Chapter 10 — The Man Emily Trusted
Chapter 10 — The Man Emily Trusted
The gunshot still echoed through the mansion.
Ethan stood frozen beside the shattered window.
Emily was alive.
Sophie was gone.
Daniel had disappeared.
And somewhere outside, a man who was supposed to have died years ago was watching them.
Nothing made sense anymore.
Ethan turned toward Emily.
“You said Daniel took Sophie.”
Emily nodded.
“Why would he?”
“Because he believes she can lead him to the original trust.”
“Then we find him.”
Emily grabbed Ethan's arm.
“No.”
Ethan looked at her.
“What?”
“You can't follow Daniel.”
“That's my daughter.”
“I know.”
“Then don't tell me to stay here.”
Emily's eyes filled with tears.
“Daniel isn't the one you should be afraid of.”
“Jonathan?”
She shook her head.
“Someone else.”
Ethan stared.
“Who?”
Emily whispered:
“The man I trusted.”
The sentence stayed with Ethan as they moved into the study.
Michael was already there.
The security system had been destroyed.
Phones had been disconnected.
The cameras were offline.
Whoever had attacked the house knew exactly where every system was located.
Ethan looked at Emily.
“You said you trusted someone.”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Emily hesitated.
“I contacted him the night I disappeared.”
“When?”
“Before I came here.”
Ethan's heart tightened.
“Who was he?”
Emily looked at the old clock.
“His name was Thomas Reed.”
Michael immediately searched the name.
“Nothing.”
Emily shook her head.
“That's because Thomas Reed isn't his real name.”
Ethan frowned.
“Then who is he?”
Emily looked at him.
“David Mercer.”
Ethan froze.
Michael's face changed.
“You know that name?”
Ethan nodded slowly.
“Father's former attorney.”
Emily said nothing.
Michael looked between them.
“David Mercer died fourteen years ago.”
Emily shook her head.
“No.”
“Again?”
“He was never dead.”
Ethan felt cold.
“How many people in this family are supposed to be dead?”
Emily didn't answer.
Ethan remembered David Mercer.
He had been a quiet man.
Always wearing dark suits.
Always carrying a leather folder.
Always standing two steps behind Ethan's father.
When Ethan was young, David had occasionally given him candy.
He had once told Ethan:
“Your father loves you.”
Ethan had believed him.
Years later, when David supposedly died, Ethan had forgotten about him.
Now—
he wondered if everything had been a lie.
“Where is he?”
Emily looked at him.
“I don't know.”
“You contacted him.”
“Yes.”
“Then you knew where he was.”
“Only temporarily.”
“Why did you trust him?”
“Because he saved my life.”
Ethan stared.
“When?”
“The first time your father tried to kill me.”
Emily told them the story.
It had happened six months before her supposed death.
She had discovered the original trust.
She had discovered Daniel was alive.
She had discovered the existence of the second child.
And she had discovered that Ethan's father had built a private network that monitored every member of the family.
When Emily confronted him, he threatened her.
She ran.
She escaped through the basement.
But someone was waiting outside.
A car.
Two men.
A gun.
Then another vehicle appeared.
David Mercer stepped out.
He shot one of the men.
The other fled.
David pulled Emily into his car.
“Where are we going?” Emily had asked.
“Somewhere they can't find you.”
“Why are you helping me?”
David looked at her.
“Because I made a mistake twenty years ago.”
“What mistake?”
“I helped your father build the system.”
Emily had stared at him.
“Then destroy it.”
David had nodded.
“I will.”
Ethan listened silently.
“You trusted him because he regretted helping my father.”
“Yes.”
“Did he know about Sophie?”
“Yes.”
“The baby?”
“Yes.”
“Daniel?”
“Yes.”
“Jonathan?”
Emily hesitated.
“Yes.”
Ethan's expression hardened.
“So he knew everything.”
“He knew enough.”
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
“Because he told me not to.”
Ethan stared.
“You trusted a man who told you to keep secrets from your husband?”
Emily looked down.
“He had evidence.”
“What evidence?”
“A recording.”
“Of what?”
“Your father.”
Ethan's heart tightened.
“What did it prove?”
