Chapter 7: The Brother I Never Knew
I read the message three times.
Every time, the words felt worse.
Come home alone.
Or Lily disappears.
Five years ago, I lost my wife.
For years, I wondered how I survived that pain.
Now I knew.
Because losing Lily would destroy whatever was left of me.
“I’m going,” I said.
Emily immediately shook her head.
“No.””
“He has my daughter’s things.””
“He wants you angry.””
“I don’t care.””
“That’s exactly what he wants.””
I looked at her.
“He already took five years from us.””
My voice cracked.
“I’m not letting him take another minute.””
Emily grabbed my arm.
“Daniel, listen to me.””
I looked at her.
“Mark isn’t the only danger.””
“What does that mean?””
She hesitated.
Then reached into her bag.
She pulled out a small recorder.
“I recorded him.””
“When?””
“The night before I disappeared.””
I pressed play.
Static filled the room.
Then Mark’s voice.
“You should have left this alone, Emily.””
My blood ran cold.
Emily’s voice followed.
“You’re destroying your own family.””
Mark laughed.
“My family?””
A pause.
“You really think Daniel will believe you?””
The recording continued.
“He trusts me.””
Those three words hurt more than anything.
Because they were true.
I had trusted him.
More than my own daughter.
The recording ended.
I looked at Emily.
“Why didn’t you show me this?””
“Because I didn’t know who I could trust.””
That sentence broke me.
My wife had been alive.
My daughter had been afraid.
And both of them had looked at me and seen someone they couldn’t depend on.
I left the hotel.
But I didn’t go alone.
Emily followed.
So did Sarah.
“We’re coming,” Sarah said.
I shook my head.
“No.””
Emily looked at me.
“Daniel.””
“I need to do this.””
She stepped closer.
“No. You need to stop trying to carry everything alone.””
Those words hit me.
Because they sounded exactly like something Emily would have said years ago.
We drove back to the house.
The street looked normal.
That was the terrifying part.
Neighbors walked their dogs.
Cars passed by.
Nobody knew my family was falling apart inside the walls of that house.
The front door was unlocked.
I stepped inside.
“Mark?””
No answer.
The living room was dark.
The television was still broken.
Exactly like that night.
Then I heard clapping.
Slow.
Mocking.
From the stairs.
Mark appeared.
“You came.””
I looked at him.
“Where is Lily?””
He smiled.
Not the smile I remembered.
A colder one.
“Still protecting her?””
“You threatened my daughter.””
“No.””
He walked down the stairs.
“I tried to save her.””
I almost laughed.
“You expect me to believe that?””
Mark looked at Emily.
“She didn’t tell you, did she?””
Emily’s face tightened.
“Don’t.””
He smiled.
“Daniel deserves the truth.””
I stepped forward.
“What truth?””
Mark looked at me.
“Your wife wasn’t the only one hiding things.””
My stomach tightened.
“What are you talking about?””
He reached into his pocket.
Pulled out a photograph.
And placed it on the table.
I picked it up.
The picture showed Emily.
Standing beside another man.
Before the accident.
Before she disappeared.
My hands shook.
“Who is he?””
Mark smiled.
“That’s the man Emily was going to leave you for.””
The room went silent.
I looked at Emily.
Her face had gone pale.
“Daniel…”
But I stepped back.
Because suddenly, I didn’t know what was real anymore.
May you like
And then Mark whispered:
“Ask her why she never told you she was alive.””
