For a long moment, Lila could only hear the rain.
"My father didn't betray anyone," she said at last.
Daniel's expression softened. "I'm not saying he did."
"Then why would your father believe that?"
"Because someone made him believe it."
Adrian guided Lila to the sofa. She sat down slowly, still staring at the document on the table.
Her father's name.
She hadn't seen it written anywhere in years.
Her mother rarely spoke about him. Whenever Lila asked questions, she was told that he had been a good man, that he had died in an accident, and that there was nothing more to know.
Now a stranger's old family feud had reached into the one part of her life she thought was settled.
Adrian crouched in front of her.
"Look at me," he said gently. "You don't have to figure this out tonight."
"But I do." Her voice cracked. "If your father knows something about mine, I need to know what happened."
"I'll help you."
She looked at him sharply. "And if the truth changes everything?"
Adrian held her gaze. "Then we face the truth. Not each other."
Daniel placed the second document beside the letter.
"This is a copy of a report Dad kept," he said. "It mentions a business dispute between him and a man named Samuel Okafor."
Lila swallowed. "My father."
"According to the report, your father disappeared with documents that could have exposed the company."
Adrian stood. "That report could be a lie."
"It could," Daniel agreed. "That's why I kept looking."
Their mother sank back into her chair.
"Your father was furious when Samuel died," she said quietly. "He believed the accident was not an accident."
Lila turned to her. "You knew?"
"I knew what your father-in-law believed. I never knew whether it was true."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I was afraid."
"Of what?"
Her mother-in-law's eyes filled with tears.
"Of what your father might have taken with him. And of what my husband might do if he ever found it."
Daniel pulled a folded sheet from his pocket.
"I found this among Dad's old papers. It's a note from someone who worked for him."
Adrian took it and read aloud.
"'Samuel's daughter is alive. If she ever learns what happened, the whole family will fall.'"
Lila's hands went cold.
"Who wrote it?"
Daniel turned the page over.
There was a signature at the bottom.
Adrian stared at it.
Then his face changed.
"That's impossible."
"What?" Lila asked.
Adrian looked at his mother.
"The signature belongs to Uncle Peter."
His mother covered her mouth.
Daniel nodded grimly.
"Dad's younger brother."
Lila rose unsteadily.
"Then we ask him."
Adrian reached for her hand, but she stepped back—not because she wanted to leave him, but because she needed room to breathe.
"I'm not asking you to choose between me and your family," she said. "I'm asking you not to hide anything from me."
"I won't."
"Promise me."
Adrian's answer came without hesitation.
"I promise."
Outside, the rain began to ease.
But inside the house, the past had only just begun to speak.