Chapter 8: My Father’s Hidden File
“Don’t trust him.”
Lily’s hands moved quickly.
Quietly.
Almost invisibly.
But I understood.
Four simple words from a child who had already risked everything to warn me.
Don’t trust him.
The problem was...
I didn’t know who “him” was.
Victor Blackwood stood in front of me, claiming he had returned to expose the truth.
Vanessa stood behind me, the woman I believed had betrayed me before learning she might have been protecting me.
Marcus was somewhere in the darkness, attempting to steal everything I built.
And my father...
The man who taught me everything.
The man whose voice still existed in my memories.
Was now being accused of being the beginning of it all.
My entire life felt like a building with hidden rooms.
And someone had just opened a door I never knew existed.
“Where is Marcus?” I asked.
Victor smiled slightly.
“Always focused on the immediate threat.”
“That’s how I survived.”
“No.”
He looked around the underground room.
“That’s how you built an empire.”
His eyes returned to mine.
“But it’s also how you missed what was happening right in front of you.”
I stepped forward.
“Stop talking in riddles.”
Victor didn’t react.
“You want answers?”
“Yes.”
“Then you need to know the truth about your father.”
My jaw tightened.
“You keep mentioning my father.”
“Because everything begins with him.”
I looked at Vanessa.
She looked away.
That hurt more than I expected.
Because even now...
Even after everything...
I still wanted her to tell me Victor was lying.
I wanted someone to say:
Your father was innocent.
Your life was real.
Your memories were safe.
But nobody did.
Victor walked toward an old metal cabinet in the corner.
He unlocked it.
Inside were files.
Hundreds of them.
Dust-covered.
Forgotten.
He removed one folder.
Then placed it on the table.
“Your father left this behind.”
I stared at the folder.
A name was written across the front.
MERCER RIDGE INITIATIVE.
My company’s name.
But beneath it was something else.
PROJECT ECHO.
I frowned.
“What is this?”
Victor looked at me.
“The reason your hearing started disappearing.”
The room went silent.
I opened the folder.
Inside were medical reports.
Research documents.
Financial records.
And photographs.
My stomach turned.
The first photograph showed a laboratory.
The second showed scientists working with medical equipment.
The third showed a person sitting in a chair.
A person connected to wires.
A person whose face was hidden.
“What am I looking at?”
Victor answered.
“A research project.”
“Medical?”
“Yes.”
“Owned by Mercer Ridge?”
“No.”
“Then why is my company’s name on it?”
Victor looked at me.
“Because your father created it before Mercer Ridge became what it is today.”
I flipped through the documents.
My eyes stopped.
A familiar signature appeared.
Elias Mercer.
My father.
I felt something crack inside me.
“No.”
Victor watched me.
“You wanted the truth.”
I looked up.
“This isn’t possible.”
“It is.”
“My father wasn’t a scientist.”
“No.”
Victor’s voice became quieter.
“He was something more dangerous.”
“What?”
“A man who believed every problem had a solution.”
I looked back at the papers.
The words blurred.
My father always told me technology could improve humanity.
He taught me innovation.
Persistence.
Vision.
But he never told me about this.
“Why hide it from me?”
Victor was silent for a moment.
Then he said:
“Because he wanted to protect you.”
I looked at him.
“You just said he was responsible.”
“I said he started something.”
Victor leaned against the table.
“That does not mean he wanted you harmed.”
I didn’t understand.
“You’re saying my father created the poison?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“He created the research that someone else later turned into a weapon.”
My fingers tightened around the papers.
The room felt smaller.
“So someone stole his work.”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Victor looked toward the hallway.
“Someone you trusted.”
The answer was becoming a pattern.
Everyone had someone else to blame.
Everyone had a secret.
I was surrounded by ghosts.
“Marcus?”
Victor shook his head.
“No.”
“Then who?”
Before he could answer, Lily made a sound.
A small gasp.
Everyone turned.
She was pointing at the folder.
More specifically...
At one photograph.
I walked closer.
“What is it?”
Lily touched the picture.
Then she signed.
“Grandpa.”
I froze.
“Your grandfather?”
She nodded.
I looked at Nora.
“She knew my father?”
Nora shook her head.
“No.”
“Then how does she recognize him?”
Nobody answered.
I looked at the photograph.
It showed a group of people in a laboratory.
My father.
Victor.
Several scientists.
And a little girl.
Not Lily.
Another child.
A young girl sitting in the corner.
The same stuffed rabbit was in her hands.
My blood went cold.
That rabbit.
The same one Lily carried.
The same missing eye.
Impossible.
“Where did you get this?” I asked.
Victor’s expression changed.
“You noticed.”
I pointed at the photo.
“The rabbit.”
Victor nodded.
“Lily’s mother had it.”
Nora looked shocked.
“My mother?”
“Yes.”
Victor looked at Lily.
“She was part of the project.”
Nobody spoke.
The words were too heavy.
Lily’s family.
My father.
The research.
The poison.
Everything connected.
But one question remained.
“How old was Lily’s mother when that photo was taken?”
Victor hesitated.
Then answered:
“Four years old.”
The room froze.
I looked at Lily.
A four-year-old child.
The same age her mother was in the photograph.
The same age someone had placed inside a dangerous experiment.
A terrible realization entered my mind.
“This wasn’t about me.”
Victor looked at me.
“No.”
“It was never about my company.”
“No.”
“It was about her.”
He nodded.
“Exactly.”
I looked at Lily.
The little girl who had appeared at my engagement party.
The little girl who knew about the poison.
The little girl everyone tried to hide.
“Why is she important?”
Victor’s face became serious.
“Because she is the only living person who can prove what your father discovered.”
“What did he discover?”
Victor looked at the folder.
Then at me.
“The human body can adapt.”
I frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“It means the compound used against you was never designed to kill.”
“Then what was it designed for?”
Victor’s answer chilled me.
“To control.”
The lights above us flickered.
Then suddenly...
A loud alarm echoed through the underground room.
Everyone turned.
A red light began flashing.
Dr. Cole checked his phone.
His face changed.
“What?”
I looked at him.
“What happened?”
He swallowed.
“The security system.”
“And?”
He looked at me.
“Someone has entered the mansion.”
“Who?”
Dr. Cole stared at the screen.
Then whispered:
“Marcus.”
I grabbed the folder.
“Where is he?”
The doctor looked toward the ceiling.
“Not alone.”
My heart sank.
“Who is with him?”
Nobody answered.
Then Victor looked at me.
And said:
“The person you should have been afraid of from the beginning.”
The underground door suddenly locked.
Automatically.
A mechanical sound echoed.
Click.
Click.
Click.
We were trapped.
Then a voice came through the speakers.
A voice I recognized.
A voice I had trusted my entire life.
“Hello, Ethan.”
My blood turned cold.
Because it wasn’t Marcus.
It wasn’t Victor.
It wasn’t Vanessa.
It was someone else.
May you like
Someone I never expected.
My mother.
