CHAPTER 10: THE WOMAN WHO VANISHED BEFORE I WAS BORN
For most of my life, I had one mother.
Not two.
Not a question.
Not a mystery.
My mother was the woman who packed my lunches, stayed awake when I was sick, and sat beside my bed when I had nightmares as a child.
She was the woman who taught me how to tie my shoes.
The woman who attended every school event.
The woman who cried when I graduated.
She was my mother.
But now, one sentence had split my entire identity in half.
She's alive.
Those two words destroyed everything I thought I knew.
I left my parents' house without saying goodbye.
My mother didn't stop me.
Maybe she knew she didn't have the right.
The drive back was almost automatic.
I barely remembered the roads.
My mind was trapped somewhere twenty-two years ago.
A time before I existed.
A time when my parents were strangers.
A time when a woman named Amelia Reed disappeared.
When I arrived at my apartment, Evelyn was waiting outside.
I stopped.
Of course she was.
She always knew where I was.
That thought would have bothered me before.
Now it just exhausted me.
She stood up.
"Nathan."
I walked past her.
She followed.
"Your mother told you."
I stopped.
"You knew."
Silence.
"Evelyn."
She looked down.
"Yes."
I laughed quietly.
"I don't even know why I'm surprised anymore."
"Nathan..."
"Did you know Amelia was alive?"
A long pause.
Then:
"Yes."
The answer hit harder than I expected.
"You knew my real mother was alive."
"Yes."
"And you never told me."
Her eyes filled with pain.
"I couldn't."
"No."
I shook my head.
"You chose not to."
She didn't argue.
Because it was true.
"Why?"
Evelyn looked at me.
"I promised your father."
"My father is dead."
"I know."
"Then why are you still protecting his secrets?"
Her expression changed.
"Because promises don't disappear when people do."
I stared at her.
"That's the problem with you, Evelyn."
"What?"
"You care more about promises than people."
The words hurt her.
I saw it.
But I needed her to hurt.
Because I had spent my entire life living inside secrets she helped create.
"Where is she?"
Evelyn became quiet.
"Where is Amelia?"
"I don't know."
I stared.
"You expect me to believe that?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because I spent years trying to find her."
That surprised me.
"What?"
Evelyn sat down on the steps outside my apartment.
For once, she looked tired.
"I was seventeen when I first learned Amelia existed."
"You were investigating my family?"
"No."
She looked at me.
"My father was."
I sat across from her.
"Explain."
"After Victor disappeared, I found documents."
"What kind?"
"Old records."
She paused.
"One of them mentioned Amelia."
"And?"
"It said your father wasn't Amelia's husband."
I frowned.
"What?"
"Your father raised you."
She looked at me.
"But he wasn't your biological father."
The words were painful.
Even though I already knew something was wrong.
"My mother..."
"Amelia was connected to Victor."
I froze.
"What?"
"Before your father met your mother, Amelia was involved with Victor."
The world became more confusing.
"Then who is my father?"
Evelyn looked away.
"I don't know."
The silence was unbearable.
"You don't know?"
"No."
"After ten years of knowing everything about me..."
Her eyes lowered.
"I never found the answer."
I stood.
"How much of my life is fake?"
Evelyn looked at me.
"Not all of it."
"How do I know?"
"Because the love was real."
I laughed.
"That's what everyone says."
"Nathan."
"No."
I shook my head.
"My entire life, people have been telling me they lied because they loved me."
I looked at her.
"Do you understand how insane that sounds?"
She didn't answer.
Because she did.
That night, I searched everything.
Old documents.
Public records.
Anything connected to Amelia Reed.
Most information was gone.
Almost erased.
Like someone had deliberately removed her from history.
Then I found something.
A newspaper article from twenty-two years ago.
The headline:
LOCAL BUSINESSMAN'S DAUGHTER MISSING AFTER FAMILY DISPUTE
The article was short.
Too short.
The missing woman:
Amelia Cross.
Not Reed.
Cross.
I stared at the screen.
My hands went cold.
Amelia wasn't just connected to Victor.
She was his daughter.
Victor Cross's daughter.
My entire life became impossible.
I called Evelyn.
She answered immediately.
"Did you find her?"
"Her name."
Silence.
"What?"
"Amelia Cross."
I heard Evelyn stop breathing.
"You knew."
Her voice was quiet.
"I suspected."
"Suspected?"
"Yes."
"You knew Victor had another daughter?"
"No."
"Then why did my mother call herself Reed?"
A pause.
"Because she married your father."
I closed my eyes.
"No."
Something didn't fit.
Something was wrong.
"Wait."
I looked back at the article.
The date.
The year.
The location.
Then I saw it.
A name mentioned near the bottom.
Witness: Thomas Reed.
My grandfather.
I froze.
"Evelyn."
"Yes?"
"My grandfather knew Amelia."
"Yes."
"But he didn't just know her."
I swallowed.
"He was there when she disappeared."
The next morning, I went back to my parents' house.
My mother opened the door.
She looked like she hadn't slept.
"Nathan."
I held up the newspaper.
Her face changed.
"You found it."
"You knew."
She closed her eyes.
"I knew you would eventually."
"Tell me."
She stepped aside.
This time, she didn't try to stop me.
Because she knew the time for protecting me was over.
"My father knew Amelia before he knew me."
"Yes."
"Why?"
My mother sat down.
"Because Amelia came to him for help."
"Help with what?"
She looked at the old photograph.
"Victor."
"Her father?"
"Yes."
"Why would she need help from my grandfather?"
My mother's voice became quiet.
"Because she discovered what Victor had done."
"What did he do?"
She looked at me.
"The same thing your father later discovered."
My heart sank.
"What?"
"Victor didn't just steal money."
She whispered:
"He was involved in your grandfather's death."
I froze.
"My grandfather died naturally."
"That's what everyone believed."
"But?"
My mother looked at me.
"But Amelia knew the truth."
"Which was?"
She hesitated.
Then:
"Your grandfather was murdered."
The room went silent.
"And Amelia was the only witness."
Suddenly everything connected.
Victor.
My grandfather.
My father.
Evelyn.
Amelia.
A family secret stretching across generations.
But one question remained.
"Where is Amelia now?"
My mother looked terrified.
"I don't know."
"Someone does."
She looked at me.
"What?"
I pulled out my phone.
A new message.
Unknown number.
A photo.
A woman standing outside a small house.
Older.
But recognizable.
My heart stopped.
The message contained only three words.
SHE'S WAITING, NATHAN.
I looked at Evelyn.
She had followed me.
She was standing in the doorway.
She saw the picture.
And for the first time in ten years...
Evelyn Cross looked completely powerless.
Because she knew who the woman was.
And she whispered:
"Amelia."
May you like
End of Chapter 10
Chapter 11: The Mother I Never Knew sẽ tiếp tục khi Nathan gặp Amelia, biết sự thật về nguồn gốc của mình và phát hiện Evelyn đã từng phải lựa chọn giữa lời hứa với cha anh và sự thật về gia đình Cross.**
