Chapter 4: The Secret Behind the Guardrail

The next clip was tilted toward the ceiling.

Paige must have forgotten to turn off the GoPro.

In the late-night living room, my father’s voice was low.

“Her mother didn’t lose control and hit the guardrail on her own. I was drunk. I rear-ended her.”

My mother was silent for a moment.

“If I hadn’t told the police she was driving, you would have gone to jail.”

My fingers went cold.

I stopped breathing.

The video continued.

My father lowered his voice even further.

“Nobody can ever know. Especially Nora.”

My mother gave a short, nervous laugh.

“She was eight. She barely remembers that night.”

“She remembers enough to know her mother died because of a crash.”

“Then let her keep believing that.”

I stared at the screen.

My mother had always told me my mother died because she lost control of the car on an icy road.

I had spent my entire childhood believing it.

I remembered the funeral.

I remembered my father standing beside my tiny body, telling me that Mom had gone somewhere peaceful.

I remembered asking whether she had been scared.

He had hugged me and said, “She didn't suffer.”

But this video said something completely different.

My father had hit her.

He had been drunk.

And my mother had helped him cover it up.

I rewound the footage and watched it again.

Then again.

Every word was clear.

There was no misunderstanding.

No prank.

No joke.

It was a confession.

I immediately copied the original video to the encrypted drive.

Then I made three additional copies and stored them in separate locations.

I didn't trust the cloud drive anymore.

I didn't trust my parents.

And I definitely didn't trust Paige.

I kept watching.

The conversation continued for several minutes.

My father was worried that someone might discover the accident because a repair shop had recently contacted him about an old vehicle record.

My mother told him not to panic.

“Nobody is going to connect that car to us after all these years.”

My father replied, “What about Nora?”

My mother went silent.

“She doesn't need to know.”

The clip ended.

I sat completely still.

Then I heard footsteps outside the room.

I quickly minimized the video and pretended to be sorting the gala files.

The door opened.

Paige walked in carrying shopping bags.

“Still working?” she asked.

I smiled at her.

“Someone has to.”

She dropped the bags onto the sofa.

“Mom said you were supposed to make the video reel more entertaining.”

“I found some interesting footage.”

Her expression changed for half a second.

“Interesting how?”

I looked directly at her.

“Just old family memories.”

She relaxed.

“Good. Use the funny ones.”

I nodded.

“Of course.”

She turned toward the door, then stopped.

“Nora?”

“Yes?”

“You're not planning to embarrass anyone at the gala, are you?”

I smiled softly.

“Why would I?”

Paige studied me for a moment.

Then she laughed.

“That's my girl.”

The door closed behind her.

My smile disappeared.

For the first time, I understood something important.

The cruel jokes weren't the only thing my family had been hiding.

They had a secret serious enough to destroy all of them.

And Paige had accidentally handed me the evidence.

I opened the gala presentation folder again.

There were hundreds of videos inside.

If one confession had been recorded by accident, there could be more.

I created a new folder on my encrypted drive.

I named it simply:

“Bennett Family Truth.”

Then I returned to the footage.

This time, I wasn't looking for jokes.

I was looking for secrets.