Chapter 6 - The Man Who Was Supposed to Be DeadThe video showed Richard Vale.
Not in a kitchen.
Not in the mansion.
Inside a warehouse.
He was talking to someone whose face remained hidden.
Stallone stared at the screen.
Richard noticed.
“You recognize him.”
“No.”
“Then perhaps you should watch longer.”
The hidden man stepped forward.
Stallone stopped breathing.
It was his father.
Or someone who looked exactly like him.
Impossible.
His father had died twelve years earlier.
Stallone had attended the funeral.
Seen the coffin.
Read the death certificate.
Richard smiled.
“The family was built on lies.”
Helen stood suddenly.
“Turn it off.”
Richard looked at her.
“Still protecting him?”
“No.”
“Then tell him the truth.”
Stallone looked between them.
“What truth?”
Helen's voice broke.
“Your father wasn't dead.”
The room seemed to tilt.
“He died.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“The funeral was staged.”
Stallone's mind raced.
“Why?”
“Because he was being investigated.”
“For what?”
“Fraud. Blackmail. Extortion.”
Stallone stared.
“And you helped him disappear?”
“Yes.”
Richard laughed softly.
“Your entire family was built around the disappearance of one man.”
Stallone grabbed him by the collar.
“You knew?”
“I arranged it.”
Richard's expression remained calm.
“Your father wanted to disappear. Your mother wanted to protect the family name. Julian wanted the company. Your wife wanted the truth.”
Stallone released him.
“And Noah?”
Richard's smile vanished.
“That is where everything changed.”
The video continued.
The hidden man said:
“The boy saw me.”
Richard answered:
“He won't remember.”
“He will.”
“Then make sure he doesn't.”
Stallone stared at the screen.
The recording was timestamped two months before Noah's mother died.
His father had been alive.
And he knew about Noah.
Stallone's mind snapped back to the car accident.
He turned to Helen.
“Was Father in the car?”
Helen said nothing.
“Was he there?”
“Yes.”
The word barely escaped her.
Stallone stepped back.
“How?”
“He confronted your wife.”
“Why?”
“She had found the missing trust money.”
“And he knew?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
Helen began crying.
“Your wife tried to leave.”
“Then?”
“Your father got into the car.”
Noah made a small noise.
Stallone looked at his son.
“Was there another person?”
Helen shook her head.
“Not that I knew.”
Richard suddenly laughed.
Stallone turned.
“What?”
Richard looked at Helen.
“You still don't know.”
Helen's face went pale.
“What?”
Richard raised his phone again.
A second video began.
Security footage from the night of the crash.
A car parked outside the mansion.
Your wife.
Noah.
Your father.
And a fourth figure.
A man enters the car.
The face is hidden.
Then he leans toward Noah.
The boy recoils.
The man speaks.
“Don't tell Daddy.”
Stallone's eyes widened.
The video ended before the face appeared.
Richard said:
“Your family has been looking for the wrong killer.”
Stallone stepped forward.
“Where is my father?”
Richard smiled.
“Close.”
“How close?”
“He's been in this mansion.”
The lights flickered.
A door upstairs slammed.
Everyone looked toward the second floor.
Then came a sound.
A cane tapping against wood.
Slowly.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
A man appeared at the top of the staircase.
Gray hair.
Black suit.
One hand gripping a cane.
He looked down at Stallone.
“Hello, son.”
Stallone couldn't move.
His father stared back.
Alive.
Richard looked almost pleased.
“And now,” he said quietly, “you finally have all the pieces.”
Stallone's father smiled.
“No.”
May you like
He looked directly at Noah.
“Not yet.”
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