Chapter 6: Caleb Knew More Than He Admitted

I barely slept that night.

At seven the next morning, I was already dressed and sitting at the kitchen counter with a cup of untouched coffee.

My father walked in first.

He stopped when he saw me.

“You're up early.”

“Couldn't sleep.”

He poured himself coffee and avoided my eyes.

For a man who had supposedly done nothing wrong, he looked unusually tense.

I watched him over the rim of my cup.

“Dad, do you remember Mom's accident?”

His hand froze around the coffee pot.

Only for a second.

Then he smiled.

“Of course I remember.”

“You told me the road was icy.”

“It was.”

“And you weren't there?”

His eyes finally met mine.

“Why are you asking me this?”

I shrugged.

“I found an old photograph.”

His face tightened.

“You've been digging through old files?”

There it was.

Not denial.

Fear.

Before I could say anything else, my mother entered the kitchen.

She took one look at us and immediately understood something was wrong.

“What's going on?”

My father answered too quickly.

“Nothing.”

My mother looked at me.

“Nora, don't start dragging up the past now. The gala is in three days.”

I smiled.

“I wouldn't want anything to ruin the gala.”

She relaxed slightly.

That was exactly what I wanted.

I wanted them to believe I was still playing by their rules.

My phone buzzed.

Caleb.

“Can we talk?”

I replied with one word.

“Sure.”

He arrived twenty minutes later.

The moment he entered the house, he went straight toward me.

“Nora, I've been worried.”

“You've had plenty of opportunities to worry.”

His expression faltered.

“About the mountain?”

“Among other things.”

He lowered his voice.

“I know you're angry.”

“Angry isn't the word.”

He reached for my hand.

I stepped away.

“Did you know the weather report predicted a blizzard before we left?”

His face changed.

“Everyone knew there was snow coming.”

“Did you know I didn't have a coat?”

“Nora—”

“Did you know there was barely any signal up there?”

He stopped answering.

That silence told me enough.

I looked at him carefully.

“You knew.”

“I didn't think Paige would actually leave you there.”

I almost laughed.

“But you knew she planned something.”

He rubbed his forehead.

“She said it would just be a joke.”

“And you agreed.”

“I didn't agree to abandon you.”

“You agreed to get in the car and drive away.”

He looked down.

“Your father was there. Your mother was there. Paige was excited. I didn't want to be the only person ruining everything.”

The words were so pathetic that they almost sounded honest.

“So you sacrificed me instead.”

“That's not fair.”

“Neither was leaving me in a blizzard.”

He stepped closer.

“Nora, please. I love you.”

I stared at him.

“Then why did you make me beg?”

He didn't answer.

I already knew.

Because making me beg had always been easier than standing up to Paige.

His phone suddenly rang.

He glanced at the screen and rejected the call.

A second later, a message appeared.

I caught a glimpse of the name.

Paige.

“We need to talk about the old footage. Meet me before the gala.”

Caleb quickly locked his phone.

I pretended not to notice.

“Who was that?”

“Work.”

I nodded.

“Of course.”

He leaned forward.

“Please don't do anything dramatic at the gala.”

“What makes you think I'd do that?”

He gave me a nervous smile.

“Because you're hurt.”

“I'm not the one who should be worried about being hurt.”

He left a few minutes later.

I waited until his car disappeared down the street.

Then I opened my laptop.

The encrypted folder was still there.

I checked the old footage again.

My father's confession was enough to change everything.

But now I knew Caleb had been aware of the mountain prank too.

And Paige had just mentioned old footage to him.

That meant she knew something was missing.

I opened the family drive and checked the access history.

Paige had logged in again that morning.

This time, she had opened the same folder containing my mother's accident records.

Then she accessed a file I hadn't noticed before.

Its name was simple.

“Payment.”

My pulse quickened.

I opened it.

Inside was a scanned bank transfer from twelve years ago.

The recipient's name wasn't my father.

It wasn't my mother.

It wasn't anyone in our family.

It was a private investigator.

And the payment had been made three days after my mother's death.

I stared at the amount.

Then I noticed the sender.

The account belonged to my father.

Whatever happened that night hadn't ended with the accident.

My father had paid someone to make sure the truth stayed buried.

I copied the document.

Then I heard footsteps approaching my bedroom.

I closed the laptop just before the door opened.

Paige stood there.

She smiled.

“Nora, we need to talk.”

I smiled back.

“About the gala?”

Her eyes narrowed.

“About something much older than that.”