Part 2: The Message From Mark Exposed A Hidden Family Secret
Part 2: The Message From Mark Exposed A Hidden Family Secret
Chapter 2: My Father-In-Law Knew Mark Was Lying
I stared at Patricia’s phone.
The name at the top of the message was:
Mark.
But that wasn’t what made my stomach drop.
It was the message underneath.
I told you this would happen if he found out.
I looked at Patricia.
“What does that mean?”
She didn’t answer.
Robert stepped closer to the door.
“Let us inside.”
I unlocked it.
The moment they entered, Patricia turned toward me.
“Where is Lauren?”
“She left.”
“With Mark?”
“Yes.”
Robert’s jaw tightened.
“Then we need to talk.”
I looked at the phone again.
“About what?”
Robert glanced at Patricia.
She nodded reluctantly.
Then he looked at me.
“About Mark.”
I folded my arms.
“I already know enough about him.”
“No,” Robert said quietly.
“You don’t.”
That sentence changed the atmosphere.
I stepped away from the door.
“What am I missing?”
Patricia looked down at her phone.
“Mark has been contacting us for months.”
I stared at her.
“Why?”
“He said he was worried about Lauren.”
I almost laughed.
“Worried about her?”
Robert interrupted.
“He said she was getting involved with someone dangerous.”
My expression changed.
“Who?”
Robert didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, he walked toward the kitchen table and placed a folder on it.
“We didn’t know whether to believe him.”
I opened it.
Inside were printed messages.
Photographs.
Bank statements.
Hotel receipts.
And several screenshots of conversations between Lauren and Mark.
I looked at Robert.
“You had all this?”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“Four months.”
My chest tightened.
“Then why didn’t you tell me?”
Patricia’s eyes filled with tears.
“Because Lauren begged us not to.”
I stared at her.
“She told us you were controlling.”
That hurt.
Not because I believed it.
Because it was exactly what Lauren had told me every time I questioned her.
Patricia continued.
“She said you were becoming suspicious and that you might hurt her.”
I looked at Robert.
“And you believed her?”
“We didn’t know what to believe.”
He pointed toward the folder.
“Until Mark sent us this.”
I picked up one of the photographs.
It showed Lauren standing beside Mark outside a hotel.
Another showed them entering a restaurant.
Another showed Mark meeting someone else.
A man in a dark suit.
I recognized him.
I had seen him once before.
At our house.
During Lauren’s birthday party.
He had introduced himself as one of Mark’s former colleagues.
I turned the photograph over.
There was a handwritten note.
He isn’t who he says he is.
I looked at Robert.
“Who is this?”
Robert’s face hardened.
“That’s the problem.”
“You know him?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Robert took a breath.
“He worked for our family company.”
I stared at him.
“Your family company?”
He nodded.
“Before Lauren was born.”
I looked back at the photograph.
“Why would he be involved with Mark?”
“We don’t know.”
Patricia suddenly spoke.
“Yes, we do.”
Robert turned toward her.
“Patricia.”
“I’ve kept quiet long enough.”
She looked at me.
“Mark wasn’t investigating Lauren.”
I frowned.
“Then what was he doing?”
“He was investigating you.”
The room went silent.
I stared at her.
“Me?”
She nodded.
“For months.”
“Why?”
“Because someone hired him.”
“Who?”
She looked at Robert.
Then whispered:
“Your father.”
I stopped breathing.
“My father?”
Robert immediately shook his head.
“That’s impossible.”
Patricia turned toward him.
“Is it?”
Robert’s expression changed.
I looked between them.
“What are you two not telling me?”
Robert rubbed his forehead.
“Your father and I had a business dispute years ago.”
“I knew that.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“You knew there was a dispute.”
He opened the folder again.
“You didn’t know what it was about.”
I waited.
Robert pulled out an old document.
The paper was yellowed at the edges.
At the bottom was a signature.
My father’s.
And beside it—
Robert’s.
“What is this?”
“A partnership agreement.”
I scanned the page.
Then stopped.
There was a third name.
Mark’s father.
I looked up.
“Why is his father on this?”
Robert’s voice became quiet.
“Because the three of us built the company together.”
I felt a strange chill.
“Then what happened?”
“Your father disappeared.”
“What?”
“He left the company suddenly.”
“When?”
“Eight years ago.”
I stared at him.
Eight years.
The same year Lauren and I got married.
The same year Mark entered her life.
The same year my father supposedly retired and moved out of state.
I looked at Patricia.
“Why didn’t anyone tell me?”
She looked away.
“Because your father asked us not to.”
My phone suddenly vibrated.
A message.
From Lauren.
Don’t believe them.
I stared at the screen.
Another message arrived.
My father is lying to you.
Then:
Mark never betrayed me.
I looked at Robert.
He had seen the messages.
His face went pale.
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
Robert immediately pulled out his phone.
He called Lauren.
No answer.
He called again.
Nothing.
Then Patricia’s phone rang.
She looked at the screen.
Her hands began trembling.
“It’s Mark.”
Robert reached for the phone.
Patricia answered.
“Mark?”
His voice came through the speaker.
“Is he there?”
Everyone looked at me.
Robert said:
“Yes.”
There was silence.
Then Mark said:
“Put him on.”
Patricia handed me the phone.
I raised it to my ear.
“Where is my wife?”
“I don’t know.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
“I’m not.”
I could hear traffic in the background.
Then Mark lowered his voice.
“Listen carefully.”
“What?”
“Lauren didn’t leave with me because she wanted a vacation.”
I looked at Robert.
“Then why did she?”
“Because she was scared.”
“Of who?”
Mark hesitated.
“Your father.”
My heart stopped.
“What does my father have to do with this?”
Mark breathed heavily.
“Everything.”
“What does that mean?”
“He’s alive.”
The room went completely silent.
I couldn’t speak.
Robert’s face had gone white.
Patricia covered her mouth.
Mark continued.
“And Lauren has been trying to keep you away from him.”
I gripped the phone tighter.
“Why?”
“Because six months ago, she found out what your father had done.”
“What did he do?”
Mark didn’t answer.
“Mark.”
“I need you to understand something.”
“What?”
“Your wife wasn’t planning to cheat on you.”
I stared at the floor.
“She was trying to protect you.”
My voice became cold.
“Then why did she ask me to lie for her?”
“Because she couldn’t tell you the truth.”
“What truth?”
Another pause.
Then Mark said:
“The man you think is your father isn’t your father.”
I froze.
Before I could respond, the call disconnected.
I looked at Patricia.
Then Robert.
Neither of them moved.
Finally, Robert whispered:
“That’s not possible.”
I looked at him.
“You knew.”
He didn’t answer.
“You knew, didn’t you?”
Robert lowered his eyes.
My phone vibrated again.
This time, it was a photograph.
I opened it.
My breath caught.
It showed a woman holding a newborn baby.
The woman was my mother.
The baby was me.
And standing beside her was a man I had never seen before.
Underneath the photograph was one sentence:
Ask your mother who was holding you before your father arrived.
I stared at the image.
Then Patricia suddenly grabbed my arm.
“Don’t call your mother.”
I looked at her.
“Why?”
Her eyes filled with fear.
“Because she’s the only person who knows where your real father is.”
Before I could ask another question, the front door opened.
Everyone turned.
Lauren stood there.
Her hair was disheveled.
Her face was pale.
And she was alone.
She looked at me.
Then at her parents.
Then at the photograph in my hand.
Her expression collapsed.
“You found it.”
I stared at her.
“What did I find?”
She closed the door behind her.
“The photograph my father spent eight years trying to destroy.”
