CHAPTER 8: THE ENEMY INSIDE THE HOUSE
The first instinct people have when they discover danger is to run.
Mine was different.
I wanted answers.
Maybe that was my biggest weakness.
Or maybe it was the reason I survived.
For ten years, everyone around me had made decisions for my safety.
My father.
My mother.
Evelyn.
They all believed protecting me meant keeping me away from the truth.
But they didn't understand something.
A person can survive a painful truth.
What destroys them is living inside a beautiful lie.
I stayed in my car for nearly five minutes.
The black vehicle across the street never moved.
The person inside never stepped out.
They didn't need to.
The message was already clear.
They knew where I was.
They knew what I had discovered.
And they wanted me to know they knew.
My phone buzzed.
Evelyn.
Again.
This time I answered immediately.
"Where are you?"
Her voice sounded relieved.
"You answered."
"Where are you?"
"Twenty minutes away."
"I need you to tell me everything."
A pause.
"I can't explain over the phone."
"Then explain in person."
Another silence.
Then:
"Go somewhere safe."
I looked at the car.
"What does safe even mean anymore?"
She had no answer.
Because she knew.
There was no safe place left.
I drove to a hotel outside the city.
Not my home.
Not my office.
Not anywhere connected to my routine.
For the first time in years, I understood why Evelyn always changed routes when driving.
Why she hated predictable schedules.
Why she noticed every stranger who entered a room.
I used to think she was paranoid.
Now I realized something terrifying.
Maybe she had never been paranoid.
Maybe she had been prepared.
Evelyn arrived forty minutes later.
She walked into the hotel room and immediately checked the windows.
Then the hallway.
Then the door lock.
Old habits.
My old Evelyn.
Except she wasn't old anymore.
Not to me.
Not after everything.
"You're scared."
I said it quietly.
She stopped.
"Yes."
I had never heard her admit that before.
Not once.
"You?"
She looked at me.
"Of losing you."
The answer was so simple that it hurt.
I looked away.
"I don't know what to believe anymore."
"I know."
"Do you?"
She sat down.
"Yes."
"No, Evelyn."
I shook my head.
"You don't."
She stayed silent.
"Do you know what it's like finding out your entire life has been managed by other people?"
Her eyes lowered.
"Yes."
The answer stopped me.
"What?"
"I know exactly what it feels like."
I stared at her.
"My father controlled everything about my life."
She smiled sadly.
"Where I went. Who I met. What I believed."
She looked at me.
"Then I realized your father wasn't much different."
I frowned.
"My father?"
"He wasn't controlling you because he wanted power."
She paused.
"He was controlling the environment around you because he was terrified."
"Terrified of what?"
"That you would become like him."
I didn't understand.
"What does that mean?"
Evelyn looked at me.
"Your father made a choice when he was young."
"What choice?"
"He chose ambition over people."
I said nothing.
"Victor Cross was his best friend before they became enemies."
That surprised me.
"Best friend?"
"Yes."
She nodded.
"They built everything together."
"Then why betray him?"
"Because your father discovered something."
"What?"
Evelyn looked away.
"That their company wasn't built on clean money."
My stomach tightened.
"What?"
"Your grandfather had connections."
I froze.
"My grandfather?"
"Yes."
The room became silent.
"Your family was involved in things before your father."
"What things?"
Evelyn hesitated.
"Things your father spent his entire life trying to undo."
I sat down.
Everything was becoming too big.
Too complicated.
I wanted one simple villain.
One person to blame.
But there wasn't one.
There was a chain.
A chain of choices.
A chain of mistakes.
A chain of people trying to fix what previous generations had broken.
"Then why was I targeted?"
Evelyn looked at me.
"Because you are the last piece."
My blood went cold.
"What piece?"
She reached into her bag.
She pulled out a small envelope.
Old.
Damaged.
Familiar.
I recognized it instantly.
"Where did you get that?"
She looked at it.
"Your father gave it to me."
"When?"
"The night before his heart attack."
I stood.
"Why didn't you give it to me?"
"Because he told me not to."
"Everyone keeps saying that."
"I know."
"Why should I believe you?"
"You shouldn't."
The answer shocked me.
Evelyn looked directly at me.
"You shouldn't believe anyone right now."
She placed the envelope on the table.
"Not me."
"Not Claire."
"Not even your mother."
The words were cold.
But true.
I opened the envelope.
Inside was a small USB drive.
Nothing else.
A single label was attached.
Three words.
FOR NATHAN ONLY
My hands shook.
"What is this?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"No."
"Then why have you had it for ten years?"
"Because your father trusted me."
I stared at her.
"And now?"
She looked at the USB.
"Now I think he was waiting for you to find out the truth yourself."
I plugged the drive into my laptop.
One folder appeared.
No password.
No protection.
Only one video file.
Created:
Ten years ago.
The night before my father's heart attack.
I clicked play.
The screen showed my father.
Older.
Tired.
Sitting in his office.
I hadn't seen him look like that before.
Broken.
He looked directly into the camera.
"Nathan."
My breath stopped.
Hearing his voice again after so long was painful.
"If you're watching this, then things went wrong."
He paused.
"I hoped you would never need to see this."
My father looked down.
"I failed you."
I felt my eyes burn.
"No..."
His voice continued.
"I spent my entire life trying to protect you from my mistakes."
A pause.
"But there is one mistake I never told you about."
The room became silent.
My father leaned closer.
"The person who destroyed our family..."
He swallowed.
"Was someone you love."
My heart stopped.
Evelyn looked at the screen.
I looked at Evelyn.
My father continued.
"And the reason I couldn't tell you..."
His eyes filled with sadness.
"Is because that person is your mother."
The video ended.
No explanation.
No details.
Just those words.
Your mother.
I couldn't move.
I couldn't breathe.
The silence afterward was unbearable.
Then Evelyn whispered:
"Nathan..."
I looked at her.
"Did you know?"
She didn't answer.
And somehow...
That was worse.
Because I already knew.
My phone suddenly rang.
Claire.
I answered.
Her voice was panicked.
"Nathan, where are you?"
"Why?"
"Because I found something."
I closed my eyes.
"What now?"
A pause.
Then Claire said:
"I know who has been following you."
My grip tightened.
"Who?"
Her voice dropped.
"Nathan..."
"Who?"
"It's not Victor."
The room went cold.
"It's not Evelyn either."
"Then who?"
Claire whispered:
"It's someone from your own family."
I looked at Evelyn.
She looked back at me.
For the first time...
Neither of us had an answer.
And that was when I realized something.
The enemy wasn't outside my life.
It had been sitting at my family table all along.
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End of Chapter 8
Chapter 9: The Mother Who Lied sẽ tiếp tục khi Nathan đối mặt với mẹ mình, khám phá đoạn video thứ hai cha anh giấu lại và phát hiện lý do thật sự bà che giấu quá khứ của gia đình Reed.**