“That your father ordered Daniel's disappearance.”
“And?”
“That he ordered the death of your mother.”
Silence.
Ethan stopped breathing.
“My mother?”
Emily nodded.
“Your mother didn't die naturally.”
Michael slowly sat down.
“How?”
“Poison.”
Ethan looked at him.
“Who?”
“Your father.”
Ethan's hands curled into fists.
“Why?”
“Because she discovered Daniel was alive.”
“And she tried to expose him.”
“Yes.”
Ethan looked at Emily.
“How long have you known?”
“Since before Sophie was born.”
“You knew my mother was murdered.”
“Yes.”
“And you said nothing.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it's true.”
Ethan looked away.
His entire childhood had been built on lies.
Every death.
Every disappearance.
Every inheritance.
Every secret.
Nothing was what it seemed.
Then Michael found something.
“There.”
He held up an old phone record.
Emily's final outgoing call.
11:31 P.M.
The night she disappeared.
Recipient:
David Mercer.
Ethan stared.
“That's the call.”
Emily nodded.
“What did you say?”
“I told him I was ready.”
“Ready for what?”
“To disappear.”
Ethan looked at her.
“You planned it.”
“Yes.”
“You planned to leave me.”
“No.”
“You planned to fake your death.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Emily's voice broke.
“Because David told me there was no other way.”
Ethan shook his head.
“Then what happened?”
Emily closed her eyes.
“He never came.”
Ethan froze.
“What?”
“I waited.”
“For how long?”
“Twenty minutes.”
“And then?”
“I heard someone enter the house.”
“Your father?”
“No.”
“Jonathan?”
“No.”
“Who?”
Emily looked at Ethan.
“You.”
Ethan stared.
“Me?”
“You came upstairs.”
“I found you injured.”
“Yes.”
“But you were alive.”
“Yes.”
“Then what happened?”
“I was sedated.”
“By whom?”
“I don't know.”
Emily's face tightened.
“But before I lost consciousness, I heard someone say…”
She stopped.
Ethan waited.
“What?”
Emily whispered:
“David Mercer is dead.”
Ethan's blood ran cold.
“But David was the man I was supposed to trust.”
Michael replayed the security footage.
11:30 P.M.
Emily entered the bedroom.
11:31.
She made the call.
11:32.
A black vehicle appeared outside.
11:33.
Someone entered through the basement.
11:36.
The cameras went dark.
11:41.
Ethan entered the hallway.
11:47.
Glass broke.
11:49.
Ethan called emergency services.
12:02.
Emily disappeared.
Ethan stared.
“Wait.”
He pointed.
“Stop.”
Michael paused the video.
At 11:34, a figure appeared in the reflection of the basement window.
A man.
Carrying a briefcase.
Michael zoomed in.
The face became clearer.
Ethan stared.
He knew him.
Emily knew him.
Daniel knew him.
It was David Mercer.
Alive.
Ethan looked at Emily.
“You said he never came.”
“I thought he didn't.”
“He did.”
Emily's face went white.
“No.”
“He was here.”
“No.”
“He came to the house.”
Emily shook her head.
“He wouldn't.”
Ethan pointed at the screen.
“He did.”
Emily stared.
Then she whispered:
“He wasn't alone.”
Another figure appeared behind David.
A woman.
Ethan couldn't see her face.
But Emily could.
Her entire body stiffened.
“No.”
“Who?”
Emily stepped backward.
“That can't be.”
“Who is she?”
Emily covered her mouth.
“It's impossible.”
“Emily!”
She looked at Ethan.
The woman on the screen turned toward the camera.
Her face became visible.
Celeste.
Ethan stared.
“No.”
Emily shook her head.
“I never knew she was there.”
Ethan turned toward Celeste.
But Celeste was gone.
They found her in the old chapel.
She was sitting alone.
Crying.
Ethan entered.
“Why were you with David?”
Celeste didn't answer.
“Why?”
“I was trying to stop him.”
“From doing what?”
“Taking Emily.”
“You were working with him.”
“I was pretending.”
“You lied.”
“Yes.”
“Again.”
Celeste looked at him.
“I had to.”
Ethan's voice became cold.
