Chapter 5: The Voice Behind the Door
“Adeline…”
The voice came again.
Soft.
Broken.
Impossible.
Her entire body froze.
For five years, she had dreamed of hearing that voice.
In those dreams, she was always younger.
Always running toward him.
Always believing that when she reached him, everything would return to normal.
But dreams ended when you woke up.
This was real.
And reality was far more terrifying.
“Dad?””
The word left her lips before she could stop it.
Enzo immediately moved in front of her.
A protective gesture.
A dangerous one.
Adeline barely noticed.
The hallway outside the office remained dark.
Silent.
Waiting.
Then footsteps.
Slow.
Dragging.
Someone was approaching.
Elliot’s face had lost all color.
“No.””
Adeline looked at him.
“You know that voice.””
Elliot didn’t answer.
“You know.””
His silence was enough.
The door handle moved.
Enzo reached inside his jacket.
Adeline saw the weapon.
Her heart pounded.
“Don’t.””
Enzo looked back at her.
“If that is your father, he’s walking into a room with three people who don’t know whether he’s a threat.””
“He’s not a threat.””
“You don’t know that.””
The words hurt.
Because a part of her knew he was right.
She didn’t know anything anymore.
Not about her father.
Not about the past.
Not about the people around her.
The door opened.
A figure stood in the darkness.
For one second, nobody moved.
Then the person stepped forward.
The light from the street outside touched his face.
Adeline stopped breathing.
Older.
Thinner.
A scar crossing his jaw.
Gray replacing the dark hair she remembered.
But those eyes.
Those eyes were the same.
“Addie.””
Her knees nearly gave out.
“Dad…”
Daniel Croft stared at her.
Like he couldn’t believe she was real.
Like he had spent years imagining this moment and never thought it would happen.
Then he whispered:
“You weren’t supposed to be here.””
Adeline felt anger rise through the shock.
Not happiness.
Not relief.
Anger.
Five years of grief.
Five years of unanswered questions.
Five years of believing she had lost him.
And his first words were not an apology.
They were fear.
“You weren’t supposed to be here?””
Her voice shook.
“That’s what you say?””
Daniel stepped forward.
“I can explain.””
“No.””
She backed away.
“No, you don’t get to say that.””
His expression broke.
“Adeline—”
“You died.””
The words echoed through the office.
“You died, and I buried you.””
Daniel closed his eyes.
“I know.””
“You know?””
Her voice grew louder.
“Do you know what it was like?””
Nobody interrupted.
Not Enzo.
Not Elliot.
Not even Daniel.
“I was seventeen years old,” she continued.
“My whole world disappeared, and everyone told me to accept it. Everyone told me my father was gone.””
Her eyes filled with tears.
“But you weren’t gone.””
Daniel looked away.
That hurt more than anything.
Because it meant there was something he still wasn’t telling her.
“Why?””
The question was barely a whisper.
“Why did you let me believe you were dead?””
Daniel looked at her.
And for the first time, she saw the answer before he spoke.
Because he was afraid.
“I thought it would keep you alive.””
The words destroyed the last piece of her anger.
Because she understood fear.
She understood protection.
But she didn’t understand being abandoned by someone she loved.
“You left me.””
“No.””
“Yes.””
“I watched you.””
She froze.
“What?””
Daniel swallowed.
“I was there.””
The room went silent.
“You were there?””
“From a distance.””
Adeline stared.
“You watched me grow up without you?””
His face twisted.
“I watched you survive.””
“That’s not the same thing.””
“No.””
His voice cracked.
“It isn’t.””
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then Enzo stepped forward.
“Enough.””
Everyone looked at him.
Daniel’s expression changed immediately.
Recognition.
Anger.
“You.””
Enzo’s jaw tightened.
“You knew.””
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“You still think you know everything.””
“And you still run from every consequence.””
The tension between them filled the room.
Adeline looked between them.
“You two know each other.””
Neither answered.
She looked at Daniel.
“You knew Enzo.””
“Yes.””
“How?””
Daniel hesitated.
Then:
“Because your father’s secrets were connected to his family.””
Enzo’s voice was cold.
“Tell her the rest.””
Daniel looked at him.
“No.””
Adeline felt her frustration explode.
