Chapter 8: The Woman My Father Tried To Forget
The photograph sat between us like a bomb.
Nobody touched it.
Nobody spoke.
Because sometimes the truth is so impossible that your mind refuses to accept it.
Elena Carter.
My father’s first wife.
Ryan’s biological mother.
A woman who had been dead for almost twenty years.
But the photograph didn’t lie.
She was alive.
Standing beside Victor Hale.
Standing beside the person who destroyed our family.
I looked at Ryan.
He looked like he couldn’t breathe.
“You knew about her?””
He shook his head slowly.
“No.””
My mother stepped back.
“She can’t be alive.””
Detective Mason looked at the photograph again.
“Are you certain this is her?””
My mother didn’t answer.
That was the answer.
She knew.
I looked at her.
“Mom.””
She closed her eyes.
“I knew her.””
The room became silent.
“You knew her?””
My mother nodded.
“Before your father met me.””
Ryan stared at her.
“Why didn’t you ever tell us?””
My mother looked at him.
“Because your father asked me not to.””
The anger returned.
Everyone had a reason.
Everyone had an explanation.
But somehow, I was still the person left outside the truth.
“Why?”” I asked.
My mother looked at me.
“Because Elena wasn’t supposed to exist anymore.””
That sentence made no sense.
“What does that mean?””
My mother sat down slowly.
“She and your father were married before racing made him famous. They had Ryan.””
Ryan looked away.
“I know that part.””
“But you don’t know the rest.””
My mother’s voice became quieter.
“Elena became obsessed with control.””
Ryan frowned.
“What?””
“She wanted your father to choose between racing and family.””
My mother looked at him.
“When he refused, she disappeared.””
Detective Mason asked:
“Disappeared voluntarily?””
My mother nodded.
“Yes.””
“Then why did everyone think she died?””
My mother looked at the floor.
“Because Victor told us she did.””
The name filled the room again.
Victor.
Always Victor.
I felt exhausted.
Every road led back to him.
“Why would Victor fake her death?””
My mother looked at Ryan.
“Because he needed your father to trust him.””
Ryan’s face changed.
“What are you saying?””
She took a deep breath.
“Elena and Victor were working together.””
The room froze.
Ryan laughed once.
“No.””
His voice was broken.
“No, that’s not possible.””
My mother looked at him.
“I saw them.””
“When?””
“The night your father died.””
Nobody moved.
I stared at my mother.
“You were there too?””
She nodded.
“I followed your father because I knew something was wrong.””
Ryan stepped forward.
“You never told me.””
“Because I saw what happened.””
Her eyes filled with tears.
“And I was afraid.””
“Afraid of what?””
My mother looked at Ryan.
“Afraid because I saw you there.””
Ryan froze.
“What?””
She continued.
“You arrived before the crash.””
His face went pale.
“I told you. I got there after.””
“No.””
My mother shook her head.
“You arrived before.””
Ryan stepped backward.
“No.””
“You were standing with Victor.””
The room became completely silent.
I looked at my brother.
Ryan looked like someone had punched him.
“I don’t remember.””
My mother stared at him.
“You were hurt.””
“What?””
“Victor hit your car before you reached the track.””
Ryan grabbed his head.
“No.””
“You had a concussion.””
My mother’s voice softened.
“You didn’t remember everything.””
I watched Ryan struggle with the memory.
Pieces.
Missing pieces.
A night he had spent eight years trying to understand.
“Then what happened?”” Detective Mason asked.
My mother looked at the photograph.
“Elena arrived.””
My stomach tightened.
“Then?””
“She argued with Victor.””
“About what?””
“About killing your father.””
Nobody breathed.
My mother continued.
“Elena didn’t want him dead.””
Ryan looked up.
“She wanted Dad alive?””
“Yes.””
“Then why?””
“Because Victor betrayed her too.””
A new silence.
The kind where every answer creates more questions.
“So Elena helped Victor,” I said.
My mother nodded.
“But she didn’t know he planned to go that far.””
I looked at the photograph.
A woman who had been a ghost for decades.
A woman connected to everything.
“What happened after the crash?””
My mother looked at Ryan.
“You found your father.””
Ryan closed his eyes.
“I remember.””
His voice was barely audible.
“I remember the car.””
He stopped.
“I remember Victor.””
My heart tightened.
