CHAPTER 9: THE MOTHER WHO LIED
For several minutes, nobody spoke.
Not Evelyn.
Not me.
Not even the voice from the phone.
Claire was still there, waiting for my reaction.
But I had nothing to say.
Because there was a difference between discovering a stranger had betrayed you...
And discovering someone who raised you had been hiding the truth.
A stranger can break your trust.
But family can break your entire understanding of yourself.
"Who is it?"
My voice sounded empty.
Claire didn't answer immediately.
"Nathan..."
"Who?"
"I don't want to say this over the phone."
I closed my eyes.
"Everyone keeps saying that."
A pause.
"Because this is bigger than you think."
I looked at Evelyn.
She was watching me carefully.
Not like she was hiding something.
Like she was preparing herself for what came next.
"Where are you?"
I asked Claire.
She gave me an address.
Then I ended the call.
Evelyn stood.
"I'm coming with you."
"No."
The word came out faster than I expected.
She stopped.
"I need to do this alone."
Her expression changed.
Not anger.
Not disappointment.
Something worse.
Understanding.
Because Evelyn knew exactly why.
For ten years, she had been the person standing beside me.
Now I needed to know what existed without her.
"Okay."
She picked up her bag.
"But take this."
She handed me a small device.
"What is it?"
"A tracker."
I stared at her.
"Seriously?"
"Yes."
"You carry trackers?"
"I carry everything."
Despite everything, a small laugh escaped me.
The first real one in days.
Evelyn smiled faintly.
"There you are."
"What?"
"The Nathan I know."
The words hurt.
Because I didn't know if I was still that person anymore.
I drove to my parents' house.
The place where I grew up.
The place where I learned how to ride a bicycle.
The place where my father taught me how to repair broken things.
The place where my mother made pancakes every Sunday morning.
A place full of memories.
And now...
A place full of secrets.
My mother opened the door.
She looked at me.
And immediately knew.
"You saw it."
Not a question.
I froze.
"You knew?"
Her eyes filled with sadness.
"I knew this day would come."
That sentence made my blood run cold.
"How long?"
She stepped aside.
"Come inside."
"No."
My voice was firm.
"I don't want another conversation where everyone decides what I can handle."
My mother looked hurt.
Good.
Maybe she needed to feel what I felt.
"I want the truth."
She nodded.
"You deserve it."
We sat in the living room.
The same room where we had celebrated birthdays.
Christmas mornings.
Family dinners.
Now it felt like a courtroom.
"Did Dad know?"
My mother looked down.
"Yes."
"Did Evelyn know?"
Another pause.
"Yes."
I laughed quietly.
"Of course."
My mother closed her eyes.
"Nathan..."
"No."
I shook my head.
"Just answer."
"Did Claire know?"
"I don't know."
That surprised me.
"You don't know?"
"No."
My mother looked at me.
"Because Claire entered your life after everything started happening again."
"Again?"
She became quiet.
"Yes."
I leaned forward.
"What happened ten years ago?"
My mother looked toward the old photograph on the wall.
A picture of my father and me.
"He discovered something about your grandfather."
I sighed.
"Everyone keeps going further back."
"I know."
"What did my grandfather do?"
She hesitated.
"Your grandfather was involved with a financial network."
"Illegal?"
She didn't answer.
She didn't need to.
"Your father spent years trying to separate himself from that world."
"And Victor?"
"Victor was the only person who helped him."
I frowned.
"Then why did they become enemies?"
"Because Victor wanted to use the old connections."
"And Dad didn't."
"Yes."
I sat back.
"So Victor betrayed him."
"Yes."
"But why are you involved?"
That question changed her expression.
For the first time...
My mother looked afraid.
"I wasn't supposed to be involved."
"What does that mean?"
She took a breath.
"Before your father married me, I knew Victor."
I froze.
"What?"
"Not well."
"Mom."
"I met him through your grandfather."
The room became silent.
"You knew him before Dad?"
"Yes."
"Did Dad know?"
"Yes."
I stared.
"Then why did he marry you?"
My mother's eyes filled.
"Because your father knew I wasn't my family's choices."
The same words Evelyn had said.
I looked away.
Everyone in my life seemed to believe people could separate themselves from their past.
Everyone except me.
"Then why did Dad say you destroyed the family?"
My mother's face went pale.
"What?"
"The video."
I watched her carefully.
"He said the person who destroyed our family was someone I love."
She closed her eyes.
"He didn't mean me."
I froze.
"What?"
"He meant what I had done."
"What did you do?"
Silence.
A long one.
Then:
"I helped him."
I frowned.
"Helped who?"
"Victor."
The room went completely still.
My mother's voice became smaller.
"Years ago, when Victor was desperate, he came to me."
I couldn't breathe.
"And you helped him?"
"Only once."
"Once is enough."
She looked at me.
"I know."
I stood.
"So everything is true."
"No."
Her answer was immediate.
"I made a mistake."
"What kind?"
"I gave Victor information."
My heart sank.
"What information?"
"About your father's investigation."
I stared at her.
"Mom..."
"I thought I was protecting you."
The same words.
Again.
Everyone used them.
"I thought if Victor knew I was helping him, he would leave your father alone."
"But he didn't."
"No."
Her voice broke.
"He used what I gave him."
The room felt smaller.
"What happened after that?"
"Your father found out."
"What did he do?"
"He was devastated."
"Did he hate you?"
My mother looked down.
"No."
That surprised me.
"He blamed himself."
"Why?"
"Because he believed he had dragged me into his world."
I shook my head.
"This doesn't make sense."
"I know."
She wiped her tears.
"That's why I hid it."
Then she walked to an old cabinet.
She removed a small box.
Inside was a photograph.
She handed it to me.
I looked.
My father.
My mother.
Victor Cross.
And someone else.
A woman.
Young.
Beautiful.
Someone I didn't recognize.
"Who is she?"
My mother didn't answer.
I looked closer.
On the back of the photo was a date.
Twenty-two years ago.
Before I was born.
Then I saw the handwritten note.
The four people who started everything.
I looked at my mother.
"Who is the woman?"
My mother's face changed.
"Her name was Amelia."
"Who was she?"
My mother whispered:
"Your biological mother."
The world stopped.
I stared at her.
"What?"
My mother couldn't look at me.
"Nathan..."
"No."
I stepped back.
"No, that's impossible."
My mother cried.
"I raised you."
"That's not what I asked."
My voice broke.
"Who is my real mother?"
She whispered:
"Amelia Reed."
I felt numb.
"My name is Reed."
"Yes."
"Then why don't I know her?"
Because the answer was something I was not prepared for.
My mother looked at me.
"Because she disappeared the night you were born."
I couldn't move.
Another disappearance.
Another secret.
Another person everyone had decided to erase from my life.
"Where is she?"
My mother said nothing.
"Where is she?"
Finally, she whispered:
"Nathan..."
"Where?"
Her eyes filled with fear.
"She's alive."
My phone buzzed.
A message.
From an unknown number.
One sentence.
You finally know about Amelia. Now ask Evelyn why she helped your mother hide her.
I looked up.
My mother was crying.
My phone was shaking in my hand.
And somewhere in the middle of all these secrets...
I realized something.
The biggest lie of my life wasn't that Evelyn entered my world with a hidden purpose.
The biggest lie was that I knew who my family was.
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End of Chapter 9
Chapter 10: The Woman Who Vanished Before I Was Born sẽ tiếp tục với việc Nathan tìm Amelia Reed, khám phá bí mật về thân thế của mình và lý do Evelyn đã giữ kín sự thật về mẹ ruột anh suốt nhiều năm.**