“Everyone keeps using that excuse.”
Celeste looked down.
“I was trying to protect Emily.”
“Then why were you there?”
“Because David told me he was going to kill her.”
Ethan froze.
“What?”
“He told me he had orders.”
“From Jonathan?”
Celeste shook her head.
“No.”
“Then who?”
Celeste looked at Ethan.
“Your father.”
Ethan's heart stopped.
“He was dead.”
“No.”
“He was supposed to be.”
Celeste whispered:
“He was in the house that night.”
Ethan stepped closer.
“Where?”
“Upstairs.”
“Did you see him?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
“Because he threatened to kill Sophie.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
“Where did he go?”
“I don't know.”
“Who was with him?”
Celeste hesitated.
“David.”
“And?”
Celeste whispered:
“Jonathan.”
Ethan looked at her.
“Three men.”
Celeste nodded.
“Three.”
Michael suddenly rushed into the chapel.
“Ethan.”
“What?”
“We found David.”
Ethan turned.
“Where?”
“Dead.”
Silence.
“Where?”
“In an abandoned warehouse outside the city.”
Ethan's face hardened.
“Cause of death?”
Michael looked at Celeste.
“Gunshot.”
“When?”
“About two hours ago.”
Ethan stared.
“That means he was alive when we found the footage.”
“Yes.”
“So someone killed him after we discovered the room.”
Michael nodded.
“They're eliminating witnesses.”
Ethan thought of Margaret.
Then David.
Then everyone connected to Emily.
The final witnesses were disappearing one by one.
And someone was cleaning up the past.
They reached the warehouse.
David lay beside an overturned table.
His hand was clenched around something.
Ethan opened it.
A tiny silver key.
Attached to it was a note.
For Ethan.
He unfolded it.
Only one sentence.
The man Emily trusted was never me.
Ethan stared.
“What does that mean?”
Michael searched the warehouse.
“There's something here.”
A hidden safe.
The silver key opened it.
Inside was a folder.
The first page contained a photograph.
Emily.
David.
And another man.
Ethan stared at the third face.
His father.
The photograph was dated three days before his father's supposed death.
But there was something else.
Written across the back:
Emily trusted David.
David trusted me.
I trusted no one.
Then beneath it:
The real protector was the man Emily thought she hated.
Ethan frowned.
“Who?”
Michael turned the page.
There was a name.
Daniel Brooks.
Ethan's heart stopped.
Daniel had been protecting Emily all along.
But that wasn't the final revelation.
Behind the photograph was another document.
A handwritten confession.
David had written:
I never betrayed Emily.
I betrayed Jonathan.
I helped Emily disappear.
But someone intercepted the plan.
Someone changed the passenger list.
Someone placed another woman in the ambulance.
Someone stole the original trust.
Then one final line:
And the person who did it was the one Emily trusted most.
Ethan stared.
“Who?”
Michael turned the page.
The name had been partially burned.
Only the final letters remained.
…este.
Ethan's eyes widened.
“Celeste.”
But before he could say another word, his phone rang.
Emily.
Ethan answered immediately.
“Emily?”
Her voice was barely a whisper.
“Ethan…”
“Where are you?”
“I found Sophie.”
Ethan's heart leapt.
“Where?”
“She's with me.”
“Are you safe?”
“No.”
“Why?”
A long silence.
Then Emily whispered:
“Because Daniel isn't the one who took her.”
Ethan's blood ran cold.
“Who did?”
Emily's voice trembled.
“The man who was supposed to protect us.”
“Who?”
Before Emily could answer, Ethan heard a man's voice in the background.
“Give me the phone.”
Emily screamed.
The call ended.
Ethan stared at the screen.
Michael stepped closer.
“What happened?”
Ethan looked up.
His face was pale.
“Emily found Sophie.”
“And?”
“She wasn't alone.”
“Who was with her?”
Ethan swallowed.
“The man Emily trusted.”
Michael frowned.
“David?”
Ethan shook his head.
“David is dead.”
“Then who?”
Ethan looked at the burned document.
Then at Celeste's name.
And finally at the security footage.
“The man Emily trusted most…”
May you like
He whispered:
“Was my father.”
