Chapter 8 — The Recording Vanessa Forgot
Chapter 8 — The Recording Vanessa Forgot
The recording began with static.
Then I heard Vanessa's voice.
Not the voice she used when she spoke to me.
Not the calm, careful voice she had perfected over eighteen months.
This voice was frightened.
Young.
Almost unrecognizable.
"If Daniel ever hears this, it means I failed."
I froze.
Vanessa stood beside me.
Her face went white.
"No."
I looked at her.
"You knew about this?"
She shook her head.
"No."
"You said you forgot the recording."
"I didn't know it existed."
The screen flickered.
Then Elena appeared.
My wife was sitting beside Vanessa.
They were younger.
The timestamp was from three weeks before Elena disappeared.
I moved closer.
Elena looked directly into the camera.
"Daniel cannot know yet."
My heart tightened.
"Why?"
Vanessa answered from the recording.
"Because he'll go after them."
"That's exactly what he'll do."
"He'll get himself killed."
"I know."
Elena looked down.
Then she touched her stomach.
"I don't have much time."
I stopped breathing.
She was pregnant.
The recording continued.
"If they discover the baby, they'll use him to control Daniel."
Vanessa nodded.
"That's why we need the second plan."
Elena looked toward the camera.
"And that's why I need you to betray me."
I stared at Vanessa.
She had never told me that.
Not once.
The Second Plan
The recording showed Vanessa opening a folder.
Inside were passports.
Three of them.
One for Elena.
One for Ilaria.
And one for a baby.
The name on the third passport was:
NOAH MARLOWE.
I felt tears burn my eyes.
My son had existed before Elena disappeared.
He had been planned.
Protected.
Hidden.
Vanessa's voice continued.
"If we fake Elena's death, they'll stop looking for her."
Elena shook her head.
"They won't."
"They will if Daniel believes you're dead."
"I can't do that to him."
"You don't have a choice."
Elena stared at her.
"What if he hates me?"
Vanessa's voice broke.
"Then he'll be alive."
I looked away.
All those months.
All those nights.
I had sat beside Ilaria's bed and told her Mommy loved us.
I had secretly wondered whether Elena had chosen another life.
And she had been making the hardest choice of her life.
Making me hate her.
So I would survive.
The Betrayal
The screen went black for several seconds.
Then a new recording began.
Vanessa was alone.
She looked directly at the camera.
"If you're watching this, something went wrong."
She swallowed.
"Elena was supposed to leave through the east tunnel."
A pause.
"But someone knew."
My blood ran cold.
"Someone inside our plan."
The image flickered.
Vanessa whispered:
"They knew everything."
Then she said the name.
"Celeste."
I stared at the screen.
My former fiancée.
The woman who had spent months pretending to love Ilaria.
The woman who had humiliated my daughter.
The woman who had stood beside her holding the pitcher of ice water.
Celeste.
Vanessa continued.
"She isn't working for the Circle."
I frowned.
"She's working for someone above it."
The recording ended.
Silence filled the room.
I turned toward Vanessa.
"How long have you known?"
She looked devastated.
"Since before Elena disappeared."
"And you said nothing."
"Because I didn't know who she was working for."
"You knew enough."
"I knew she was dangerous."
"You let her into my house."
"Because Elena wanted her there."
I stared.
"Why?"
Vanessa shook her head.
"Because Celeste was supposed to lead us to the person controlling everything."
The Woman in the Photograph
Vanessa opened another file.
Inside was a photograph.
Celeste stood beside a man.
Older.
Gray hair.
Expensive suit.
A silver ring.
I recognized him immediately.
My father's closest business partner.
Victor Sloane.
I hadn't seen him in years.
He had attended my father's funeral.
He had hugged me.
He had told me:
"Your father would be proud."
I stared at the photograph.
"He's alive."
Vanessa nodded.
"And he's been running the Circle."
I felt something inside me break.
"Why would Celeste work for him?"
"Because he owns her."
"What does that mean?"
Vanessa hesitated.
"Celeste was never her real name."
Of course.
Another name.
Another lie.
Another person pretending to be someone else.
"What is her real name?"
Vanessa whispered:
"Isabelle Sloane."
My stomach tightened.
"Victor's daughter?"
"Yes."
"Then she was never my fiancée."
"No."
"She was his spy."
"Yes."
I laughed bitterly.
"Everyone knew."
Vanessa looked at me.
"Not everyone."
I turned toward her.
"You knew."
She nodded.
"I knew."
"Adrian knew."
"Yes."
"My mother knew."
"Yes."
"Elena knew."
"Yes."
I looked at the floor.
"And nobody thought I deserved the truth."
Vanessa began crying.
"We thought keeping you ignorant would keep you alive."
I looked at her.
"It almost got my daughter killed."
She couldn't answer.
The Hidden Camera
Adrian suddenly walked into the room.
"I found something."
He placed a small device on the table.
A camera.
Hidden inside a decorative clock.
My blood ran cold.
"Where?"
"In your old bedroom."
"When?"
"Tonight."
"Who installed it?"
"We don't know."
Vanessa looked at the device.
Then she froze.
"I know this model."
"Who uses it?"
She whispered:
"Victor."