“No?””
She stepped between them.
“No more secrets.””
Both men looked at her.
“You don’t get to decide what I can handle.””
Her voice became quieter.
“But I get to decide what I know.””
Daniel looked at his daughter.
And something in his expression changed.
He finally saw that she was no longer the child he left behind.
“Your father,” he said slowly, “was investigating a group of people.””
“Who?””
“The people controlling the missing shipment.””
Enzo’s expression darkened.
“Names.””
Daniel ignored him.
“People inside law enforcement. Business. Politics.””
Adeline frowned.
“You mean criminals.””
Daniel looked at her.
“Sometimes the most dangerous criminals are the ones everyone trusts.””
A cold silence followed.
“Who are they?””
Daniel looked toward the window.
Like he expected someone to be listening.
“There was one person above everyone else.””
Enzo stepped closer.
“Who?””
Daniel hesitated.
Then whispered:
“Someone inside the Marchetti family.””
The words hit like a gunshot.
Adeline looked at Enzo.
His face remained still.
Too still.
But she saw something.
A flicker.
Pain.
“Who?”” Enzo asked again.
Daniel shook his head.
“I never found out.””
“You expect me to believe that?””
“It’s the truth.””
“You sent me a letter eleven years ago.””
“Yes.””
“You knew someone betrayed us.””
“Yes.””
“Then why hide the name?””
Daniel looked at him.
“Because the name was never written.””
“Why?””
“Because if that letter was found, everyone connected to it would die.””
Adeline looked at the old documents.
The missing shipment.
The accident.
Her father’s disappearance.
Everything connected.
But one question remained.
“Why come back now?””
Daniel looked at her.
Not Enzo.
Her.
“Because they found you.””
Her blood turned cold.
“What?””
“They weren’t searching for me anymore.””
A pause.
“They were searching for you.””
Adeline felt the room shift.
“What does that mean?””
Daniel’s expression became filled with guilt.
“It means your existence is the last piece of evidence they need.””
“Evidence of what?””
Daniel reached into his coat.
Slowly.
Carefully.
He pulled out a small black notebook.
Adeline recognized it instantly.
Her father’s handwriting covered the cover.
Her heart stopped.
“Your father left this behind.””
She stared.
“You mean you.””
Daniel nodded.
“Yes.””
“Then why didn’t you give it to me?””
“Because if you had it, they would have killed you.””
She looked at the notebook.
“What’s inside?””
Daniel didn’t answer.
Enzo did.
“Probably the reason someone tried to erase your family.””
Adeline looked at him.
“And you want it.””
It wasn’t a question.
Enzo didn’t deny it.
“Yes.””
The honesty surprised her.
“But why?””
He looked at the notebook.
“Because if Daniel wrote what I think he wrote…”
He paused.
“And if he was right…”
The lights suddenly flickered.
Everyone turned.
A loud crash came from outside.
Elliot rushed toward the window.
His face changed.
“They found us.””
Enzo immediately moved.
“Everyone out. Now.””
Adeline looked confused.
“What’s happening?””
Daniel grabbed her arm.
For the first time, she saw pure fear in her father’s eyes.
“Adeline, listen to me.””
“What?””
“You cannot let them take that notebook.””
She looked down.
The black notebook sat in her hands.
“Who are they?””
A sound exploded outside.
Glass shattered.
Everyone dropped.
Then Daniel whispered the words that changed everything.
“The people who killed me.””
Adeline looked at the window.
At the darkness outside.
At the men moving toward the building.
And then her father said something that made her blood run cold.
“Because they didn’t kill me for knowing the truth.””
He looked at Enzo.
“They killed me because I discovered who was hiding it.””
The office door suddenly burst open.
A figure stepped inside.
And in the dim light, Adeline recognized the face.
A face she had seen at the Marchetti estate.
A face she trusted.
A face that had been standing beside Enzo only hours earlier.
“Mrs. Bellini?””
The older woman looked at Adeline.
Her eyes filled with regret.
“I’m sorry, child.””
She raised the weapon in her hand.
“I tried to keep you away from this.””
The room went silent.
Then she whispered:
“But your father made the same mistake I did.””
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A pause.
“He trusted the wrong person.””