“What else?””
Ryan looked at me.
“I remember someone else.””
Everyone leaned closer.
“Who?””
Ryan shook his head.
“I don’t know.””
My mother stepped forward.
“You do.””
Ryan looked confused.
“What?””
“You saw her.””
My mother pointed at the photograph.
“Elena.””
Ryan stared.
“No.””
“Yes.””
His breathing changed.
“You saw your mother.””
The room went quiet.
Ryan looked at the photograph.
Then suddenly grabbed the edge of the table.
“No.””
I moved toward him.
“Ryan?””
He looked terrified.
“She was there.””
My voice softened.
“What?””
“She was there that night.””
His memories were coming back.
“She was screaming.””
“About what?””
Ryan looked at me.
“She told Victor he had ruined everything.””
A terrible thought appeared.
“If Elena wasn’t trying to kill Dad…”
Ryan finished the sentence.
“Then someone else was.””
Two hours later, we found Marcus.
Not because he wanted to be found.
Because he wanted us to find him.
Detective Mason tracked a message sent from Marcus’s abandoned workshop.
The location was an old race testing facility outside the city.
The same place my father used years ago.
The same place where secrets were buried.
When we arrived, the doors were already open.
Too open.
Ryan immediately stopped.
“This is a trap.””
I looked at him.
“How do you know?””
“Because Victor always wants people to know they’re walking into one.””
We entered anyway.
Inside, Marcus stood beside an old engine.
He looked tired.
Not like a criminal.
Like someone who had been carrying something too heavy.
Ryan stepped forward.
“Why?””
Marcus looked at him.
“You already know.””
“No.””
Ryan’s voice was cold.
“I want to hear you say it.””
Marcus looked at me.
“I’m sorry, Emma.””
I felt sick.
“Why?””
His eyes dropped.
“Because I failed your father.””
“You worked with Victor.””
He nodded.
“Yes.””
The answer hurt.
“But I never wanted him dead.””
Ryan moved closer.
“Then why sabotage Emma’s car?””
Marcus shook his head.
“I didn’t.””
Everyone froze.
“What?””
Marcus looked at me.
“Someone used my access.””
I didn’t understand.
“My access?””
“I was your mechanic.””
He looked at Ryan.
“I was also your father’s closest friend.””
Ryan’s expression hardened.
“Don’t say that.””
Marcus accepted the anger.
“I deserved that.””
Detective Mason stepped forward.
“Then explain.””
Marcus walked toward the engine.
“Victor needed access to Emma’s car.””
My heart stopped.
“How?””
Marcus looked at me.
“He had someone inside your team.””
“Who?””
Marcus hesitated.
Then looked at Ryan.
The answer was written on his face before he spoke.
“Your brother.””
The room went silent.
Again.
Ryan’s expression changed.
“What?””
Marcus shook his head.
“Not by choice.””
He pointed toward the old engine.
“Victor has been using the same method for years.””
“What method?””
Marcus opened a hidden compartment.
Inside was a small device.
A recorder.
He pressed a button.
A voice played.
Ryan’s voice.
Eight years younger.
Terrified.
Saying words he didn’t remember.
“I’ll give you the location. Just leave my family alone.””
Ryan went completely still.
My blood ran cold.
Because it was his voice.
His words.
But he didn’t remember saying them.
Marcus looked at us.
“Victor drugged him that night.””
The recording continued.
Another voice appeared.
Victor.
“Good. That’s exactly what I needed.””
Then a third voice.
A woman.
Elena.
Whispering:
“Victor, you promised nobody would get hurt.””
The recording ended.
Nobody moved.
Then Marcus spoke.
“The person who killed your father wasn’t Ryan.””
He looked at me.
“But the person who helped Victor…”
He turned toward the doorway.
“…was someone we never suspected.””
A shadow appeared outside.
Someone had been listening.
Detective Mason reached for his weapon.
“Show yourself.””
The figure stepped into the light.
My entire body froze.
Because the person standing there was holding an old photograph.
A photograph of my father.
And smiling like they had been waiting years for this moment.
It was Daniel Cross.
Alive.
Again.
But this time, he wasn’t running.
He was coming to us.
And he said the one sentence nobody expected.
“Emma, your father didn’t die because of Victor.””
May you like
He looked at Ryan.
“He died because of me.””
