Episode 5: The Night He Died
1204 Words
Ariana stared at Leon.
“Where were you the night my father died?”
Leon didn't answer.
The silence was worse than any confession.
Ariana's hands curled into fists.
“You were there.”
Leon looked toward the shattered café window.
“Yes.”
Her heart dropped.
“Why?”
“I was supposed to meet your father.”
“For what?”
“He wanted to give me something.”
“What?”
Leon looked at her.
“The truth.”
Ariana shook her head.
“You keep giving me pieces of answers. I want the whole story.”
“You're not ready.”
“I've spent three years thinking my father died in an accident!”
Her voice cracked.
“You don't get to decide what I'm ready for.”
Several people in the café were staring at them.
Leon lowered his voice.
“Your father discovered something three days before his death.”
“What?”
“He found evidence that someone close to your family had been stealing money and hiding it through several companies.”
Ariana frowned.
“That doesn't explain why he was murdered.”
“It does when you know whose money it was.”
“Whose?”
Leon hesitated.
“Your grandfather's.”
Ariana froze.
“My grandfather died years before Dad.”
“Exactly.”
Leon pulled another photograph from his pocket.
This one showed a large office building.
On the back was an address.
Ariana recognized it.
“That company belonged to my grandfather.”
“It still exists.”
“What?”
“Your family didn't lose everything after his death, Ariana. They hid it.”
Ariana stared at him.
“My mother told me the company was sold.”
“She lied.”
The word cut through her.
“Why?”
Leon didn't answer.
Ariana suddenly remembered the blue file.
The burned documents.
Her father's warning.
Her mother's fear.
Everything was beginning to connect.
But one question remained.
“What happened that night?”
Leon looked down.
“I arrived at the old house at 11:40 p.m.”
“My father was there?”
“Yes.”
“Was he alive?”
Leon closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
Ariana's breath caught.
“What happened?”
“I heard an argument.”
“Between who?”
“Your father and another man.”
“Who?”
“I never saw his face.”
Ariana stepped closer.
“Then how do you know he killed my father?”
“I don't.”
She stared at him.
“What?”
“I saw your father's car leave the house.”
“Then?”
“I followed it.”
“Why?”
“Because your father told me not to.”
Ariana frowned.
“That makes no sense.”
“It will.”
Leon looked directly at her.
“Your father's car stopped near the bridge.”
Ariana's stomach tightened.
“That was where the accident happened.”
Leon nodded.
“But there was no accident when I arrived.”
Ariana stopped breathing.
“What do you mean?”
“The car was parked.”
“Then why did the police say—”
“Because twenty minutes later, the car was found at the bottom of the bridge.”
Ariana's eyes widened.
“Someone moved it.”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“Then what did you see?”
Leon looked away.
“I saw your father.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
Ariana's voice became a whisper.
“Where?”
“Standing beside another car.”
“What car?”
“A black Mercedes.”
Ariana suddenly remembered something.
Her mother had owned a black Mercedes.
But she had sold it shortly after her father's death.
Ariana's face went pale.
“Whose car was it?”
Leon looked at her.
“Your mother's.”
Ariana couldn't speak.
Her mother.
The woman who had spent three years telling her that her father died in an accident.
The woman who had just visited her apartment.
The woman who knew about the blue file.
Could she really have been there?
“No,” Ariana whispered.
Leon didn't say anything.
“No.”
She stood up.
“This is impossible.”
“You asked for the truth.”
“This isn't truth. This is a story.”
Leon reached for her.
“Ariana—”
She stepped away.
“You're lying.”
“I wish I were.”
Her phone suddenly rang.
Mom.
Ariana stared at the screen.
Leon looked at it too.
“Don't answer.”
“Why?”
“You don't know who is listening.”
Ariana answered anyway.
“Mom?”
Silence.
Then her mother's voice.
“Ariana…”
She sounded terrified.
“Where are you?”
Ariana didn't answer.
Her mother continued.
“Listen carefully. Don't go to the old house.”
Ariana's eyes widened.
“How do you know I'm going there?”
Silence.
“Mom?”
“I made a mistake.”
“What mistake?”
“I should have destroyed the letters.”
Ariana's heart stopped.
“You knew about the letters?”
“I knew your father left something for you.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“From who?”
Her mother began crying.
“From your father.”
Ariana froze.
“What?”
The call suddenly ended.
Ariana stared at the phone.
Then a new message appeared.
NOW YOU KNOW WHY YOUR FATHER COULDN'T TRUST HER.
Ariana looked at Leon.
“What am I supposed to believe?”
Leon picked up the silver key from the table.
“Nothing.”
He placed it back in her hand.
“Go to the old house.”
Ariana shook her head.
“My mother told me not to.”
Leon looked at her.
“And your father told you to.”
Ariana looked down at the key.
For the first time, she understood something.
The letters weren't simply revealing the past.
They were leading her somewhere.
One step at a time.
She closed her fingers around the key.
“I'm going.”
Leon nodded.
“I'll come with you.”
“No.”
“Ariana—”
“You said I shouldn't trust anyone.”
Leon went silent.
Ariana walked toward the café entrance.
Then she stopped.
“Leon?”
“Yes?”
She turned around.
“If you're lying to me…”
Her voice became cold.
“I'll find out.”
Leon gave a faint smile.
“I know.”
Ariana walked into the rain.
She didn't see Leon watching her from the café window.
And she didn't see the second man sitting in a car across the street.
The man lowered his phone.
“She's going to the old house.”
A voice answered through the call.
“Good.”
“Should I stop her?”
“No.”
A pause.
“Let her open the door.”
The man looked toward Ariana.
“Why?”
The voice on the other end whispered:
“Because the person waiting inside has been waiting for her for twenty-three years.”
To be continued...
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