Rose stood beside him proudly. “Welcome home, Daddy,” she said softly.
Chief Williams nodded once, then walked straight past all of them, into his master bedroom, and closed the door without saying another word.
The entire house went as quiet as a tomb. Everyone turned to Rose, swarming her like bees. Cynthia grabbed her arm. “How? How did this happen? What did you do?”
David added, “The doctor said he had late-stage cancer. He said he was going to die. How is he standing there like nothing ever happened?”
Frank just scratched his head, completely bewildered. “This… this has to be a miracle.”
Agatha whispered, “It’s like I’m dreaming.”
Rose looked at them all with a calm but cold stare. “I didn’t perform any miracle. I just gave our father what he truly needed. Love, care, and peace.”
“Any other questions,” she added, “you can go and ask him yourselves.” She turned and walked up the stairs, leaving them in a state of total, terrified confusion.
Later that night, Chief Williams sat alone in his room. He opened a drawer beside his bed and brought out something surprising. A small, black device. It was a CCTV camera.
He then opened a secret lockbox under his bed and brought out two more. One by one, he connected them to a small screen. And there it was.
Footage. Clear, undeniable recordings of everything that had happened in that room while he had pretended to be sick. Every conversation. Every act of neglect. Every callous word. All of it. Recorded.
He took a deep breath. Then he picked up his phone and dialed a number. “Hello. Mr. John? Come to the house tomorrow morning. We need to speak. And bring all the documents I gave you. It’s time.”
Downstairs, the rest of the family sat in the living room, silent. Each one of them was lost in their own terrified thoughts.
The living room was heavy with a dreadful silence. No one spoke. No one moved. David sat with his head bowed. Cynthia was biting her nails down to the quick. Frank had both hands clenched into white-knuckled fists. Agatha stood at the corner of the room, arms folded, her eyes darting nervously.
The family lawyer, Mr. John, sat with a calm face and a brown folder on his lap.
Then, Chief Williams entered. He was strong. Steady. Bold. He walked to the center of the room and stood like the lion he had always been.
“I have already explained everything to Mr. John,” he began, his voice echoing in the quiet. “Now it is time I tell all of you the truth.”
They all looked up, their eyes wide, holding their breath.
“I never had cancer,” he said clearly. “I was never sick. It was all a test. A test of love. A test of loyalty. A test to know the true hearts of my wife and my children.”..
