THE SECRET BEHIND HER SMILE

Chapter One: The Night Everything changed

She looked at him.

"Yes, sir. Do we know each other?"

The man exchanged a brief glance with her mother.

"Not personally. But I knew your father very well."

At the mention of her father, Amara's expression changed.

Her father had died when she was fifteen. Although she had spent years trying to accept his absence, his memory remained a sensitive subject in their home.

"Did you work with him?" she asked.

The man nodded slowly.

"Something like that."

He reached for the brown envelope beside him and placed it on the centre table.

"I believe you should read this."

Amara looked at the envelope, then at her mother.

"Mummy, what's going on?"

Her mother said nothing.

The silence became uncomfortable.

The stranger cleared his throat.

"Your father wasn't the man you were told he was."

Amara frowned.

"What do you mean?"

He checked his wristwatch, picked up his car keys and headed towards the door.

"I have said enough for today. Your mother knows what happened. Ask her."

And just like that, he left.

Amara remained standing in the sitting room.

For several seconds, she couldn't find the words to speak.

Finally, she turned towards her mother.

"Mummy, what was that man talking about?"

Her mother lowered her head.

"Please, Amara. Not tonight."

Amara laughed nervously.

"Not tonight? Someone just walked into our house and told me my father wasn't who I thought he was, and you're asking me to forget about it?"

Her mother wiped her eyes.

"Some truths are painful, my daughter."

Amara picked up the envelope.

It contained several documents, an old photograph and a handwritten letter.

She opened the photograph first.

Her father was standing beside a beautiful woman. Between them was a little boy who looked about six years old.

Amara turned the photograph over.

There were three words written at the back.

My first family.

Her fingers went cold.

She opened the letter.

The handwriting was unmistakably her father's.

But before she could read beyond the first paragraph, she noticed something that made her heart sink.

The letter was dated three months before his death.

And the final sentence read:

"If anything happens to me, please make sure Amara never discovers what really happened that night."

Amara looked up slowly.

Her mother was standing near the window, crying silently.

"Mummy..."

Her voice trembled.

"What happened that night?"

Her mother turned around.

For the first time in Amara's life, she saw genuine fear in her mother's eyes.

And then her mother said something that changed everything.

"Your father didn't die the way you were told."

TO BE CONTINUED...