Eliana’s POV
“Your father took his own life.”
Those words echoed in my head everyday.
I didn’t believe it. It couldn’t be true.
Five years of people believing that lie.
Five awful years of people believing that my father was involved in the corruption in the government.
Five years of me looking for evidence and reaching a dead end every time.
I walked into my Dad’s old office first thing in the morning like I’ve been doing for the past three years.
I sat on his desk, deep in my thoughts.
I had not been able to get the image of his dead body sitting on this chair, drenched in blood.
The letter they said was a suicide note placed on this very desk.
My father didn’t write that. He couldn’t have.
“Eliana.”
My mom called out my name.
I immediately snapped out my thoughts and quickly hid all the documents I was looking at on Dad’s desk.
My mom walked into the office.
“Eliana, don’t tell me you’re looking through your father’s old documents again.”
She said in a disappointed tone.
“I wasn’t doing that mom. You know I just like to be here.”
“Breakfast is ready, come eat.”
“I’ll be there in a minute.”
She left the room.
My bracelet got caught on the edge of the table as I stood up from the chair and snapped.
I watched the beads roll on the wooden floor as a tear drop fell from my eyes.
Dad gave that bracelet to me on my 10th birthday.
I wore it every single day. And now, it was gone.
I had cried enough tears to see my own reflection in them these past few years. So I didn’t cry.
I wiped that single drop of tear away and quietly started to pick the beads up.
I had to fix it. I couldn’t let the bracelet go.
I crawled on the floor slowly looking for every single bead that had fallen on the ground.
That’s when I saw it.
One of the floor boards at the very edge of the office lifted a bit.
“That’s odd.”
I whispered to myself.
I quickly ran to the kitchen to get a knife.
I pierced the knife into the gap in between the floor board that had lifted a bit to try to take it off.
After a few minutes of trying, I was finally able to get it off.
I found a box that contained a file and a flash drive.
“Eliana! Your food is getting cold!”
“I’m coming mom!”
I hurriedly covered the floor back up and went to the dining.
“What investigation are you up to today, Eli?”
“Nothing mom, I told you I just like to be in there.”
“It’s not healthy. Your dad made a choice and you should accept that.”
“A choice? You think Dad made a choice? You think he wanted to die? You really believe he killed himself? After all these years, you still think that?”
“Eli.”
“You’re actually impossible mom, I’m not doing this with you today.”
I slammed my fork on the table and left.
“Eliana Gomez, you will not walk away from your mother like that.”
I shut the door of dad’s office behind me and locked it.
I went back to the corner I found the box and took it out.
Then I opened the file.
There were so many things written in it that I couldn’t understand.
Financial records dated up to 7 years ago.
Then the flash drive.
I plugged the flash drive into Dad’s old computer but this just felt like another dead end.
More numbers and words I couldn’t understand.
Some of the documents had names crossed out in black ink.
Then I saw a name.
Sarah Laurent.
“Sarah Laurent?”
I whispered to myself.
She is one of the most powerful women in the country. Her face was basically everywhere.
Then one message cares my eyes in the document.
S.L knows.
“S.L knows? Sarah Laurent knows? Knows what?”
My father was investigating her. He knew her.
For the first time in three years, I felt like I had actually found something.
Not exactly an answer, but a direction.
And if Sarah Laurent was connected to my father’s death somehow, then I had to find out how.
I didn’t know who Sarah really was or what he discovered or if he was afraid of her.
But I knew one thing.
My father was taken away from me three years ago and if Sarah Laurent knows anything about it, I will make her tell me.
“But how will I get to her?”
“Madison!”
Madison was my childhood best friend.
Politician’s daughter, just like me.
The difference is my name had lost its credibility after my father’s death.
People believed he was a corrupt politician after his death so getting into politics has been very difficult for me.
But to get to Sarah Laurent, I need to get into her organization one way or the other.
Madison could help me.
She basically had connections in every organization in the country.
I picked up the phone to call Madison.
“Heyyyy.”
Madison said excitedly.
I giggled.
Madison was always filled with joy.
“I need your help.”
“Sure, what’s up? You sound serious.”
“It’s regarding my dad. I think I have a lead.”
“Oh, what’s your lead?”
“Sarah Laurent.”
“Just that?”
“Yes, my dad wrote her name down and it’s the only name I’ve found all these years so it has to be important.”
“Okay, I understand. How can I help?”
“I need to get into her foundation.”
“Sarah is a powerful woman, getting into her foundation will not be easy. You basically don’t have any true work experience in politics.”
“You know why that is. Getting into organizations has been hard because of my family’s reputation. But I know you can help me Madison, please.”
“I’ll try my best. I just don’t think Eliana Gomez would be able to work at Sarah Laurent’s foundation.”
“Eliana Gomez may not be able to. But Lily Hart can.”
“Lily Hart? Who is that?”
“Me. I have to change my name. You know I have amazing qualifications and the only thing that has been stopping me from getting into organizations is my name. So changing it should fix that problem.”
“Makes sense. I should be able to get you in. I’ll make a call and get back to you.”
“Thank you so much Madison, I knew I could count on you!”
“Always.”
The call ended.
I was trying my best to be smart with my moves.
If I were to get into Sarah’s foundation, I couldn’t go as a Gomez because if my father had her name written down, it’s possible she knows him and might recognize my name eventually.
So I had to be Lily Hart.