PART 10 – THE UNEXPECTED GUEST
Attorney Van Dalen slid a thick, dark blue file across the desk toward me. On the cover was a name I hadn't heard in fifteen years: Mark van der Linden . “What is this exactly?” I asked, my hands trembling above the paper. “This is the proof of everything,” Van Dalen replied calmly. “Your mother collected evidence for years on your ex-husband's embezzlement.
Not only his financial fraud, but also how he manipulated Daniel and Sofia from an early age to turn them against you. He made them believe that you were the reason the family was destroyed, and that they were entitled to everything your mother had built.” I opened the file. Page after page, I saw bank statements, recorded phone conversations, witness statements, and signed contracts in which Mark secretly pulled the strings behind my children's real estate transactions.
Daniel and Sofia had been nothing more than unwitting tools in his hands, driven by their greed and his lies. “Where is he now?” I asked in a strained voice. “He was abroad for a while, but according to our latest information, he recently returned to the country. He thought the sale of the house would go through today, allowing him to settle his debts and go back into hiding,” the lawyer said.
A cold shiver ran down my spine. Mark was here. In the city. Perhaps even closer than I thought. I thanked Attorney Van Dalen, took the file, and got back into my car. Meanwhile, the sun was shining brightly, but the world around me seemed to transform into a movie in which I played the lead role in a thriller I had never wanted. I drove back to my mother's house.
I wanted to find a moment of peace to think about what to do with the file. Should I go to the police? Or should I confront Mark in person? When I pulled into the driveway and parked the car, I saw that someone was already waiting for me at the front door. It wasn't either of my children. It was a man in an expensive tailored suit, with gray hair and a familiar, arrogant smile on his lips.
Mark. He stood there as if he had never left. As if the place belonged to him. My heart skipped a beat. My hand automatically gripped the door handle. I could run away, or I could get out and face him. Mark walked slowly toward my car, bent down toward the door, and tapped his finger on the window, that same cold smile on his face.
