CHAPTER 14 — THE LAST PERSON WHO KNEW THE TRUTH
The moment the call ended, I stood there staring at my phone.
Linda was missing.
The person who had helped my mother hide secrets for years was suddenly gone.
Part of me should have felt relieved.
But I didn’t.
Because I knew what fear looked like now.
I had seen it on Megan’s face.
I had seen it in my father’s letters.
And I heard it in my mother’s voice.
My mother wasn’t calling to manipulate me this time.
She sounded genuinely afraid.
“Megan,” I said quietly.
She immediately understood.
“What happened?”
“Linda disappeared.”
Megan’s expression changed.
“After she contacted you?”
I nodded.
“That’s not a coincidence.”
No.
It wasn’t.
Someone was trying to control the situation.
And whoever that person was, they were getting desperate.
I grabbed my jacket.
Megan immediately stood up.
“Where are you going?”
“To find out what happened.”
“Jake.”
I stopped.
She walked closer.
“You can’t keep trying to fix everything alone.”
Her words made me pause.
Because she was right.
For years, I had carried problems by myself.
I thought being strong meant handling everything alone.
But my father had done the same thing.
And it almost destroyed him.
I took a breath.
“You’re right.”
I reached for her hand.
“But I need to know the truth.”
She nodded.
“Then we find it together.”
That was the moment I realized something.
My mother had spent years trying to separate people.
She created fear.
She created doubt.
She made everyone believe they had to choose sides.
But she underestimated one thing.
The truth brought people together.
That afternoon, I contacted the police and explained everything.
The messages.
The threats.
The injuries.
The disappearance.
Because no matter how complicated family was, nobody had the right to make someone feel unsafe.
While waiting for updates, I returned to my father’s old house.
Something about Linda’s disappearance bothered me.
She knew too much.
And people who know too much usually leave behind clues.
I searched through the documents again.
Then I found something I missed.
A name.
Buried in one of my father’s notes.
“L.H. — involved since the beginning.”
Linda Harper.
Since the beginning.
I looked through the paperwork beneath it.
Then I found a date.
The date was from before Megan and I even met.
My heart started racing.
This was never about my marriage.
It was about something much older.
I kept reading.
My father had written:
“She helped Margaret isolate everyone who questioned her.”
Margaret.
My mother’s name.
I sat back.
My father had documented everything.
Not because he hated my mother.
Because he was trying to understand her.
But then I found one final document.
A letter from Linda.
Not to my mother.
To my father.
My hands shook as I opened it.
The letter was years old.
Thomas,
I know you think I’m helping Margaret, but you don’t understand what happens when she feels abandoned.
I continued reading.
She becomes someone none of us recognize.
My breathing slowed.
Linda knew.
She knew exactly what my mother was capable of.
The next sentence made my blood run cold.
I regret helping her cover up what happened before.
Before.
That word again.
I turned the page.
But the rest was missing.
Again.
Another incomplete truth.
Someone had removed the ending.
At that moment, my phone rang.
It was the police.
“Mr. Miller?”
“Yes?”
“We found Linda Harper.”
My heart jumped.
“Where?”
“She’s at a hospital.”
“Is she okay?”
A pause.
“She’s alive.”
I exhaled.
“What happened?”
“She claims she was attacked.”
My stomach tightened.
“By who?”
The officer hesitated.
“She says she knows who did it.”
“Who?”
The answer shocked me.
Because it was the one person I never expected.
The officer said:
“Your mother.”
I froze.
My first instinct was disbelief.
My second instinct was anger.
But then I remembered something.
My mother had lied before.
She had hidden things before.
And yet…
Something felt wrong.
Because Linda was not innocent either.
She had helped hide the truth.
She had threatened Megan.
She had manipulated me.
This could be another lie.
Or it could be the final piece.
When I arrived at the hospital, Linda looked completely different.
No confidence.
No mysterious warnings.
Just fear.
She looked at me.
“Jake.”
I stood beside her bed.
“What happened?”
Tears filled her eyes.
“I made a mistake.”
“What mistake?”
She swallowed.
“Helping your mother.”
The room went silent.
“Tell me everything.”
She looked at me.
“Your mother didn’t plan everything alone.”
My heart sank.
“Who else?”
Linda closed her eyes.
Then whispered:
“The person who caused your father’s death.”
I froze.
“What?”
She looked directly at me.
“And you’ve known him your entire life.”
My blood ran cold.
“Who?”
Linda’s voice shook.
“Your uncle David.”
The room went silent.
Because suddenly, the story was bigger than my mother.
Bigger than Linda.
Bigger than anything I imagined.
Another person had been hiding in the shadows.
May you like
And this time…
It was someone from my own family.
