Chapter 5: The Voice on the Telephone
The bell stopped ringing.
Nobody moved.
I stood beside the altar, holding the photograph of my mother while Walter stared at the chapel windows.
Darius reached for his radio.
"Security team, this is Darius. We have a possible threat at the old chapel. Check the surrounding grounds.""
Static answered him.
Then a voice.
"Copy that.""
Walter turned toward me.
"We need to leave.""
I shook my head.
"Not until we find out what happened to her.""
"Avery, please.""
"No.""
My voice echoed through the empty chapel.
"You've had twenty-five years to protect her. I'm not leaving because someone abandoned a van.""
Walter lowered his eyes.
"I understand.""
Darius approached.
"There's something else about the vehicle.""
"What?"" Walter asked.
"The registration belongs to the Bellmont Foundation, but the vehicle was reported out of service six months ago.""
"Who authorized its use?""
Darius checked his phone.
"The authorization came from the executive office.""
Walter's jaw tightened.
"Simone.""
"Most likely.""
I looked down at the photograph.
My mother had written that the person who told me she was dead was someone I must never trust.
And now the daughter of the man who had taken me away was moving my mother around the city like a prisoner.
I wanted answers.
I wanted them immediately.
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
"Hello?""
For a few seconds, there was only breathing.
Then a woman's voice.
"Avery?""
My entire body went still.
"Who is this?""
A faint sob came through the speaker.
"My darling girl.""
I dropped the photograph.
It landed face down on the chapel floor.
"Mom?""
Walter turned sharply.
I pressed the phone against my ear.
"Mom, is that you?""
The woman began crying.
"I knew you'd come.""
My knees weakened.
"Where are you? Are you hurt?""
"I'm all right, sweetheart.""
"Where are you?""
"I can't tell you.""
"Why not?""
A pause.
Then she whispered:
"Because Simone is listening.""
I looked at Walter.
His face had gone white.
"Mom, listen to me. I'm coming to get you.""
"No.""
Her voice became urgent.
"You must not come here.""
"Why?""
"Because they don't know what I kept.""
I closed my eyes.
"What did you keep?""
A faint rustling sound came through the phone.
Then she said something that changed everything.
"The original birth certificate.""
I looked at Walter.
He slowly shook his head.
"Mom, why is that important?""
"Because the name on it isn't the name they gave you.""
I stopped breathing.
"What?""
"My baby, they changed your identity.""
I looked down at my hands.
"What was my real name?""
Before she could answer, a man's voice shouted in the background.
"Who are you talking to?""
My mother gasped.
Then the line went dead.
"Mom?""
I stared at the screen.
"Mom!""
Walter grabbed my shoulder.
"What did she say?""
I could barely speak.
"She said my name was changed.""
Darius stepped closer.
"Can you call back?""
I tried.
The number was unavailable.
I tried again.
Nothing.
Walter walked toward the chapel entrance.
"We're going to the police.""
Darius nodded.
"I've already requested officers at the medical residence and the railway station.""
"Then we find the vehicle that took her.""
I looked at him.
"How?""
Walter hesitated.
Then he reached into his pocket and took out a small key.
"There is an archive beneath the original hotel.""
"What archive?""
"Your mother's personnel records. The original documents. Everything she collected before she disappeared.""
"Why didn't you tell me?""
"Because I didn't know whether the records still existed.""
He looked at the key.
"Simone never knew I kept the archive.""
We returned to the hotel through the loading entrance.
The charity gala had ended.
The ballroom was almost empty, but the chandeliers still shone above tables covered with abandoned champagne glasses.
A few staff members were cleaning the floor.
When they saw Walter, they stopped.
"Good evening, sir.""
He nodded.
Then he turned toward me.
"This way.""
We walked past the old kitchens and down a narrow staircase.
At the bottom stood a steel door.
Walter inserted the key.
The lock clicked.
