CHAPTER 8 â The Enemy Inside The House
CHAPTER 8 â The Enemy Inside The House
The note remained on Grant Callahanâs desk for three days.
Three days.
A simple piece of paper with five words that had changed the entire atmosphere of the estate.
She remembers everything.
Everyone had an explanation.
Everyone had a theory.
Everyone had someone else to blame.
But Grant knew one thing.
The person who left that message had entered his home.
They had walked through his security.
Past his guards.
Past his cameras.
Past every protection system he had ever trusted.
And they had stood outside his daughter's bedroom.
Watching.
Waiting.
The Callahan estate had never felt like home again.
It felt like a battlefield.
Every employee was questioned.
Every entrance was checked.
Every camera was reviewed.
But the most terrifying possibility remained.
The enemy was not outside.
The enemy was already inside.
"Everyone who works here has been investigated."
Marcus Hale said.
He stood in the security room with Grant.
"No one entered without authorization."
Grant stared at the monitor.
"Someone did."
Marcus shook his head.
"The logs don't show anyone."
"Then the logs are wrong."
The security chief went quiet.
Because he knew Grant was right.
Someone had bypassed the system.
And only someone who understood the system could do that.
Daniel entered carrying another folder.
"I found something."
Grant turned.
"What now?"
Daniel placed the file down.
"Thomas had access to the estate security codes."
Marcus immediately looked uncomfortable.
"Everyone in the family did."
Grant looked at him.
"Everyone?"
Marcus nodded.
"Before Mrs. Callahan died, family members had emergency access."
Grant's expression darkened.
"So Thomas could enter anytime."
"Yes."
The room became silent.
Because suddenly every memory changed.
Thomas arriving unexpectedly.
Thomas checking on Lily.
Thomas offering help.
Thomas acting like the grieving uncle.
Maybe none of it was kindness.
Maybe it was surveillance.
Meanwhile, Emma sat beside Lily in the garden.
The little girl was quieter than usual.
Not silent.
But afraid.
Emma noticed.
"Lily?"
The girl looked up.
"Are you scared?"
A small nod.
"Of what?"
Lily looked toward the house.
"That he comes back."
Emma's heart tightened.
"Who?"
Lily whispered:
"Uncle Thomas."
Emma reached for her hand.
"He won't hurt you."
But Lily didn't look convinced.
"He already did."
The words made Emma freeze.
"What do you mean?"
Lily stared at the ground.
"He hurt Mommy."
A pause.
"And he made Daddy sad."
Emma swallowed.
"How did he make your daddy sad?"
Lily looked up.
"Because Daddy trusted him."
That afternoon, Grant made a decision.
He called Thomas.
Not through lawyers.
Not through assistants.
Personally.
The phone rang four times.
Then:
"Grant."
Thomas sounded calm.
Almost amused.
"Brother."
The word made Grant feel sick.
"Where are you?"
A small laugh.
"Is that how you greet family now?"
"Answer the question."
A pause.
"I heard Renata was arrested."
Grant's jaw tightened.
"You knew."
Silence.
"About what?"
"Don't play games."
Thomas sighed.
"You always did this."
"What?"
"React emotionally before understanding."
Grant's grip tightened around the phone.
"You killed Amelia."
Silence.
Not denial.
Not anger.
Just silence.
And that was worse.
"You finally figured it out."
Grant closed his eyes.
The words cut deeper than any confession could.
"Why?"
Thomas laughed softly.
"That's the question you should have asked years ago."
"Why?"
"Because you had everything."
Grant frowned.
"What?"
"You had the company."
"You had Amelia."
"You had Lily."
Thomas's voice became colder.
"And everyone loved you."
A pause.
"I spent my entire life building that empire beside you."
"Yet nobody saw me."
Grant stared ahead.
"You murdered my wife because you wanted attention?"
"No."
Thomas's voice sharpened.
"I murdered her because she found the truth."
Grant stopped breathing.
"What truth?"
Thomas didn't answer.
Instead, he said:
"Ask your father."
Grant froze.
"My father?"
Thomas smiled through the phone.
"You think this started with Amelia?"
A pause.
"You really don't know anything."
The call ended.
Grant stood completely still.
Because one sentence had opened another door.
This was not just about Thomas.
It went deeper.
That night, Grant searched through old family records.
His father.
Victor Callahan.
The man who built the original company.
A man Grant remembered as strict but fair.
A man who died ten years earlier.
Then he found something.
A sealed legal document.
Hidden in the company archives.
A revised inheritance agreement.
Signed two weeks before Victor's death.
Grant read the first page.
Then the second.
Then he stopped.
Because the document revealed something impossible.
Thomas was not Victor's biological son.
Grant stared.
No.
Impossible.
He read the DNA report attached.
The result was clear.
Thomas had known.
For years.
Suddenly, everything made sense.
The resentment.
The anger.
The obsession.
Thomas didn't just want money.
He wanted revenge.
But why Amelia?
Why Lily?
Why destroy an entire family?
A sound came from behind him.
Grant turned.
Emma stood in the doorway.
"You found something."
It wasn't a question.
Grant looked at her.
For the first time, he looked lost.
"My brother spent his entire life believing this family stole something from him."
Emma stepped closer.
"What?"
Grant looked at the document.
"His identity."
Before Emma could respond...
A noise came from upstairs.
A crash.
Both of them froze.
"Lily."
They ran.
They reached her room.
The door was open.
The window was closed.
Nothing looked disturbed.
Except one thing.
On Lily's desk.
A photograph.
A photograph that had not been there before.
Grant picked it up.
His blood turned cold.
It was a picture of Amelia.
Taken the night she died.
But someone had written on the back.
She wasn't the only one who survived.
Emma looked at Grant.
"What does that mean?"
Grant didn't answer.
Because he suddenly understood.
The accident.
The murder.
The lies.
They all had one missing piece.
Someone else had been there that night.
Someone who survived.
Someone who knew the truth.
And someone who had been hiding for three years.
Downstairs, a security alarm suddenly activated.
Marcus's voice came through the speaker.
"Mr. Callahan!"
Grant grabbed the radio.
"What happened?"
A pause.
Then Marcus said:
"Someone has entered the estate."
Grant looked at Lily.
The lights flickered.
And from the darkness outside the bedroom...
A voice whispered.
"Hello, Lily."
The little girl screamed.
May you like
Because she recognized the voice.
End of Chapter 8
