Chapter14—The Missing Driver
1396 Words
The question hung in the air like a bomb waiting to explode.
"Mommy... is he my daddy?"
Selena forgot how to breathe.
Across the room, Adrian stood completely still.
Neither of them had prepared for this.
Neither of them knew what to say.
Only Aria waited patiently.
Her bright eyes moved between them.
Expecting an answer.
A simple one.
Instead she was met with silence.
Long.
Painful.
Dangerous silence.
"Aria..."
Selena finally found her voice.
The little girl tilted her head.
"Yes?"
Selena's chest tightened.
For five years she had known this moment would come.
She just hadn't expected it now.
Not when everything was already falling apart.
Not when someone was threatening her daughter.
Not when she herself no longer knew what was true.
"Why would you ask that?" she said carefully.
Aria shrugged.
"Because he looks like me."
The answer was innocent.
Simple.
Yet it hit both adults hard.
Adrian looked away first.
His throat tightened painfully.
The child noticed.
Of course she did.
Children noticed everything.
"You have the same eyes."
Aria pointed.
"And your smile is almost the same."
Selena's heart sank.
She had noticed those similarities years ago.
Every birthday.
Every school photo.
Every milestone.
Now Aria was noticing too.
"Sweetheart..."
Selena forced a smile.
"We'll talk about that another time."
The answer clearly disappointed Aria.
"But"
"Another time."
This time her voice left no room for argument.
Aria reluctantly nodded.
"Okay."
The little girl hugged her coloring book and wandered back toward the couch.
Satisfied for now.
But only for now.
The moment she disappeared down the hallway, Adrian spoke.
"When were you planning to tell her?"
Selena's head snapped toward him.
Her eyes flashed.
"Don't."
"I'm asking."
"Don't."
His jaw tightened.
"She deserves the truth."
The words sliced through her.
Because part of her agreed.
And she hated it.
"Truth?" she laughed bitterly.
"Which truth, Adrian?"
His face darkened.
Neither spoke again.
A moment later he quietly left.
The apartment felt strangely empty after he was gone.
The next morning Adrian sat inside his office staring at a photograph.
Not of Selena.
Not of Aria.
His mother.
The woman who had raised him.
The woman he had trusted all his life.
The woman who seemed connected to every clue surrounding the wedding.
His phone buzzed.
Marcus.
"Tell me you found something."
A pause.
Then:
"I found a name."
Adrian immediately sat up.
"What name?"
"The driver."
Adrian froze.
"What driver?"
Marcus sounded grim.
"Your mother's former driver."
Adrian's heartbeat accelerated.
The wedding planner.
The security guards.
The payments.
The airport footage.
Every clue kept circling back toward his mother.
Now another piece had appeared.
"What about him?"
Marcus exhaled.
"He disappeared three days after your wedding."
Adrian went completely still.
"What?"
"He quit suddenly."
"That's impossible."
"It gets worse."
Marcus' voice dropped.
"No employment records."
"No forwarding address."
"No social media."
"No driver's license activity."
Adrian stared out the window.
Someone had erased the man.
Completely.
"Find him."
Marcus was quiet for a moment.
"We're already trying."
Three days earlier.
Five years after the wedding.
And yet somehow everything kept leading backward.
Selena hated it.
She sat inside her office reviewing files she couldn't focus on.
The school incident.
The threats.
The wedding planner.
The photograph of Adrian's mother.
None of it made sense.
A knock interrupted her thoughts.
Dominic entered.
Immediately noticing her mood.
"You look terrible."
"Thanks."
"You're welcome."
Normally his teasing made her smile.
Today it didn't.
Dominic sat opposite her.
"Still thinking about the wedding?"
She nodded.
"Every answer creates more questions."
His expression softened.
"You don't have to carry this alone."
The words warmed her.
Because unlike Adrian, Dominic never demanded.
Never pushed.
Never made decisions for her.
Yet somehow guilt followed immediately afterward.
Because lately her thoughts kept returning to Adrian.
Not romantically.
Not completely.
But enough to make her uncomfortable.
Dominic deserved better than uncertainty.
The realization sat heavily inside her chest.
That evening Marcus called Adrian again.
This time he sounded different.
Excited.
Urgent.
"We found him."
Adrian shot to his feet.
"What?"
"The driver."
For several seconds neither spoke.
The significance of those words settled between them.
Alive.
