Chapter 7 - THE NIGHT I COULDN’T REMEMBER
I had spent seven months believing I knew how my baby had been conceived.
Now everything I believed was falling apart.
Daniel was standing across from me.
His face was pale.
“Emily,” he whispered.
I couldn't look at him.
My father asked:
“What happened that night?”
I swallowed.
“I don’t remember everything.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“Where were you?”
“A hotel.”
“Who was there?”
“I don’t know.”
Evan smiled.
“Of course you don't.”
I looked at him.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing.”
“You know.”
“I know enough.”
My mother suddenly spoke.
“Emily, don't listen to him.”
I turned toward her.
“Did you know?”
She looked terrified.
“Know what?”
“That I don't know who the father is?”
She said nothing.
My heart broke.
“You knew.”
“I suspected.”
I stepped away.
Everyone had known more about my life than I did.
My father opened the USB files.
The screen showed security footage.
A hotel lobby.
A woman walking inside.
Me.
I looked younger.
Angry.
Drunk.
Behind me was a man.
I couldn't see his face.
The footage continued.
The man followed me into an elevator.
Then the screen changed.
A different camera.
A hallway.
The man stood outside my room.
Then he entered.
The screen went black.
I began shaking.
My father closed the laptop.
“That’s enough.”
“No.”
I looked at him.
“I need to know.”
Daniel stepped beside me.
“I was there that night.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“I was outside the hotel.”
“Why?”
“Because I wanted to talk to you.”
My heart stopped.
“You never came inside?”
“No.”
“Then who was that man?”
Daniel looked at the screen.
“I don’t know.”
Evan laughed.
“You really believe that?”
Daniel turned toward him.
“What do you know?”
Evan said nothing.
My father grabbed him.
“Tell us.”
Evan smiled.
“You're asking the wrong question.”
“What question?”
“Who was the man?”
My father glared.
Evan looked at me.
“The question is: who wanted you to believe he was the man?”
The room went silent.
The evidence had been manipulated.
The footage had been edited.
My father examined the files.
“Someone altered this.”
Claire stepped forward.
“Evan.”
He smiled.
“Yes.”
She stared at him.
“You did this.”
“I did.”
“Why?”
“To make Emily believe the child was Daniel's.”
I stared at him.
“Why would you do that?”
“Because I needed Daniel to disappear.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“You framed me.”
“Yes.”
“And Emily?”
Evan looked at me.
“I needed her emotionally unstable.”
My father’s hands clenched.
“You destroyed her life.”
Evan smiled.
“You destroyed mine first.”
My father froze.
Evan continued:
“Your father took everything from my family.”
“That was not me.”
“But you were the heir.”
I stared at Evan.
This was the real reason.
The inheritance.
The old operation.
The stolen evidence.
The families were connected.
And I had been placed in the center.
Then Claire suddenly gasped.
“There’s another file.”
She pointed to the laptop.
A hidden folder had appeared.
My father opened it.
Inside was a single video.
The video showed Evan meeting someone.
The person turned.
I recognized him.
My father.
I stared at the screen.
The video was dated two years before my wedding.
My father was handing Evan an envelope.
Evan said:
“Once she marries me, the trust is mine.”
My father said:
“Make sure she never knows.”
I stopped breathing.
My father looked at me.
“It wasn't what you think.”
I stepped away.
“You made a deal with him?”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“You gave me to him.”
“No.”
“You did!”
My voice broke.
My father looked devastated.
“I believed I could control him.”
Evan laughed.
“You couldn't.”
The timer reached ten minutes.
Then a new message appeared.
THE TRUTH WILL BE RELEASED.
My father stared at the screen.
I looked at him.
“Tell me everything.”
He finally nodded.
And for the first time in my life, my father told me the truth.
But the truth was worse than I had imagined.
Because the night I became pregnant…
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My father had been there.
And he knew exactly who the man in the hotel room was.
