"That's crazy."
"I thought so too."
He reached into the box and pulled out an envelope.
It was old.
Yellowed around the edges.
And my name was written on it.
My hands started shaking.
"Why didn't you give this to me?"
"Because I was afraid."
"Afraid of what?"
He looked directly into my eyes.
"Afraid that whoever your mother was afraid of would come looking for you."
I opened the envelope.
Inside was a letter.
My mother's handwriting.
I recognized it immediately.
The first line made my eyes fill with tears.
My daughter, if you're reading this, your father finally decided you were old enough to know the truth.
I looked at Dad.
He was crying.
I continued reading.
Mom explained that shortly before her death, she had discovered that someone had been secretly accessing her personal accounts.
At first, she thought it was a mistake.
Then she discovered something worse.
Someone had been following her.
She had received anonymous messages.
She had seen the same car outside her workplace.
She had even found photographs of herself that she had never taken.
But the strangest part was what she discovered afterward.
The person following her wasn't a stranger.
It was someone she knew.
Someone close to our family.
Someone she trusted.
I stopped reading.
"Dad… who was it?"
He didn't answer.
I looked at the next page.
My mother's handwriting became shakier.
I don't know if I can trust him anymore.
I stared at the word.
"Him."
My father suddenly looked terrified.
"Who?"
I turned the page.
There was only one sentence.
The person you should be most careful around is the person who has spent years convincing you that he is protecting you.
I looked at my father.
He was staring at me.
For the first time in my life, I was afraid of him.
Then he whispered:
"Your mother never finished the letter."
"What?"
"There's another page."
He reached into the box.
But it wasn't there.
He searched the cabinet.
Nothing.
He searched the drawers.
Nothing.
Then he suddenly stopped.
His face changed.
"What?"
He looked at me.
"The missing page."
"What about it?"
"I gave it to someone."
"Who?"
He didn't answer.
Then his phone rang.
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