The Betrayal Within

Chapter 10

Maya Collins hadn’t moved from the living room sofa in nearly twenty minutes.

Her phone rested in her hand, but her thoughts were somewhere else.

Your father knew about the arrangement.

Evelyn’s words kept repeating in her mind.

Her father?

The same man who had hugged her when she returned home six years ago? The same man who had comforted her when Daniel supposedly abandoned her?

It couldn’t be true.

“Mummy?”

Lia’s little voice brought her back to reality.

Maya quickly wiped the tears gathering in her eyes.

“Yes, sweetheart?”

“Why are you crying?”

Maya forced a smile and pulled her daughter closer.

“I’m not crying, baby. I just have a little headache.”

Lia touched her cheek.

“Should I kiss it better?”

Maya laughed softly despite herself.

“That would help.”

Lia kissed her cheek before returning to her colouring book.

Maya held her for a moment longer.

Whatever the truth was, she had to remain strong for her daughter.

Daniel found Maya in the garden later that afternoon.

She was sitting alone beneath a large tree, staring at her phone.

“Hey,” he said, approaching her.

She looked up.

“Hi.”

He sat beside her.

“Is everything okay?”

Maya hesitated.

“I received a strange phone call.”

Daniel’s expression changed.

“From whom?”

“Someone named Evelyn Collins.”

He searched his memory.

“Do you know her?”

“Yes. She’s connected to my family.”

Maya looked down at her hands.

“She told me my father knew about what happened between us six years ago. She said he received money from your mother.”

Daniel was silent.

“Are you sure she wasn’t lying?”

“I don’t know anymore, Daniel. I don’t know who to believe.”

He gently took her hand.

“Then we’ll find out together.”

Maya looked at him.

“Why are you helping me?”

“Because I spent six years believing a lie. I’m not going to let another one destroy what’s left of our lives.”

For the first time that afternoon, Maya felt a little less alone.

At 5:30 p.m., Daniel received a message from Adrian.

Adrian: I found the transaction records. Your mother transferred a substantial amount to an account registered under Maya’s father’s name.

Daniel immediately called him.

“Are you certain?”

“Yes. The transfer happened two days before Maya left.”

“Do we know what the money was for?”

“Not yet. But there’s a note attached to the transaction.”

Daniel’s grip tightened around his phone.

“What note?”

Adrian paused.

“It says, ‘Final settlement. Agreement fulfilled.’”

Daniel closed his eyes.

Agreement fulfilled.

His mother hadn’t simply interfered in their relationship. She might have arranged something with Maya’s family.

“Send me the documents,” Daniel said.

“I already have.”

The call ended.

Daniel stared at his phone.

He knew he had to confront his mother again, but this time, he needed proof she couldn’t deny.

Meanwhile, Maya sat in her bedroom when her phone rang again.

This time, it was her father.

She stared at his name for several seconds before answering.

“Dad?”

“Maya, my daughter. How are you?”

“I’m fine.”

There was a brief silence.

“I heard you’ve returned to Daniel.”

Maya sat upright.

“Who told you?”

“That doesn’t matter. I just want you to be careful.”

A bitter laugh escaped her lips.

“Careful of what, Dad?”

“Maya, please. Don’t start asking questions about the past.”

Her heart began to pound.

“Why?”

“Some things are better left alone.”

Maya’s voice trembled.

“Did you receive money from Victoria Bennett six years ago?”

Silence.

“Dad?”

“Who told you that?”

“Just answer me!”

Her father sighed heavily.

“I did what I thought was best for you.”

Maya felt her world collapsing.

“So it’s true?”

“I was trying to protect you.”

“Protect me from what? Loving someone?”

“You don’t understand the pressure I was under.”

“Then explain it to me!”

But her father ended the call.

Maya lowered the phone slowly.

The silence in the room felt unbearable.

She had lost six years with the man she loved because of a lie. And now she was discovering that her own father might have helped create it.

That evening, Daniel entered his mother’s study without knocking.

Victoria looked up from her desk.

“Daniel, what is it?”

He placed a printed document in front of her.

“Explain this.”

She glanced at the paper.

Her expression changed immediately.

“Where did you get that?”

“Does it matter? I want to know why you transferred money to Maya’s father six years ago.”

Victoria stood.

“Daniel, you don’t understand the circumstances.”

“Then help me understand!”

She looked towards the door before speaking.

“Your grandfather had threatened to remove you from the family business if you married Maya.”

Daniel frowned.

“What?”

“He believed your relationship would damage the family reputation. I was trying to prevent a scandal.”

“So you paid her father to make her leave?”

Victoria’s eyes filled with tears.

“I made an arrangement. I believed Maya would eventually forget you and move on.”

Daniel stepped back.

“You paid someone to take the woman I loved away from me.”

“I did it for you!”

“No, Mother. You did it for yourself.”

Victoria’s face hardened.

“You have no idea what I sacrificed to keep this family together.”

Daniel picked up the document.

“I’m beginning to understand exactly what kind of family this is.”

He walked out, leaving Victoria standing alone.

But as soon as the door closed, she reached for her phone.

There was one more person who knew the entire story.

And if that person spoke, the consequences would be far worse than anything Daniel had discovered.

She typed a message.

“It’s time we deal with Evelyn. She knows too much.”

Across town, Evelyn Collins sat in a dimly lit apartment, staring at an old photograph.

It showed Maya and Daniel standing together, smiling as though the world belonged to them.

She turned the photograph over.

On the back was a handwritten message:

Some secrets are worth keeping, even when they destroy innocent lives.

Evelyn placed it inside an envelope.

Then she picked up her phone and called a number she hadn’t contacted in years.

“Hello,” she whispered when someone answered.

“It’s time to tell Maya everything.”

A man’s voice responded.

“Are you sure you’re ready for what will happen when she finds out?”

Evelyn looked at the photograph again.

“No,” she admitted. “But she deserves to know who her father really is.”