Chapter 6: The Person Pulling The Strings
The sentence stayed in the air.
“I was meeting the person who hired him.””
Nobody spoke.
Not me.
Not Daniel.
Not even Ethan.
The perfect house suddenly felt like a place full of hidden rooms.
Every hallway.
Every photograph.
Every memory.
Everything seemed to have another meaning.
“Who hired him?”” I asked.
Ethan didn’t answer immediately.
That scared me more than anything.
“Ethan.””
“I don’t know if I should tell you yet.””
I almost laughed.
“Seriously?””
After everything?
After the cameras?
After the lies?
“You still think I can’t handle the truth?””
His voice softened.
“No. I think you’ve already been hurt enough today.””
That answer caught me off guard.
Because even now, after what I did, he was still worried about me.
Daniel looked toward the window.
Then he spoke.
“Mr. Carter, with respect, keeping information hidden is what caused this situation.””
A long silence.
Then Ethan replied:
“You’re right.””
I heard him exhale.
“Claire, there’s someone from my past.””
I waited.
“Someone who disappeared fifteen years ago.””
I frowned.
“Who?””
“My older brother.””
I froze.
I knew Ethan had a brother.
But only because I had seen an old photograph once.
A young man standing beside Ethan when they were teenagers.
I remembered asking about him.
Ethan had simply said:
“He’s gone.””
I never asked again.
“What happened to him?””
Ethan’s voice became quieter.
“Everyone thought he died.””
My eyes widened.
“Everyone?””
“Yes.””
The room felt colder.
“Ethan, what does this have to do with Mark?””
“I don’t know yet.””
“Then why are you telling me?””
“Because Mark knows.””
Daniel looked up.
“What?””
Ethan continued.
“Mark has been searching for my brother.””
“Why?””
“I don’t know.””
I walked slowly toward the kitchen table and sat down.
My mind struggled to process everything.
The affair.
The investigator.
The hidden camera.
Mark.
Ethan’s missing brother.
It was too much.
Then Daniel spoke.
“There’s something else.””
I looked at him.
“What?””
He reached into his bag and removed a small folder.
Not a document for me to read.
Not evidence to expose me.
Something else.
“I found this while investigating Mark.””
Ethan immediately asked:
“Daniel, don’t.””
Daniel stopped.
“Why?””
Another silence.
Then Ethan said:
“Because if Claire sees that, there’s no going back.””
My heart started pounding.
“What is it?””
Nobody answered.
That made me more afraid.
I stood.
“Show me.””
Daniel looked at Ethan through the camera.
“Your choice.””
A few seconds passed.
Then Ethan whispered:
“Show her.””
Daniel opened the folder.
Inside was a photograph.
A family photograph.
My eyes moved across the image.
And then stopped.
There was Ethan.
There was Mark.
And there was another man.
A man I had never seen before.
But that wasn’t what shocked me.
It was the handwriting on the back.
A name.
A date.
And a message.
*The Carter family secret must stay buried.*
My hands trembled.
“Who wrote this?””
Ethan didn’t answer.
“Ethan.””
Finally, he spoke.
“My father.””
I looked at the photograph again.
“What does that mean?””
Ethan’s voice became heavier.
“My father didn’t die naturally.””
The room went silent.
“What?””
“He was murdered.””
I stared at the phone.
“You told me he had a heart attack.””
“I know.””
“Why would you lie about that?””
“Because I was protecting you.””
I shook my head.
“No. You were hiding things from me.””
“Yes.””
The honesty hurt.
“But I wasn’t hiding them because I didn’t trust you.””
“Then why?””
Ethan paused.
“Because the person responsible for my father’s death…”
He stopped.
My heart raced.
“Who?””
His answer came quietly.
And it changed everything.
“Is someone you know.””
I felt a chill.
“Someone I know?””
“Yes.””
“Who?””
Ethan didn’t respond.
Then Daniel’s phone buzzed.
A new message appeared.
Unknown sender.
Only one sentence.
*Stop digging, or Claire will learn why she was chosen.*
I stared at the screen.
“Chosen?””
Daniel looked at me.
Ethan’s voice came through the phone.
“Claire…”
I waited.
“Mark wasn’t trying to steal you from me.””
A pause.
“He was trying to get close to you for another reason.””
My voice shook.
“What reason?””
Ethan answered:
“Because you’re connected to the secret too.””
And suddenly, I realized something terrifying.
Maybe I wasn’t the victim of a perfect trap.
May you like
Maybe I had walked into one years ago…
without ever knowing.
