.
Everyone had known something.
Everyone had carried a piece of his life.
Except him.
"Then all of you have been deciding my future without me."
Nobody denied it.
Margaret sat down.
Her hands trembled.
"Twenty-six years ago, your mother came to me."
Ethan listened.
Despite his anger.
Despite everything.
Because he needed the truth.
"Anna was injured."
Margaret's voice became distant.
"She arrived at the hospital in the middle of the night. She was scared. She was carrying you."
She looked at Ethan.
"She knew someone was following her."
"Who?"
Margaret shook her head.
"She didn't know."
"Then what happened?"
"She gave birth to you."
A pause.
"Afterward, she asked me for help."
Ethan stepped closer.
"What kind of help?"
Margaret looked at him.
"She wanted me to hide you."
The room went silent.
"Hide me?"
Margaret nodded.
"She believed the people searching for her would use you to find her."
Ethan frowned.
"But why didn't she take me?"
Margaret's eyes filled with tears.
"Because she loved you."
That answer angered him.
"People keep saying that."
His voice rose.
"If she loved me, why did she leave me?"
Margaret whispered:
"Because she thought leaving you was the only way you could survive."
Ethan looked away.
The pain was becoming unbearable.
"What did you do?"
Margaret closed her eyes.
"I made a decision."
"What decision?"
"I contacted Richard."
Ethan froze.
"Why?"
"Because Anna trusted him."
Richard looked away.
For the first time, he seemed unable to defend himself.
Margaret continued.
"Anna believed Richard would protect you."
"But you said he was dangerous."
"He was."
The answer shocked Ethan.
Margaret looked at Richard.
"Richard was dangerous."
Then back to Ethan.
"But he was also the only person who had the power to keep you alive."
A strange silence followed.
"So you gave me to him."
Margaret nodded.
"Yes."
Ethan's eyes became cold.
"And you never told me."
"No."
"Why?"
Margaret looked down.
"Because Anna asked me not to."
Ethan stopped.
"What?"
Margaret reached into her bag.
She pulled out another envelope.
Different from the first.
Older.
More damaged.
"She left this message."
Ethan stared at it.
"For you."
His hands hesitated before taking it.
"Why didn't you give it to me before?"
Margaret looked at him.
"Because Anna said one sentence."
"What sentence?"
Margaret whispered:
"Only give this to him when Richard is no longer able to protect him."
Everyone became silent.
Ethan looked at Richard.
Then at the envelope.
"What does that mean?"
Nobody answered.
Because everyone knew.
It meant Anna had been afraid of something happening to Richard.
Or worse...
She knew something would happen.
Ethan opened the envelope.
Inside was a handwritten letter.
The paper was fragile.
The handwriting was uneven.
But the first line was clear.
"My son, if you are reading this, then I failed to come back for you."
Ethan stopped breathing.
His fingers tightened around the paper.
He continued reading.
"I need you to know one thing before you hear anyone else's version of the story."
"I never abandoned you."
His eyes blurred.
For twenty-six years, he had carried one wound.
One belief.
His mother left him.
But those words destroyed it.
Anna's letter continued.
"The person who separated us believed they were saving you."
Ethan looked at Margaret.
Her eyes were full of tears.
"But they made one mistake."
A chill moved through him.
"They trusted the wrong person."
The room became silent.
Ethan continued.
"Richard Carter is not the only person who knows what happened that night."
His heartbeat increased.
"There was someone else."
A name appeared below.
A name that Ethan had never heard before.
But Richard's reaction was immediate.
His face lost all color.
Because he knew exactly who it was.
Ethan looked up.
"Dad..."
Richard didn't answer.
"Who is this person?"
Richard remained silent.
Daniel looked frightened.
Margaret closed her eyes.
And then Richard finally spoke.
A single sentence.
"The person who knows the entire truth..."
He swallowed.
"...is the person who ordered your mother to disappear."
Ethan stared.
"Who?"
Richard looked toward the hospital door.
As if he expected someone to appear.
Then he whispered:
"My father."
The room froze.
Richard Carter's father.
Ethan's grandfather.
A man who had supposedly died fifteen years ago.
But before Ethan could process it...
A nurse suddenly rushed into the room.
Her face was pale.
"Mr. Hayes."
Daniel turned.
"What happened?"
The nurse looked terrified.
"Someone entered the hospital records room."
"Who?"
She swallowed.
"They were searching for one file."
Ethan felt a strange fear.
"What file?"
The nurse looked at him.
"The birth records of Ethan Carter."
Nobody moved.
Because someone was not trying to hide the past anymore.
Someone was trying to destroy it.
May you like
And whoever was behind everything...
Had just discovered Ethan was looking for the truth.
