Chapter 4: The Name Hidden From Me
The message remained on my screen.
*Ask Brooke who your father is.*
Six words.
Six words that felt heavier than the entire night.
I stared at them until the letters blurred.
My father.
A man whose name had always been a simple answer in my life.
A man I remembered only through old photographs and my mother's quiet stories.
A man who died when I was young.
A man I never had a reason to question.
Until now.
"What did it say?""
Marcus's voice pulled me back.
I looked up.
He was watching me carefully.
Not like Chad.
Not with amusement.
With guilt.
I turned the phone around.
His expression changed the moment he read the message.
"You know something.""
It wasn't a question.
Marcus looked away.
That was enough.
I stepped closer.
"Tell me.""
"Daniel...""
"No.""
My voice became sharper.
"Six weeks ago, someone tried to kill me. Tonight, I found out my accident wasn't an accident. I found out my inheritance might not even belong to me. And now someone is telling me Brooke knows something about my father.""
I held up the phone.
"So you don't get to protect me from the truth anymore.""
Marcus remained silent.
Chad, standing nearby, suddenly laughed.
It wasn't a nervous laugh.
It was confident.
"You see? This is exactly why you had to be removed.""
I turned toward him.
"Removed?""
"You always ask questions.""
He shook his head.
"That's your problem, Daniel. You think knowing the truth gives you power.""
His smile faded.
"Sometimes the truth destroys you.""
I looked at him.
"You sound afraid.""
For the first time, Chad's expression changed.
Just slightly.
But I saw it.
A crack.
"You have no idea what you're dealing with.""
"Then explain it.""
He stepped forward.
"I don't owe you anything.""
"No.""
I nodded.
"You don't.""
I looked at Marcus.
"But he does.""
Chad's eyes narrowed.
"Marcus.""
The warning in his voice was obvious.
Marcus ignored him.
"I found the original accident report three days after it happened.""
I waited.
"The vehicle that hit you wasn't random.""
My jaw tightened.
"What was it?""
"A company-owned vehicle.""
"Whose company?""
Marcus didn't answer.
I already knew.
"Whitmore Holdings.""
Silence.
Even Chad stopped smiling.
I felt something inside me collapse.
Because the truth was no longer a possibility.
It was real.
"The car belonged to your company," Marcus continued, looking at Chad.
"But someone used it without authorization.""
Chad's face hardened.
"You don't know what you're talking about.""
Marcus looked at him.
"I know exactly what I'm talking about.""
The hallway became a battlefield.
Not with weapons.
With secrets.
I turned to Marcus.
"Who was driving?""
He hesitated.
That hesitation told me everything.
"Marcus.""
His eyes lowered.
"Daniel...""
"Who was driving?""
He finally spoke.
"The vehicle was registered under Ethan Carter's department.""
My heart sank.
Brooke's brother.
Again.
But then something didn't make sense.
"If Ethan was driving, why did the footage show him arriving after the crash?""
Marcus looked uncomfortable.
"Because Ethan wasn't the driver.""
I frowned.
"Then who?""
Nobody answered.
The silence stretched.
Then my phone rang.
Again.
Unknown number.
Everyone looked at it.
I answered.
"Hello?""
This time, a woman spoke.
A woman I recognized.
"Daniel.""
My entire body went still.
Because I knew that voice.
"Brooke?""
Across the hallway, Chad's expression changed.
The confident man suddenly looked worried.
"Where are you?"" I asked.
Her breathing was uneven.
"Somewhere I should have gone six weeks ago.""
"What does that mean?""
"Daniel, you need to listen to me.""
I tightened my grip on the phone.
"Start talking.""
There was a pause.
Then she whispered:
"My brother wasn't the only person involved.""
My eyes moved toward Chad.
"I know.""
"No.""
Her voice cracked.
"You don't understand.""
I heard movement in the background.
Like she was hiding.
"Chad knows I called you, doesn't he?""
I looked at him.
He was watching me.
Not blinking.
"How would you know that?""
Because she wasn't answering.
"Brooke.""
Her voice dropped.
"Daniel, I made a terrible mistake.""
The words hit harder than I expected.
Not because they surprised me.
Because a small part of me still wanted her to deny everything.
"I loved you.""
The sentence almost made me laugh.
Almost.
"Don't say that.""
"It's true.""
"No.""
I looked through the glass window at the city lights below.
"Love doesn't disappear when someone gets injured.""
Her breathing became shaky.
"I know.""
That was the first honest thing she had said.
"I know.""
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then she whispered:
"Your father didn't die in an accident.""
The world stopped.
I forgot how to breathe.
"What?""
Behind me, Marcus looked up.
Even Chad became still.
Brooke continued.
"Your mother lied to you because she was protecting you.""
My voice lowered.
"Protecting me from what?""
A long silence.
Then:
"From the Hayes family.""
I closed my eyes.
"No.""
"Daniel, please.""
"No.""
My voice became louder.
"Don't do this.""
"I should have told you before.""
"Before what?""
She started crying.
"Before Chad found the documents.""
My heart raced.
"What documents?""
"The ones proving your father was alive after the accident.""
The hallway disappeared.
The noise disappeared.
Everything disappeared.
"My father...""
My voice barely worked.
"My father was alive?""
"Yes.""
I felt the ground beneath me shift.
"But he wasn't allowed to come back.""
"Why?""
Her answer was barely a whisper.
"Because he knew the truth about your grandfather's company.""
I looked at Marcus.
He looked as shocked as I felt.
Even he didn't know.
Brooke continued.
"Daniel, there is something you need to understand.""
"What?""
"Your grandfather didn't leave you Hayes Global because he loved you.""
The words cut deep.
"He left it to you because he was afraid.""
"Afraid of what?""
Her voice trembled.
"Of the person who would inherit it if you disappeared.""
A cold silence followed.
"Who?""
I heard her crying.
Then she said a name.
A name I had never expected.
A name that changed everything.
"Your father.""
The call ended.
I stood frozen.
My father.
Alive.
Somewhere.
And somehow connected to the same secrets that almost killed me.
Chad moved first.
He stepped toward me.
"Daniel.""
I looked at him.
For the first time, he looked afraid.
"What did she tell you?""
I didn't answer.
Because I was watching his face.
Not his words.
His reaction.
And suddenly I understood.
Chad wasn't scared because I knew the truth.
He was scared because I was getting close to something he had spent years hiding.
"You knew.""
His expression tightened.
"Knew what?""
"You knew my father was alive.""
The silence was immediate.
Marcus looked at Chad.
"You knew?""
Chad said nothing.
That was enough.
I stepped closer.
"How long?""
His jaw tightened.
"Daniel, you don't understand.""
"How long?""
He looked away.
And then he said the words that destroyed the last piece of trust I had left.
"Since before you met Brooke.""
The hallway went silent.
I felt something inside me break.
Not because Chad had betrayed me.
I expected that.
Not because Brooke lied.
I expected that too.
But because suddenly, I realized my entire life might have been built on a story someone else wrote.
And I had been the only person who didn't know the ending.
Marcus suddenly looked toward the ballroom entrance.
His face changed.
"What?""
I followed his eyes.
A man stood at the end of the hallway.
Older.
Gray hair.
Wearing a dark coat.
Everyone else looked confused.
But I didn't.
Because I had seen that face before.
In photographs.
In memories.
In the old picture hidden in my mother's drawer.
The man slowly walked toward me.
My heart stopped.
Because the person I had spent my entire life believing was dead...
was standing ten feet away.
And he said:
"Daniel.""
May you like
A pause.
"I'm sorry it took me this long to come home.""
