Chapter 2: The Name He Buried
Nathan held the phone against his ear.
“What exactly are you saying, Charles?”
On the other end, there was only silence.
Then Charles Whitmore spoke again.
“You heard me.”
Nathan's eyes remained fixed on Victoria.
She had gone completely still.
Grace noticed it too.
Lily didn't.
The little girl had buried her face against Grace's shoulder, still clutching the old photograph in one tiny hand.
Nathan lowered his voice.
“You just told me not to believe Grace.”
“Yes.”
“Then tell me what she's lying about.”
Charles exhaled slowly.
“You're asking the wrong question.”
Nathan's jaw tightened.
“Then give me the right one.”
Another pause.
“Ask yourself why Grace disappeared five years ago.”
Nathan felt a cold pressure build behind his ribs.
He already knew the answer he had been given back then.
At least, he thought he did.
Grace had supposedly left because she wanted nothing to do with him.
No explanation.
No goodbye.
Just gone.
Nathan had spent months trying to find her.
Eventually, he stopped.
Or convinced himself he had.
“You know where she went.”
Charles didn't answer.
Nathan's voice hardened.
“You knew.”
Victoria suddenly stepped forward.
“Dad, stop.”
Charles heard her.
His tone changed immediately.
“Victoria is there?”
Nathan looked at her.
“Yes.”
“Put me on speaker.”
Nathan hesitated.
Then he did.
Charles's voice filled the dark kitchen.
“Victoria, don't say another word.”
She froze.
Her face had lost what little color remained.
Nathan stared at her.
“What are you afraid of?”
“I'm not afraid of anything.”
“You look terrified.”
Victoria shook her head.
“This is all a setup.”
Grace finally spoke.
“Then why did you try to hit Lily?”
Victoria spun toward her.
“I never touched that child!”
Lily suddenly lifted her head.
Her voice was tiny.
“You did.”
Everyone went silent.
Nathan crouched beside her.
“Lily, can you tell me what happened?”
The little girl looked at Victoria.
Her lower lip trembled.
“She was angry.”
“Why?”
“Because Mommy said no.”
Grace closed her eyes.
Nathan looked at Grace.
“No to what?”
Grace didn't answer.
Victoria did.
“She refused to leave.”
Nathan slowly stood.
“Leave where?”
Victoria's expression changed.
Charles spoke through the phone.
“Nathan, listen to me carefully.”
Nathan turned toward the phone.
“I'm listening.”
“Five years ago, Grace was supposed to disappear from your life.”
Nathan's eyes narrowed.
“Supposed to?”
“Yes.”
“Who decided that?”
Charles said nothing.
Nathan's voice dropped.
“You did?”
Silence.
That silence was enough.
Nathan felt something inside him snap into place.
He looked at Grace.
“You didn't leave me.”
Grace shook her head.
“No.”
“You were forced to.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Yes.”
Victoria whispered,
“Dad…”
Charles interrupted her.
“Victoria, go upstairs.”
She stared into the darkness.
“No.”
“Go upstairs.”
“I said no.”
Nathan stepped toward her.
“You're staying right here.”
Victoria looked at him.
For the first time, Nathan saw genuine panic in her eyes.
Then something crashed upstairs.
Everyone jumped.
Grace pulled Lily behind her.
Nathan immediately turned toward the staircase.
Another sound followed.
A door slamming.
Then footsteps.
Someone was moving through the second floor.
Nathan reached for his phone.
Still no signal.
He looked at Victoria.
“Who else is in this house?”
“No one.”
Grace shook her head.
“That isn't true.”
Nathan turned.
Grace's face had gone pale.
“Three months ago, when I started working here, I heard someone walking upstairs at night.”
Nathan frowned.
“You never told me?”
“I thought it was security.”
Victoria suddenly interrupted.
“You're lying.”
Grace ignored her.
“Then two weeks ago, I found this.”
She reached into the pocket of her uniform.
Nathan watched as she pulled out a small black flash drive.
His expression changed.
“What's on it?”
“I don't know.”
“Where did you get it?”
“Inside your study.”
Victoria's eyes widened.
Nathan noticed.
That reaction told him more than words could.
He took the drive.
“Why didn't you give this to me?”
Grace looked down.
“Because I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
Grace looked at Lily.
“Of what they would do to her.”
Nathan's stomach tightened.
“Who are they?”
Before Grace could answer, the lights suddenly came back on.
The security system rebooted.
Every screen in the house flickered simultaneously.
Then Nathan's television turned on by itself.
A video began playing.
Nathan recognized the room immediately.
His study.
The footage was dated five years earlier.
Nathan stepped closer.
The video showed Grace standing in front of his desk.
She was younger.
Pregnant.
Very pregnant.
Nathan stopped breathing.
He turned toward Grace.
“You were pregnant.”
Grace couldn't look at him.
On the screen, Charles Whitmore entered the room.
He placed a thick envelope on the desk.
Then he said something Nathan couldn't hear.
The recording had no audio.
Charles pointed toward Grace's stomach.
Then toward the door.
Grace shook her head.
She appeared to be crying.
Nathan stared at the screen.
The video suddenly froze.
A single frame remained.
Grace was holding something in her hands.
A hospital bracelet.
Nathan stepped closer.
He could barely read the name.
But he recognized the date.
It was the same date he had been told Grace left him.
His eyes moved slowly toward Lily.
Four years old.
His daughter.
Nathan's breathing became uneven.
He looked at Grace.
“You gave birth to her.”
Grace nodded.
“Yes.”
“And you never told me.”
“I tried.”
Nathan's voice cracked.
“How?”
Grace finally looked into his eyes.
“I called you.”
Nathan shook his head.
“I never received a call.”
“I called eleven times.”
Nathan's face went blank.
“Eleven?”
Grace nodded.
“Every time, someone answered before you could.”
Nathan turned toward Victoria.
She didn't move.
His voice became dangerously quiet.
“Who?”
Victoria's eyes filled with tears.
“Nathan…”
“Who answered my phone?”
She remained silent.
Charles suddenly spoke through the phone.
“I did.”
Nathan slowly looked down at the screen.
Charles continued.
“And I wasn't the only one.”
Nathan's phone suddenly buzzed.
The security connection had returned.
A new file appeared on his screen.
RECOVERED VIDEO — 5 YEARS AGO
Nathan opened it.
The screen showed a hospital corridor.
Grace was sitting alone outside a delivery room.
A nurse walked toward her.
In her arms was a newborn baby.
A little girl.
The nurse handed the baby to Grace.
Grace looked down at her daughter and smiled through tears.
Then the hospital doors opened.
A man walked in.
Nathan couldn't see his face.
But he recognized the expensive watch on his wrist.
It belonged to someone standing in his kitchen right now.
Nathan slowly lifted his eyes.
Victoria was staring at the screen.
And she knew he had recognized it.
Nathan's voice was barely a whisper.
“That watch…”
Victoria backed away.
Nathan took one step toward her.
“You were there.”
Victoria shook her head.
“No.”
“You were at the hospital.”
“No.”
“You saw my daughter.”
Her breathing became frantic.
Nathan's eyes hardened.
“Victoria…”
She backed into the kitchen counter.
Then Charles said the words that changed everything.
“Nathan, the man in that video wasn't Victoria.”
Nathan froze.
Charles continued.
“He was someone you trusted.”
The video suddenly advanced.
The man's face appeared for less than a second.
Nathan stared at the screen.
May you like
Then his entire expression changed.
Because he knew exactly who it was.
