The File

I didn’t open it right away.

Again.

The file sat untouched on my desk as I stared at it like it might explode. My room was silent, the sky outside already dark. I could hear the clock ticking, the soft hum of the fridge downstairs—but in my head, it was chaos.

Adrian Blackwood—my principal, the man who terrified half the school—had told me I was more than just my father’s daughter.

What did that mean?

I reached for the file.

My fingers hesitated on the metal clip before I finally forced it open. Inside were pages. Photocopies. Faded notes. Newspaper clippings. A name stared back at me from the top sheet:

Michael Winters.

My father.

I felt my throat tighten.

The first page was a summary. A case file. Words I didn’t understand—undercover, operation compromised, target eliminated. It didn’t feel real. It sounded like something out of a spy movie.

My dad had been a federal agent.

Not an accountant, like Mom always said. Not “just someone who worked in an office.”

No. He had been involved in something dangerous. Something secret.

And he’d died because of it.

There was more. Photos of men in suits. Names crossed out. One report said Michael Winters had exposed a powerful criminal group—before he vanished.

Except he didn’t vanish.

He was killed.

Murdered.

I pressed a hand over my mouth.

My dad had died to protect people… and no one ever told me the truth.

I flipped through the last page. It was a letter—handwritten, shaky. From him.

Leah,

If you ever read this, it means the truth has found its way back to you. I wish I could be there to explain, to hold your hand through the storm I left behind. But you’re stronger than you think. Trust your instincts. And trust Adrian. He’s the only one I ever believed could protect you.

–Dad

I stared at the words, my heart breaking.

So Adrian had known all along.

He wasn’t just my principal. He had known my father. Had kept this truth buried. Had watched me from a distance all these years.

I didn't know how to feel.

Angry? Betrayed? Grateful?

I didn’t realize I was crying until I felt the tears fall onto the paper. I quickly wiped them away, afraid I’d smudge his writing. It was the only piece of him I had now.

The door creaked open behind me.

I turned sharply—only to see my mother, her eyes wide.

“You found it,” she whispered.

“You knew?” My voice cracked. “You knew about all this?”

Her eyes welled with tears. “I was trying to protect you.”

“By lying to me my entire life?”

Her silence said everything.

I stood, holding the file like a weapon. “You let me grow up not knowing who I am. Not knowing what happened to him.”

Her voice trembled. “Because knowing would’ve put you in danger.”

A chill ran down my spine.

“Are we still in danger?” I asked.

She didn’t answer right away.