CHAPTER 3: THE SECRET BEHIND THE HOSPITAL NIGHT
I didn't sleep.
Not because I was afraid.
Fear was simple.
Fear told you to run.
What I felt was worse.
Confusion.
It sat quietly in the corner of my room, waiting for every memory I had to collapse one by one.
For ten years, I had carried the same story in my head.
Evelyn Cross saved me.
She found me broken outside the library.
She recovered my assignment.
She stood beside my family during my father's heart attack.
She became the person who never abandoned me.
That story had been the foundation of my entire adult life.
And now someone was telling me the foundation was built on something rotten.
I wanted to believe it was a lie.
I needed it to be a lie.
Because if Evelyn had manipulated everything...
Then I wasn't just betrayed.
I was forced to question every good moment I had ever experienced.
The next morning, I went to my parents' house.
I didn't tell them why.
I didn't want to scare them.
I just needed answers.
My mother opened the door and smiled.
"Nathan. What a surprise."
I hugged her.
For a second, everything felt normal.
Safe.
Then I saw it.
A picture frame on the living room shelf.
A photo from ten years ago.
My father leaving the hospital.
My mother crying.
Me standing beside them.
And Evelyn.
Standing slightly behind everyone.
Like she belonged there.
Like she had always belonged there.
"Mom."
She looked at me.
"Yeah?"
"Do you remember the night Dad had his heart attack?"
Her smile faded.
"Of course."
"Do you remember when Evelyn came?"
My mother's expression changed.
Not much.
But enough.
"You mean after we called her?"
I froze.
"After we called her?"
My mother looked confused.
"Yes."
I stared at her.
"What do you mean?"
She walked toward the kitchen.
"Nathan, she was your best friend. You were the one who called her."
My heart started beating faster.
"No."
My mother stopped.
"What?"
"I didn't call Evelyn."
The room became silent.
My mother slowly turned around.
"What are you talking about?"
"I was with Dad when it happened. I called emergency services. Then I called you."
"Yes."
"Then I called my supervisor."
My voice became quieter.
"But I didn't call Evelyn."
My mother's face changed.
A small crease appeared between her eyebrows.
"Are you sure?"
I wanted to say yes.
But suddenly...
I wasn't.
Because that was the terrifying thing about Evelyn.
She had been around for so long that some memories didn't feel like mine anymore.
They felt edited.
Rearranged.
"Mom, when did Evelyn arrive at the hospital?"
She thought for a moment.
"I don't remember exactly."
"Try."
"Maybe forty minutes later?"
"Did anyone tell her?"
My mother looked uncomfortable.
"Nathan..."
"What?"
"Why are you asking these questions?"
I looked away.
"Just answer."
She sighed.
"Your father was still in emergency care. I remember seeing her walking in."
"Alone?"
"Yes."
"How did she know where we were?"
My mother didn't answer.
That silence was enough.
I left my parents' house and drove directly to the hospital.
The same hospital where my father had almost died.
The same place where Evelyn's story began.
I found the old records department.
After explaining that I was looking for information about a family emergency from ten years ago, the receptionist helped me search.
After nearly an hour, she handed me a file.
"These are the visitor records from that day."
My fingers tightened around the folder.
"Thank you."
I opened it.
Names.
Times.
Signatures.
Most of them meant nothing.
Until I saw one.
Evelyn Cross.
Arrival time:
7:42 PM.
I stared.
My father had been admitted at 8:15 PM.
I looked again.
Then my stomach dropped.
She arrived thirty-three minutes before my father's emergency.
Before anyone outside my family knew.
Before there was any reason for her to be there.
My hands started shaking.
That night, I called the unknown number.
I didn't know why.
Maybe because part of me wanted someone to explain this.
Someone to tell me I was wrong.
The call connected immediately.
"You found something."
It wasn't a question.
"Who are you?"
"Someone who made the mistake of trusting Evelyn before you did."
"Name."
A pause.
Then:
"Sarah Whitmore."
I searched my memory.
Nothing.
"I don't know you."
"You should."
"Why?"
"Because ten years ago, Evelyn wasn't just helping your family."
I swallowed.
"What was she doing?"
Sarah was quiet.
Then she said:
"Looking for something."
"What?"
"Evidence."
The word made no sense.
"Evidence of what?"
"Of your father's company."
I frowned.
"My father owned a small construction company."
"Yes."
"So?"
"So your father was about to expose someone."
The room felt colder.
"Who?"
Sarah hesitated.
Then:
"Evelyn's father."
I stood completely still.
"What?"
"You heard me."
"No."
My voice became sharper.
"That's impossible."
"Is it?"
I didn't answer.
Because suddenly, another memory appeared.
A memory I had ignored.
A conversation between Evelyn and my father.
Years ago.
They were standing in the kitchen.
I had walked in halfway through.
My father looked angry.
Evelyn looked scared.
When I entered, both of them stopped talking.
I had assumed they were discussing me.
Maybe they weren't.
"What does Evelyn's father have to do with my family?"
Sarah took a deep breath.
"Your father discovered financial fraud connected to his business partner."
"And?"
"And that business partner was Victor Cross."
I felt the blood leave my face.
Evelyn's father.
A man I had never met.
A man Evelyn rarely talked about.
"He disappeared after the investigation began."
"Disappeared?"
"Yes."
"Where did he go?"
Sarah didn't answer.
Instead, she asked:
"Nathan, do you know why Evelyn became your best friend?"
My jaw tightened.
"Because we met at college."
"No."
The certainty in her voice disturbed me.
"No?"
"That meeting outside the library wasn't random."
I stared at the wall.
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying Evelyn already knew who you were."
My breathing slowed.
"What?"
"Before she helped you recover your laptop..."
Sarah whispered:
"She knew your last name."
I ended the call.
I couldn't hear anything anymore.
Not the traffic outside.
Not the television.
Not my own thoughts.
Only one sentence repeated inside my head.
The meeting outside the library wasn't random.
For ten years, I believed Evelyn found me.
But what if she was looking for me?
The next day, I confronted her.
I didn't warn her.
I didn't prepare.
I just went to her apartment.
When she opened the door, her expression changed instantly.
She knew.
Somehow...
She knew.
"Nathan."
I looked at her.
"Who is Victor Cross?"
The color disappeared from her face.
Only for a moment.
But I saw it.
And that was enough.
"Evelyn..."
She slowly stepped back.
"Who told you?"
Not denial.
Not confusion.
A question.
That was the answer.
I felt something inside me crack.
"You knew."
She closed her eyes.
"Nathan, listen to me."
"No."
My voice shook.
"You knew my family before we met."
Silence.
"You knew my father."
Another silence.
"You didn't become my friend by accident."
Evelyn looked at me.
And for the first time in ten years...
I saw something I had never seen before.
Fear.
Real fear.
"Nathan..."
Her voice was barely a whisper.
"Everything I did was to protect you."
I laughed.
A broken, bitter laugh.
"Protect me from what?"
She looked at me.
And the next words changed everything.
"From the truth about your father."
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End of Chapter 3
Chapter 4: The Daughter of the Enemy sẽ tiếp tục khi Nathan phát hiện mối liên hệ thật sự giữa gia đình mình và nhà Cross, cùng bí mật mà Evelyn đã che giấu suốt mười năm.
