Chapter 5: The Lie She Saved For Years
My father stared at Victoria.
“What are you talking about?””
Victoria didn’t answer immediately.
She enjoyed the silence.
That was one of the things I hated most about her.
She always knew how to make a room feel like it belonged to her.
Even when she was losing.
She slowly walked toward the table and placed her phone down.
“Before you judge me, Daniel, maybe you should know everything.””
Dad’s jaw tightened.
“I know enough.””
“No, you don’t.””
She looked at me.
“You only heard her side.””
I felt my stomach drop.
Because I knew what she was doing.
She was changing the story.
She had always been good at that.
“I spent years taking care of this child,” Victoria continued.
Dad looked disgusted.
“Taking care of her?””
“Yes.””
She pointed toward me.
“She has always been difficult.””
My hands went cold.
“Stop.””
Victoria ignored me.
“She lies. She manipulates people. She makes everyone feel sorry for her.””
I looked at my father.
His expression was unreadable.
And that scared me more than anger.
“Dad…”
He looked at me immediately.
“I’m listening.””
That was all I needed.
I took a breath.
“She’s lying.””
Victoria laughed.
“Of course you would say that.””
Dad turned toward her.
“Enough.””
But Victoria wasn’t finished.
She opened a drawer and pulled out a stack of papers.
“I kept records.””
My heart sank.
“What records?””
She walked to the table.
“Messages from teachers. Notes about her behavior. Reports.””
Dad took the papers.
He read them quietly.
I watched his face.
Every second felt like an hour.
Then he looked at me.
“Emma, did you have problems at school?””
I swallowed.
“Sometimes.””
Victoria smiled.
“See?””
I shook my head.
“No. You’re leaving out the reason.””
Dad looked at me.
“Tell me.””
I looked down.
“Brandon kept taking my things.””
Victoria immediately interrupted.
“That’s not true.””
Dad raised his hand.
“Let her finish.””
Again.
Those words.
Let her finish.
I continued.
“He would take my homework and hide it. He told people I was weird because I didn’t have a mother. When I told Victoria, she said I needed to stop causing problems.””
Dad’s expression changed.
He looked at Victoria.
“Is that true?””
She crossed her arms.
“Children fight.””
“She wasn’t a child to you,” Dad said quietly.
The room became silent.
Victoria looked away.
And I realized something.
My father was finally seeing her.
Not the woman she pretended to be.
The woman she really was.
But then Victoria pulled out one more paper.
“This is why you should be careful believing her.””
She placed it in front of him.
Dad looked down.
Then his face changed.
“What is this?””
I couldn’t see it from where I stood.
Victoria smiled.
“A letter.””
“From who?””
She looked directly at me.
“From Emma’s mother.””
My blood froze.
“What?””
Dad picked up the paper.
His hands started shaking.
I had never seen him like that.
“What are you saying?””
Victoria lowered her voice.
“Maybe you should ask Emma why her mother wanted to leave.””
The room disappeared.
I couldn’t breathe.
My mother.
The one person who had always been my safe place.
The one person Victoria couldn’t compete with.
She was using her too.
“That’s not true,” I whispered.
Victoria looked at me.
“Isn’t it?””
“No.””
Dad looked between us.
“Emma?””
I shook my head.
“I don’t know what that is.””
Victoria smiled.
“Of course you don’t.””
She turned toward my father.
“You deserve to know the truth.””
My father unfolded the paper.
I watched his eyes move across the page.
Then suddenly…
He stopped.
His face changed.
Not anger.
Confusion.
Deep confusion.
“What is this?””
Victoria’s smile disappeared.
“What?””
Dad looked up.
“This isn’t your handwriting.””
For the first time, Victoria looked nervous.
“It doesn’t matter.””
“It matters.””
He turned the page over.
Then looked closer.
“This letter was never sent.””
Silence.
Victoria’s expression cracked.
Just slightly.
But I saw it.
Dad stood up.
“You created this?””
“No.””
“Then why is there no envelope?””
Victoria didn’t answer.
Why?
Because she had been caught.
But then something happened.
Something nobody expected.
The front door opened.
A woman’s voice came from the hallway.
“Because I saw her write it.””
Everyone turned.
I stopped breathing.
I knew that voice.
Aunt Rachel stepped into the room.
And behind her…
Was someone carrying a box of old photographs and documents.
May you like
Someone who made Victoria’s face completely lose color.
Because the person standing there was the one person she believed would never return.