Chapter 9: The Person Behind The Pain
“Daniel.””
I couldn’t move.
The voice behind me was impossible.
For ten years, I had heard that voice in my memories.
In hospitals.
In nightmares.
In moments when I wondered how my life had fallen apart so completely.
I turned slowly.
And there she was.
Olivia Bennett.
Standing in the doorway.
The woman who helped me uncover the truth.
The woman who claimed she was searching for me.
The woman who brought me my wife’s letter.
Ethan immediately stepped between us.
“Don’t move.””
Olivia stopped.
A sad smile appeared on her face.
“I knew this moment would come.””
My chest tightened.
“What are you doing here?””
She looked at the computer screen.
At Marcus’s unfinished message.
Then back at me.
“You found out.””
I stared.
“Found out what?””
Her eyes filled with something I couldn’t identify.
Regret.
Fear.
Maybe both.
“That I was the person Marcus was talking about.””
The room became silent.
Ethan looked at me.
Then at Olivia.
“You?””
Olivia closed her eyes.
“Yes.””
The word landed harder than any confession Richard had made.
Because Richard was a man I expected to be cruel.
But Olivia?
She was different.
She was the person who helped me stand again.
The person who told me I deserved justice.
“Why?”” I whispered.
She looked down.
“Because I was there.””
“Where?””
“The night everything changed.””
My hands curled into fists.
“The night my wife died?””
Olivia nodded.
“Yes.””
I stepped closer.
“Tell me.””
She didn’t run.
She didn’t lie.
She simply stood there and accepted the anger in my eyes.
“Your wife discovered the truth about the technology.””
“I know.””
“No.””
Olivia shook her head.
“You know part of it.””
She walked toward the table.
“The algorithm wasn’t just valuable because it could predict financial behavior.””
She touched the old documents.
“It could predict decisions.””
I frowned.
“Human decisions.””
“Yes.””
Ethan looked confused.
“So what?””
Olivia looked at him.
“Imagine knowing what someone will do before they do it.””
Silence.
She continued.
“Governments wanted it. Corporations wanted it. Investors wanted it.””
My stomach tightened.
“And Emily found out.””
“Yes.””
Olivia looked at me.
“Your wife discovered that Richard wasn’t the only person involved.””
I swallowed.
“Who else?””
She looked at herself in the reflection of the computer screen.
“Me.””
I said nothing.
Because my mind refused to accept it.
“You helped them.””
Olivia nodded.
“At first.””
The words hurt.
“At first?””
She sat down.
“I was young. Ambitious. I believed I could control powerful people by working with them.””
She laughed quietly.
“I thought I was smarter than everyone.””
I looked away.
“You sound like Richard.””
Her face tightened.
“I know.””
The room stayed silent.
Then she continued.
“When Emily discovered what was happening, she confronted me.””
I looked at the screen.
The memory of my wife’s face appeared in my mind.
“What did she say?””
Olivia’s eyes became wet.
“She told me something I never forgot.””
She looked at me.
“She said, ‘People like you always think you can fix evil after you help create it.’”
I closed my eyes.
That sounded exactly like Emily.
“She knew?””
Olivia nodded.
“She knew I had given Richard access to early versions of the research.””
My voice became cold.
“So you betrayed her.””
“Yes.””
“And then?””
Olivia looked away.
“I tried to stop them.””
“But you didn’t.””
“No.””
Her voice cracked.
“I was too late.””
I stepped closer.
“What happened that night?””
Olivia took a deep breath.
“Emily was going to expose everything.””
The room felt colder.
“She had copies of every file.””
“The files?””
“Yes.””
“The ones we found?””
“No.””
Olivia looked at me.
“The original files are still hidden.””
Ethan frowned.
“Where?””
Olivia didn’t answer immediately.
Then she looked at me.
“Your wife hid them somewhere only you could find.””
My heart skipped.
“Me?””
“She knew Richard would search everywhere.””
Olivia whispered.
“But she also knew you.””
I thought about it.
Emily.
Her habits.
Her little secrets.
The things only I knew.
Then I remembered.
A place.
Our old apartment.
The wooden box beneath the floorboard.
A box I thought contained only memories.
“Wait.””
Ethan looked at me.
“What?””
I grabbed my jacket.
“The apartment.””
Olivia stood.
“Daniel.””
I looked at her.
“Why tell me now?””
She didn’t answer.
That worried me.
“Olivia.””
Her face changed.
And I understood.
She wasn’t just confessing.
She was saying goodbye.
“What did you do?””
She looked toward the window.
“I made sure the truth could never disappear.””
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
A voice spoke.
A voice I recognized.
Marcus.
“Daniel.””
I froze.
“Where are you?””
A pause.
Then:
“I don’t have much time.””
My grip tightened.
“What happened?””
Marcus breathed heavily.
“Richard found out about Olivia.””
I looked at her.
She closed her eyes.
“What does that mean?””
Marcus whispered:
“He knows she kept the original files.””
My heart sank.
“Where are you?””
Another pause.
Then Marcus said:
“I’m at the Carter Systems building.””
I looked around.
“We’re already here.””
“No.””
His voice became urgent.
“Not the abandoned building.””
A pause.
“The real one.””
I frowned.
“What are you talking about?””
Marcus said:
“Daniel… your old company never disappeared.””
The line crackled.
“It was bought.””
“By who?””
Marcus went silent.
Then:
May you like
“By your wife.””
The call ended.
