Nobody moved.<\/p>\n
My father\u2019s brother.<\/p>\n
A man I had known my entire life.<\/p>\n
Uncle Michael.<\/p>\n
The person who came to every birthday.<\/p>\n
Every holiday.<\/p>\n
Every family gathering.<\/p>\n
The person who always told me I reminded him of my father.<\/p>\n
I stared at the photograph.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
My father took it from Daniel.<\/p>\n
His hands were shaking.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s impossible.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas looked at the picture.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was found in Jonathan\u2019s private files.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
My father looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore his death.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
My mother whispered:<\/p>\n
\u201cMichael knew.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
My father turned toward her.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew?\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
She shook her head quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNicole.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew he knew Jonathan.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
Everyone froze.<\/p>\n
My father\u2019s expression changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew my brother knew him?\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked down.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know how close they were.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t believe what I was hearing.<\/p>\n
My whole life was built on secrets.<\/p>\n
Every person around me had known pieces of the truth.<\/p>\n
Except me.<\/p>\n
My father grabbed his coat.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going home.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
Nobody argued.<\/p>\n
The drive back was silent.<\/p>\n
When we arrived, the lights were on.<\/p>\n
Someone was already inside.<\/p>\n
My father stopped at the door.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
The front door wasn\u2019t locked.<\/p>\n
My mother grabbed my arm.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaya, stay behind me.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
The irony almost made me laugh.<\/p>\n
After everything.<\/p>\n
Now she wanted to protect me.<\/p>\n
My father entered first.<\/p>\n
\u201cMichael?\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
No answer.<\/p>\n
We walked into the living room.<\/p>\n
And there he was.<\/p>\n
My uncle.<\/p>\n
Sitting calmly on the couch.<\/p>\n
Holding a cup of coffee.<\/p>\n
Like he belonged there.<\/p>\n
Because he always had.<\/p>\n
He looked at us.<\/p>\n
Then sighed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was wondering when you\u2019d find out.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
My father stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you doing here?\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to see her.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
I stepped back.<\/p>\n
\u201cSee me?\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
He nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaya.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
The way he said my name made my skin crawl.<\/p>\n
My father stepped between us.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t talk to her.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael looked hurt.<\/p>\n
\u201cRichard.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
My father\u2019s voice was cold.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael looked down.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
The answer came too easily.<\/p>\n
My mother started crying.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow long?\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince before Maya was born.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt dizzy.<\/p>\n
My father stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew Jonathan was her father?\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you tell me?\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael didn\u2019t answer.<\/p>\n
That was enough.<\/p>\n
My father\u2019s hands curled into fists.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou let me raise another man\u2019s daughter without knowing the truth.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe needed you.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
My father froze.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw the way Jonathan lived. He was always chasing answers. Always fighting. I knew he couldn\u2019t give her the stable life she needed.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you decided for everyone?\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael sighed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI made a choice.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
My voice cut through the room.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou stole a choice.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
Everyone looked at me.<\/p>\n
I stepped forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou all keep saying you protected me.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
My eyes moved from my mother to Michael.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut none of you asked me what I wanted.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
Nobody spoke.<\/p>\n
Then Michael reached into his jacket.<\/p>\n
He pulled out a small envelope.<\/p>\n
\u201cI came here because I knew this day would happen.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
My father looked suspicious.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is that?\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael handed it to me.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomething Jonathan left for you.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnother letter?\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked serious.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomething much more important.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
I opened it.<\/p>\n
Inside was a key.<\/p>\n
A small metal key with a number engraved on it.<\/p>\n
17.<\/p>\n
My father frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does it open?\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cA safety deposit box.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
He took a breath.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father left it at a bank.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at the key.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s inside?\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael\u2019s expression changed.<\/p>\n
And for the first time, he looked afraid.<\/p>\n
\u201cProof.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cProof of what?\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked directly at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cProof that Jonathan wasn\u2019t the only person who was hiding the truth.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
My fingers tightened around the key.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat else is there?\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael lowered his voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cProof that someone in this family knew you were in danger.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
The room went silent.<\/p>\n
Then my phone buzzed.<\/p>\n
A new message.<\/p>\n
Unknown number.<\/p>\n
I opened it.<\/p>\n
One sentence appeared:<\/p>\n
*Ask your uncle why he was with Jonathan the night he died.<\/em>*<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Nobody moved. My father\u2019s brother. A man I had known my entire life. Uncle Michael. The person who came to every birthday. Every holiday. Every family gathering. The person who…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":427,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/metropolitantimeshock.pics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/metropolitantimeshock.pics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/metropolitantimeshock.pics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metropolitantimeshock.pics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metropolitantimeshock.pics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=449"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/metropolitantimeshock.pics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":450,"href":"https:\/\/metropolitantimeshock.pics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449\/revisions\/450"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metropolitantimeshock.pics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/metropolitantimeshock.pics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metropolitantimeshock.pics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metropolitantimeshock.pics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}