I looked at Adrian.
"Then he's been watching me."
"Yes."
"For how long?"
Adrian checked the recording history.
"Three years."
I stared.
Three years.
My conversations.
My meetings.
My arguments with Elena.
My daughter growing up.
Everything.
Someone had been watching my family.
Then Adrian looked at the final recording.
His face changed.
"Daniel."
"What?"
"Watch this."
He pressed play.
The screen showed my living room.
Two weeks before Elena disappeared.
Elena was sitting on the couch.
Celeste was standing behind her.
They were arguing.
I turned the volume up.
Celeste said:
"You promised you'd give me the location."
Elena answered:
"I changed my mind."
"You don't get to change your mind."
"Watch me."
Celeste stepped closer.
"Daniel will die."
Elena stood.
"You touch my husband, and I'll burn everything."
Celeste smiled.
"You think he loves you enough to choose you?"
Elena's face hardened.
"I know he does."
Then Celeste whispered:
"Then let's see."
The screen went black.
The Night Before
Another recording appeared.
This one was from the night before Elena vanished.
Elena was packing a small bag.
I watched her carefully.
She stopped.
Looked toward the camera.
And said:
"Daniel, if you're watching this..."
She smiled sadly.
"I'm sorry."
My throat tightened.
"I know you'll think I betrayed you."
She sat on the bed.
"But I need you to understand something."
She placed her hand on her stomach.
"You're already a father again."
I covered my mouth.
Tears fell before I could stop them.
"I wish I could tell you."
She looked down.
"I wish I could stay."
Then she whispered:
"But if I stay, they will use our children against you."
A sound came from the hallway.
Elena turned.
Someone was coming.
She quickly hid the camera.
The door opened.
Celeste entered.
The recording continued.
Celeste smiled.
"Ready?"
Elena nodded.
"Yes."
"Where's the suitcase?"
"Downstairs."
"Good."
Celeste walked toward her.
Then stopped.
"You really think he'll forgive you?"
Elena looked at her.
"No."
"Then why are you doing this?"
"Because he'll survive."
Celeste smiled.
"That's what makes you different from me."
The recording ended.
The Voice
I couldn't stop staring at the blank screen.
Then the monitor turned on again.
A new file appeared.
No title.
No timestamp.
Only one word:
MOM.
I pressed play.
My mother's voice filled the room.
"Daniel."
I looked at her.
She hadn't known this recording existed.
"I have lied to you."
Her voice trembled.
"But not about everything."
The recording continued.
"Your father didn't die in the fire."
My blood froze.
"He survived."
I looked at Adrian.
He didn't move.
"Victor Sloane took him."
My mother continued.
"He forced your father to work for him."
"Your father tried to escape."
"Victor killed him."
I swallowed.
"That's why Elena killed him?"
My mother answered the question before I could ask.
"No."
The recording continued.
"Elena never killed your father."
I stared.
"She found him."
"She tried to save him."
"But Victor had already made his choice."
A pause.
Then:
"Your father died protecting Elena."
I closed my eyes.
All the hatred I had carried toward him suddenly had nowhere to go.
The Last File
There was one final recording.
Vanessa appeared.
Her face was covered in tears.
She looked exhausted.
"Daniel."
She took a deep breath.
"I forgot this recording existed because I buried it."
"Not physically."
"I buried it in my own mind."
She looked down.
"Because I was afraid."
She leaned closer to the camera.
"Elena is alive."
I already knew.
"But she isn't where Marcus told you."
My heart stopped.
"She's not at the safe house."
"She's somewhere Victor cannot reach."
Vanessa whispered:
"Your mother knows where."
I looked at my mother.
She was crying silently.
Vanessa continued.
"And there is something else."
A pause.
"The woman you've been calling Vivian isn't Vivian."
I froze.
"What?"
"Vivian died twelve years ago."
I stared at the screen.
"Someone stole her identity."
Vanessa's voice broke.
"The woman you met is Isabelle."
Celeste's real name.
The room went silent.
Then Vanessa said:
"Celeste never worked for Victor."
She looked directly into the camera.
"Victor worked for her."
I stopped breathing.
The screen went black.
For several seconds nobody moved.
Then my mother whispered:
"Daniel."
I turned.
She was staring at the doorway.
Someone was standing there.
A woman.
Long dark hair.
A pale coat.
Her face was hidden beneath a hood.
She slowly lowered it.
I knew her immediately.
My heart nearly stopped.
Elena.
Alive.
She looked at me.
Her eyes filled with tears.
"Daniel."
I couldn't move.
She took one step toward me.
Then another.
"I came home."
I wanted to run to her.
I wanted to hold her.
I wanted to ask why she had left.
Why she had lied.
Why she had allowed me to believe she was gone.
But before I could speak, Elena looked past me.
Toward my mother.
Her expression changed completely.
Fear.
Pure fear.
She whispered:
"Why is she here?"
I turned.
My mother was gone.
The basement door stood open.
And on the floor was a single red rose.
Attached to it was a note.
YOU FOUND ELENA.
NOW FIND YOUR SON.
My hands began to shake.
Because Elena was standing in front of me.
May you like
But Noah was still missing.
And somewhere in the darkness, someone had my child.