After all these years.
Alive.
"Where?"
"Small town outside the city."
Marcus lowered his voice.
"He changed his name."
Adrian grabbed his jacket.
"I'm coming."
The drive took nearly two hours.
Rain battered the windshield the entire way.
Neither man spoke much.
The closer they got, the more tense Adrian became.
His instincts screamed that this mattered.
That the driver knew something.
Something important.
The address led them to a modest house near the edge of town.
Nothing special.
Nothing remarkable.
Yet Adrian couldn't shake the feeling that everything was about to change.
Marcus knocked.
No answer.
He knocked again.
Still nothing.
Then movement.
A curtain shifted.
Someone was watching them.
Marcus saw it too.
"He's home."
The front door opened slowly.
An older man appeared.
Gray hair.
Weathered face.
Nervous eyes.
Very nervous eyes.
The moment he saw Adrian his face drained of color.
"Oh God."
Adrian stepped forward.
"We need to talk."
The man's hand trembled visibly.
"No."
"Please."
"No."
He began backing away.
Fear poured off him.
Real fear.
Not annoyance.
Not suspicion.
Fear.
The kind that came from years of looking over your shoulder.
"Mr. Reeves"
"I said no."
His voice cracked.
Marcus exchanged a look with Adrian.
Both understood the same thing.
The man was terrified.
Twenty minutes later they finally sat inside his living room.
The driver hadn't wanted to let them in.
Eventually Adrian convinced him.
Barely.
The entire time the older man kept checking the windows.
The doors.
The curtains.
Every sound made him flinch.
It was unsettling.
"Who are you afraid of?" Adrian asked.
The driver looked down.
Silence.
"Five years ago," Adrian continued, "something happened before my wedding."
No response.
"You disappeared days later."
The man's hands shook.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Liar."
The word slipped out harsher than intended.
The driver looked ready to run.
Marcus intervened.
"We're not here to hurt you."
That finally got a reaction.
A bitter laugh escaped the older man.
"Hurt me?"
His eyes filled with something darker.
Regret.
"You're five years too late for that."
The room fell silent.
Adrian leaned forward.
"What happened?"
The driver closed his eyes.
For a moment nobody spoke.
Then:
"I drove her."
Adrian froze.
"Cassandra?"
A nod.
The driver's face looked pale.
Haunted.
"I drove her to the airport."
Every muscle in Adrian's body locked.
The airport.
The wedding day.
The beginning of everything.
"What happened there?"
The man swallowed hard.
His hands shook even worse now.
"I saw things."
"What things?"
Another long silence.
Then:
"You weren't acting normal."
Adrian exchanged a glance with Marcus.
The same conclusion again.
Drugged.
Every witness kept confirming it.
"You looked confused."
The driver continued.
"Disoriented."
"You kept asking questions."
Adrian's pulse thundered.
Questions.
What questions?
"What was I asking?"
The man hesitated.
Then whispered:
"You kept asking where Selena was."
Everything inside Adrian stopped.
Selena.
Even then.
Even while being taken away.
He had been asking for Selena.
Not Cassandra.
Selena.
The realization hit him like a punch.
"What else?"
The driver looked toward the window again.
Fear returned instantly.
Stronger this time.
"They told me not to speak."
Adrian leaned forward.
"Who?"
No answer.
"They paid me."
Still no answer.
"They threatened me."
Adrian's heartbeat accelerated.
"Who?"
The driver's eyes met his.
For the first time.
And what Adrian saw there chilled him.
Pure terror.
Not fear of Cassandra.
Not fear of strangers.
Something much worse.
Something personal.
Something powerful.
The man stood abruptly.
"You need to leave."
"What?"
"You need to leave right now."
Marcus rose too.
"Mr. Reeves"
"Leave."
His voice cracked.
"Before someone sees you here."
Adrian stepped forward.
"Someone who?"
The driver's face had turned completely white.
He looked like a man reliving a nightmare.
A nightmare that had never ended.
Adrian lowered his voice.
"Who are you afraid of?"
The answer came immediately.
As if he had been carrying it for years.
Waiting for someone to ask.
The driver stared directly at him.
And finally told the truth.
"I wasn't afraid of Cassandra."
Adrian's blood ran cold.
The man swallowed hard.
Terror filling every line of his face.
Then he whispered the words that changed everything.
"I was afraid of your mother."
- Writer
