Chapter 6 - The Ghost From The Past
Chapter 6 - The Ghost From The Past
The hallway fell into complete silence.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
The billionaire father stared at the photo on the phone.
His fingers trembled.
The image was blurry.
But the face was clear enough.
A man standing beside Daniel.
A man the father had buried seven years ago.
A man whose name was supposed to exist only in old memories.
His younger brother.
Michael.
The father stepped backward.
"No..."
The contractor looked confused.
"Who is that?"
The father could barely answer.
"He's dead."
The girlfriend closed her eyes.
The reaction was small.
But everyone saw it.
She wasn't surprised.
She already knew.
The father slowly turned toward her.
"You knew."
The woman looked away.
"You knew Michael was alive."
Her silence was louder than any confession.
The contractor tightened his grip on the hammer.
"Someone want to explain what is happening?"
The father looked at the phone again.
For years, he believed the tragedy that destroyed his family was simple.
A terrible accident.
A missing child.
A heartbreaking loss.
But now every memory had a different meaning.
Every conversation.
Every lie.
Every moment of comfort.
Everything had been part of a plan.
Michael had not died.
He had disappeared.
The same way Daniel had.
The father walked toward the girlfriend.
"Where is he?"
She shook her head.
"I don't know."
The father stared at her.
"Don't lie to me."
"I'm not."
Her voice cracked.
"Not anymore."
Those words surprised everyone.
The father narrowed his eyes.
"What does that mean?"
The girlfriend looked toward the stairs.
"I was never the person in control."
The contractor frowned.
"Then who was?"
The woman didn't answer.
Instead, she walked toward the old hidden room.
She looked at the drawings on the wall.
The pictures Daniel had made while trapped.
Her expression changed.
For the first time, she looked ashamed.
"I thought he would leave after taking the money."
The father froze.
"What money?"
The girlfriend swallowed.
"The money from your company."
The father felt a cold wave move through him.
Michael had access to his business.
His family.
His trust.
The perfect person to betray him.
The contractor shook his head.
"So this was about money?"
The girlfriend looked at the father.
"At first."
The father stared.
"At first?"
She nodded slowly.
"Then it became something else."
A noise interrupted them.
A faint sound from outside.
A car engine.
Everyone turned toward the front window.
A black vehicle was parked outside the mansion.
The father looked confused.
"I didn't invite anyone."
The contractor looked through the glass.
"Someone just arrived."
The headlights turned off.
The front door opened.
Footsteps approached.
Slow.
Calm.
Confident.
The father stood in front of Daniel's abandoned camcorder.
The person walking toward the house was not hiding.
They wanted to be seen.
The door opened.
A man stepped inside.
Older.
Wearing a dark coat.
His face showed no fear.
The father stopped breathing.
Because he knew him.
It was Michael.
The brother he had mourned.
The man he believed died in a car accident.
Michael looked around the mansion.
Then smiled.
"Looks like you finally found him."
The father stared.
His anger was almost impossible to control.
"You were alive."
Michael smiled.
"Yes."
The father stepped forward.
"You let me believe you were dead."
Michael shrugged.
"You believed what you wanted to believe."
The father clenched his jaw.
"And my son?"
Michael looked toward the broken wall.
"He was never supposed to survive."
The room became silent.
The contractor moved forward.
But the father raised his hand.
He needed answers.
Michael looked at Daniel's empty place.
"The boy was always the problem."
The father's face changed.
"You tried to kill my son?"
Michael laughed quietly.
"No."
He looked around the mansion.
"I tried to remove the only person who could expose us."
The father felt his heart stop.
"Us?"
Michael glanced toward the girlfriend.
She looked terrified.
The father followed his eyes.
And understood.
She was not the mastermind.
She was only a piece.
Michael took another step inside.
"The truth is much bigger than you think."
The father stared at him.
"Where is my son?"
Michael smiled.
Then he held up a small device.
A second camcorder.
Daniel's camcorder.
The father went pale.
"You took it."
Michael nodded.
"And now..."
He pressed a button.
A recording began playing.
Daniel's voice filled the room.
"Dad, if you are watching this..."
The father froze.
The recording continued.
"...it means they found me again."
Everyone stopped breathing.
Daniel's voice became weaker.
"But there is something you need to know."
The father moved closer to the speaker.
"What?"
The recording played one final sentence.
A sentence that destroyed everything.
"The person who helped hide me..."
A pause.
May you like
Then Daniel whispered:
"...was someone you love."
