CHAPTER 10 The Woman In The Recording
Nobody spoke.
The final words from the recording remained trapped in the room.
“Daniel… why didn’t you listen to me?”
A woman’s voice.
Calm.
Familiar.
Close.
Too close.
Corin stared at the black screen.
His father’s final message had not ended with an accusation.
It had ended with fear.
And now everyone was searching their memories.
Everyone was asking the same question.
Who was the woman behind Daniel?
Thomas slowly stood.
“Play it again.”
Corin looked at him.
“What?”
“The audio.”
Thomas moved closer to the laptop.
“We need to hear the voice.”
The recording restarted.
Daniel appeared again.
The same tired expression.
The same sadness in his eyes.
Then the final seconds.
The shadow.
The movement.
The voice.
“Daniel…”
Everyone listened carefully.
The voice continued.
“Why didn’t you listen to me?”
The recording stopped.
Thomas closed his eyes.
“No.”
Corin immediately noticed.
“You know that voice.”
Thomas opened his eyes.
Slowly.
“I think I do.”
“Who?”
Thomas did not answer.
“Who?”
His voice shook.
“That’s not possible.”
Corin stepped closer.
“Tell me.”
Thomas looked at the screen.
Then at Evelyn.
Then at Judge Caskey.
Finally, he said:
“It sounds like Amelia.”
The room went silent.
Corin stopped breathing.
His mother.
The woman who had died beside his father.
The woman who had written letters protecting him.
The woman everyone believed was a victim.
“No.”
The word came out immediately.
Not because he had proof.
Because his heart refused to accept it.
“My mom?”
Thomas nodded slowly.
“I said it sounds like her.”
“That’s impossible.”
“Yes.”
Thomas looked serious.
“Which means we are missing something.”
The next morning, the Bellweather house became a place of investigation.
Not a home.
Not anymore.
Every secret had turned into a locked door.
And every locked door needed to be opened.
Judge Caskey brought forensic specialists.
Thomas analyzed the recordings.
Evelyn searched through old family documents.
And Corin sat in his father’s study.
Trying to remember.
Trying to understand.
Because everyone kept talking about his parents as if they were strangers.
As if they were a mystery to solve.
But Corin knew them.
At least he thought he did.
He remembered his mother.
Amelia.
She was gentle.
She sang badly while cooking.
She cried during movies.
She kept every drawing Rory made.
She always told Corin:
“Being kind does not mean being weak.”
Could someone like that hide a terrible secret?
Then he remembered his father.
Daniel.
He was strict.
But fair.
He taught Corin how to fix things.
How to admit mistakes.
How to apologize.
But the video had changed something.
His father had admitted he made a mistake.
A mistake from twenty years ago.
Before Corin was even born.
The question was:
What mistake?
Thomas entered the study carrying a folder.
“I found something.”
Corin looked up.
“What?”
Thomas placed the folder down.
“Your parents’ relationship history.”
Corin frowned.
“Why?”
“Because if Amelia was involved…”
He stopped.
Corin understood.
“We need to know who she was before she was my mom.”
Thomas nodded.
Inside the folder were old records.
Newspaper articles.
Company documents.
Photos.
Then one photograph caught Corin’s attention.
A younger Daniel.
A younger Amelia.
And another person.
A woman.
Corin looked closer.
His eyes widened.
“That’s…”
Thomas nodded.
“Yes.”
The woman in the picture.
The same woman whose voice was in the recording.
The same woman connected to the beginning of everything.
Lorraine Bellweather.
Corin stared.
“They were together?”
Thomas nodded.
“Before Daniel married Amelia.”
The room became silent.
“Your father and Lorraine were not just siblings.”
Corin looked confused.
“They’re siblings.”
“Yes.”
Thomas looked at the picture.
“But twenty years ago, there was a family scandal.”
“What kind?”
“An inheritance dispute.”
Corin frowned.
“But Lorraine was always jealous of Dad.”
“Yes.”
Thomas opened another document.
“But the reason was not what everyone thought.”
Corin read the headline.
BELLWEATHER FAMILY SECRET REVEALED AFTER PRIVATE LAWSUIT
He looked at Thomas.
“What happened?”
Thomas sighed.
“Daniel and Lorraine discovered their father had hidden the truth about the company.”
“What truth?”
Thomas turned the page.
“The Bellweather empire was not originally built by their grandfather.”
Corin looked confused.
“Then who?”
Thomas answered:
“Another family.”
“A family whose name was erased.”
Corin felt another piece of the puzzle fall into place.
“The person controlling Lorraine…”
Thomas nodded.
“May be connected to that family.”
That afternoon, Corin received another message.
Unknown number.
But this time, there was no threat.
Only a location.
A warehouse address.
And one sentence.
COME ALONE IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOUR FATHER DID.
Corin stared at the phone.
He knew he should tell someone.
He knew he should not go.
Every adult would tell him the same thing.
But every adult had also kept secrets.
He needed answers.
Real answers.
Not pieces.
Not half-truths.
Before he could leave, Rory appeared at the doorway.
“Where are you going?”
Corin froze.
“Nowhere.”
Rory looked at him.
“You always say that when you’re hiding something.”
Despite everything, Corin almost smiled.
“You’re seven.”
“You’re thirteen.”
Rory crossed his arms.
“You also hide things.”
Corin looked at his little brother.
The one person in the world who still saw him as Corin.
Not a witness.
Not a guardian.
Not a problem.
Just his brother.
“I need to find something.”
Rory became worried.
“Are you leaving?”
The question hurt.
“No.”
Corin knelt down.
“I’m not leaving.”
“Promise?”
Corin hesitated.
Then he remembered his father’s words.
Being strong does not mean carrying everything alone.
He sighed.
“I promise I’ll come back.”
Not because he could guarantee everything.
Because he finally understood.
Promises were not magic shields.
They were choices.
Rory hugged him.
And Corin made a decision.
He would not go alone.
That night, Corin, Thomas, Evelyn, and Judge Caskey arrived at the warehouse.
They had tracked the message.
But whoever sent it wanted them there.
Inside the building, they found a single table.
On it:
A file.
A photograph.
And an old voice recorder.
Thomas picked up the file.
The cover read:
PROJECT SECOND CHANCE
Corin frowned.
“What is that?”
Thomas opened it.
Inside were documents from twenty years ago.
And the first page contained a name.
Not Bellweather.
A different family.
A family that had disappeared.
Then Corin saw the photograph.
A young Daniel.
A young Lorraine.
And a third person.
A man standing between them.
The same man whose name had appeared in Thomas’s files.
Victor Blackthorne.
But there was something else.
Written on the back of the photograph:
The truth was never about the money.
Thomas looked at Corin.
“What does that mean?”
Before anyone could answer…
The old voice recorder turned on by itself.
Static filled the warehouse.
Then a voice spoke.
A voice that made everyone freeze.
Daniel Bellweather.
But this recording was not from before his death.
It was older.
Much older.
And the first words he said were:
“If you are hearing this…”
A pause.
“Then Lorraine has already told you I was the villain.”
Corin stepped closer.
Daniel continued:
“She is right about one thing.”
Silence.
“I did betray someone.”
Corin’s heart tightened.
Then Daniel said:
“But it was not my family.”
The recorder crackled.
“It was the person who trusted me most.”
A final pause.
“And that person…”
The recording stopped.
Everyone waited.
Then a second voice came through.
A woman’s voice.
Not Amelia.
Not Lorraine.
Someone else.
The woman whispered:
“Daniel.”
A pause.
May you like
“You promised you would never tell Corin.”
End of Chapter 10
