CHAPTER 4 — THE WOMAN WHO KNEW THE TRUTH
The black SUV disappeared through the gates before security could reach it.
Alexander stood at the window, staring into the darkness.
His hand closed tightly around the silver key.
Behind him, Sofia sat on the edge of the bed.
“Daddy?”
Alexander turned.
He forced his expression to soften.
“I'm here.”
“Are you going after Veronica?”
“Yes.”
Sofia's eyes widened.
“Please don't.”
Alexander walked back to her.
“Why?”
“Because she'll hurt you.”
Those words stopped him.
“What makes you think that?”
Sofia looked down.
“She told me she would.”
Alexander's face hardened.
“When?”
“Whenever you weren't home.”
He crouched in front of his daughter.
“What else did she tell you?”
Sofia hesitated.
“She said Mommy ruined everything.”
Alexander felt his chest tighten.
“What did your mother supposedly ruin?”
“The family.”
“Did Veronica tell you why?”
Sofia shook her head.
“She just said Mommy stole something from Grandpa.”
Alexander stared at her.
His father had never mentioned anything being stolen.
But now everything seemed connected.
The secret study.
The photograph.
The silver key.
Elena's death.
Daniel Mercer.
And Veronica's fear.
Alexander stood.
“I need to make a phone call.”
He stepped into the hallway and called his attorney again.
“Forget tomorrow.”
“What?”
“I need Daniel Mercer's file tonight.”
“I told you—”
“Tonight.”
Alexander ended the call.
Then he called his private investigator.
“I want every record on Daniel Mercer.”
A pause.
“Everything?”
“Birth records. Employment. Banking. Medical. Travel. Family.”
“Understood.”
“And one more thing.”
“Yes?”
“Find out whether my wife contacted him before she died.”
The investigator went silent.
Then answered:
“I'll start immediately.”
Alexander returned to Sofia's room.
She was staring at the silver key.
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“Do you believe me?”
Alexander sat beside her.
“I believe you.”
“Even if Veronica says I'm lying?”
“Especially then.”
Sofia leaned against him.
For a few seconds, everything was quiet.
Then Alexander noticed something.
The key wasn't ordinary.
There were tiny numbers engraved along its edge.
0414.
His eyes narrowed.
April 14.
The date written on the back of the photograph.
He stood immediately.
“What is it?” Sofia asked.
“Nothing.”
But Alexander knew it wasn't nothing.
He rushed back to his father's study.
He searched through the desk.
Files.
Receipts.
Old letters.
Then he found a calendar.
April 14 had been circled in red.
Underneath it, his father had written:
Meet D.M. — final transfer.
Alexander's heart pounded.
Daniel Mercer.
April 14.
The same date Sofia was photographed with him.
He opened another drawer.
Inside was a bank receipt.
The amount was enormous.
And the recipient was not Daniel.
It was Elena Voss.
Alexander stared at the receipt.
Why would his father secretly transfer millions to Elena?
And why had Veronica been so desperate to hide it?
Suddenly, his phone rang.
It was the investigator.
“Mr. Voss, I found something.”
“What?”
“Daniel Mercer is alive.”
Alexander closed his eyes.
“Where?”
“New Hampshire.”
“When did he disappear?”
“Two weeks before your wife's death.”
Alexander's voice became quiet.
“Why?”
“That part gets stranger.”
“What?”
“Someone paid him to disappear.”
“Who?”
The investigator hesitated.
“We traced the payment.”
Alexander's stomach dropped.
“Whose account?”
“Veronica's.”
Silence.
Alexander slowly lowered the phone.
He looked at the photograph.
Elena.
Daniel.
Sofia.
His wife had known Daniel.
Veronica had paid Daniel.
And his father had secretly transferred money to Elena.
Nothing was accidental anymore.
Then the investigator spoke again.
“There's one more thing.”
Alexander looked up.
“What?”
“We found an old medical record for Daniel.”
“Go on.”
“He had a daughter.”
Alexander froze.
“What's her name?”
The investigator read from the file.
“Sofia.”
Alexander's heart stopped.
“No.”
“Mr. Voss…”
“That's impossible.”
“The birth date matches your daughter's.”
Alexander stared at the photograph in his hand.
Suddenly, the image looked different.
He noticed something he'd never paid attention to before.
The man standing beside Elena had the same dark eyes as Sofia.
The same small scar above the eyebrow.
The same shape of the jaw.
Alexander whispered,
“Daniel is Sofia's father.”
A floorboard creaked behind him.
He turned.
Sofia stood in the doorway.
She had heard everything.
Her face was pale.
“Daddy…”
Alexander rushed toward her.
But before he could reach her, another voice came from the hallway.
A woman's voice.
Calm.
Cold.
“You finally found out.”
Alexander stopped.
Margaret Voss stepped into the study.
His mother.
The woman he had believed was dead for twenty years.
Alexander couldn't breathe.
“Mom?”
Margaret looked at Sofia.
Then at the photograph.
“I've been waiting for you to open that room.”
Alexander stared at her.
“You're alive.”
Margaret nodded.
“And I know exactly what happened to Elena.”
She looked at Sofia.
“And I know who her real father is.”
Then she added the words that shattered Alexander completely:
“But Daniel Mercer isn't the man you should be afraid of.”
Margaret pointed toward the door.
“It's the person who has been living in this mansion with you for the last twelve years.”
Alexander's eyes widened.
“Veronica?”
Margaret shook her head.
“No.”
She looked directly at Sofia.
“Someone much closer.”
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And before Alexander could ask another question—
the lights in the mansion suddenly went out.