Inside was a small archive room filled with filing cabinets, boxes, and old photographs.
Dust covered everything.
I stepped inside.
"This is where you kept my mother's things?""
"Yes.""
Walter opened a drawer.
"Denise was very careful. She made copies of everything.""
He removed several folders.
I searched through them.
There were employment contracts, handwritten notes, medical invoices, and photographs.
Then I found a file marked:
*DENISE COLE — MATERNITY RECORDS.*
I opened it.
The first page was a hospital discharge form.
The second was a copy of a birth certificate.
I stared at the date.
My birthday.
The hospital name.
The mother's signature.
Then I saw the line beneath my name.
*Father: Walter James Bellmont.*
I stopped.
The room seemed to tilt.
I looked at him.
He was standing beside the filing cabinet, watching me.
"Why does this say you're my father?""
Walter closed his eyes.
I took a step backward.
"Answer me.""
He lowered his head.
"Because I am.""
The words hit harder than Simone's shove ever could.
"No.""
"Avery—"
"No.""
I held up the document.
"You told me you were my mother's employer.""
"I was.""
"You told me you took me away because you wanted to protect me.""
"I did.""
"Then why didn't you tell me you were my father?""
His eyes filled.
"Because I was ashamed.""
I stared at him.
He continued.
"Denise and I were together before she became pregnant. I was a married man at the time. I promised her I would leave my marriage, but I didn't.""
My throat tightened.
"And Simone?""
"She was my daughter from my marriage.""
I looked at the certificate again.
"So Simone is...""
"Your half-sister.""
I let the paper fall onto the desk.
The woman who had shoved her father and tried to silence me was my sister.
The woman who had kept my mother hidden was my sister.
And the man I had saved was my father.
I felt sick.
"Did you love my mother?""
Walter nodded.
"Yes.""
"Then why did you let her suffer?""
He covered his face.
"Because I was a coward.""
I turned away.
He didn't try to stop me.
For a few seconds, the only sound was the hum of the archive's ventilation system.
Then Darius called from the doorway.
"Mr. Bellmont, you need to see this.""
He held up a printed sheet.
"What is it?"" Walter asked.
"An internal access log. Someone opened this archive remotely twenty minutes ago.""
Walter frowned.
"That's impossible. The archive isn't connected to the network.""
Darius turned the page.
"Someone used an executive override.""
I felt cold.
"Who?""
Darius pointed to the name displayed on the report.
SIMONE BELLMONT.
Walter took the paper.
"She knows.""
Darius nodded.
"There's another issue. The archive's secondary exit has been opened.""
I looked toward the back wall.
A narrow door stood slightly ajar.
Someone had been inside.
I rushed toward it.
Beyond the door was a short corridor leading to an old service elevator.
On the floor lay a torn piece of paper.
I picked it up.
It was a photograph.
My mother was standing beside a hospital bed.
Beside her was a little girl wearing a red dress.
Simone.
But Simone looked no older than thirteen.
On the back, my mother's handwriting read:
The night Simone discovered the truth.
I turned the photograph over again.
There was a second sentence beneath it.
She knows who Avery's father really is.
I stared at Walter.
"Who else could it be?""
He didn't answer.
Instead, he looked toward the open service elevator.
Then his phone rang.
The caller ID showed Simone's name.
Walter answered.
"Where is Denise?""
Simone laughed softly.
"You're asking the wrong question, Father.""
"Tell me where she is.""
"Before I do, I think you should ask Avery what she wants to know.""
Walter looked at me.
Simone continued.
"Because there's one more thing you haven't told her.""
"What?""
Her voice dropped.
"Denise didn't disappear because I wanted her gone.""
Walter gripped the phone.
"Simone—"
"She disappeared because she knew what happened the night Avery was born.""
The call ended.
I looked at Walter.
"What happened that night?""
May you like
He stared at the photograph in my hands.
And for the first time since I had met him, he looked genuinely afraid of the answer.
