💖Episode 08 Secrets Behind the Rooftop Door💖
757 Words
Secrets Behind the Rooftop Door
Evening- Dream High Campus rooftop
Kiara's POV
The rooftop door creaked as she pushed it open, the cold breeze whipping her hair around her face. The sky stretched above her—purple dusk bleeding into soft stars. She wrapped her arms around herself. Every step she had taken today felt heavier than the last.
"I was thinking about this morning—when Christin told me about Dad and that folder he gave me. But… I didn’t see Dad’s name on it,"* I said to myself. **"Why didn’t it have Dad’s name?
Is Christin hiding something from me?"**
I wanted to ask him once he came back.
He told me to meet him again on the rooftop, but…
Christin hadn’t shown up yet.
She sat on the bench, the one placed at the far edge of the rooftop, facing the vast sky. Her thoughts churned, looping back to the document Jennie had waved in front of everyone.
Embezzlement? That didn’t sound like the man she called Dad.
He was humble, kind, never spoke a word about his past. Always quiet, especially when it came to Fernandes Corporation. Why had she never asked him before? Why had her mom always dodged questions?
Her phone buzzed. A message.
Christin: Sorry. Got pulled into a family matter. Don’t leave yet.
She sighed. Maybe this was a mistake.
Still, she stayed.
She stood, walked toward the railing. Her eyes caught something on the far side of the rooftop—an old utility door. Locked. But the lock looked rusted.
Curiosity gnawed at her.
She stepped closer. Pried at the edge of the door.
It creaked open.
Dust. Cobwebs. Forgotten furniture. And a box.
She knelt, hands trembling slightly as she opened it.
Files.
Christin’s POV
He cursed under his breath as his father’s car pulled away. Another business dinner forced onto him, full of hollow smiles and formal lies. He wanted to scream.
He hadn’t told his father about Kiara. Yet. It wasn’t time.
Not until he was sure.
He jogged up the last flight of stairs and opened the rooftop door—
But Kiara was gone.
The breeze swept past him.
Then he saw it—the utility door. Open.
He ran to it.
She was inside, kneeling by a box.
And she was holding a file and a photograph. it's her dad's photo
His heart dropped.
Kiara’s POV
Her eyes scanned the page.
Employee Profile: David fernandes
Her breath caught.
Former Executive Assistant to Board Director Henry Fernandes. Removed due to internal dispute. Classified termination.
Her head spun.
David Fernandes...?
"Kiara."
She turned. Christin stood at the door, his expression unreadable.
She held up the file. "You knew."
He hesitated. "I wasn’t sure. I didn’t want to say anything until—"
"Until what? Until I found out I’ve been lied to my whole life?"
Her voice cracked.
He stepped forward. "I wanted to protect you."
She backed away. "Don’t. Don’t say that. You’re just like the rest. You knew something important about my life and you kept it from me."
He opened his mouth to explain, but she brushed past him, tears burning her eyes.
Down the stairs.
Out the building.
She needed air.
She needed answers.
Ethan’s POV
From a distance, he watched her leave campus.
His eyes narrowed.
She looked shaken.
Good.
She was starting to unravel. That’s when people were most vulnerable.
And that’s when he could be the one to catch them.
He moved silently, following.
Kiara’s POV
She burst into the living room. Her mom looked up from her sewing.
"Kiara? What’s wrong?"
Kiara dropped the file onto the table.
"Why does this say Dad’s name was David Fernandes?"
Her mother’s face went pale and shock.
Silence.
"Mom, tell me the truth. Who was my father?"
Her mom sat down slowly, her hands trembling.
"You weren’t supposed to know. Not yet."
Kiara stepped back. "So it’s true."
Her mom nodded, eyes wet.
"He was part of the Fernandes family... but he was cut off after a falling out. He changed his name to Richardson when we married, to start fresh."
Kiara felt the air leave her lungs.
"And you were never going to tell me?"
"I was trying to protect you from their world."
"Too late," Kiara whispered.
Christin’s POV
He sat alone in his car, watching the rain start to tap gently against the windshield.
He had tried to be careful. To delay the truth until it was safe.
Now it might be too late.
To be continued...💖
- Writer
