When Secrets Surface (Book #1)

Chapter 1

Sophie's POV

I sat at the edge of my bed, staring at a picture of my father. 

I only blinked if my eyes began to dry out.

My father has been missing for the past 5 years. He was a scientific engineer working on various projects, making a fortune, that's how we ended up in this mansion, which now felt extremely empty without him. On that one, horrible day on March 5th, 2019 he went to his lab in such a rush we couldn't talk to him before he left. The sad truth is we couldn't talk to him again because he never returned.

We filed a missing person report, but the police didn't bother to search for him because it was a low-risk case, as he wasn't a minor, a person with a disability, or vulnerable due to his age, and they expected him to return even when his behavior seemed out of character.

The truth is, days turned into weeks, and that's when the police started to get worried. Our large town in California instantly transformed into a crime scene. They scavenged the whole town and couldn't find a trace of him anywhere in the whole state of sunny California.

They soon boycotted the investigation after years of investigation, today they declared David Gordon dead by the presumption of death due to disappearance and his body has never been found.

My family was sent into instant grief from the shock and loss of our beloved father and my mom's beloved husband.

Now, everyone has presumed he was dead and would never be found again dead or alive. The only person with unwavering faith that David would be found was me I believed that he was still alive out there... somewhere. My twin sister, Dorothy, kept reminding me that I was delusional and he was gone and I had to accept his fate.

Everyone in the town had accepted the fate that David Gordon was dead and his body would never be found.

The door creaked open and I immediately snapped back to reality and lifted my head. The familiar face of my mother, Ashley Gordon, appeared.

"Are you okay Soph?" my mother said.

''Just wishing Dad could be here right now,'' I sighed.

"I know you miss him, we all do, but you have to move on... we have to move on, but still hold the memory of him in our hearts, " My mom tried to reassure me in her calmest voice.

"It just hurts you know...in all honesty. They didn't look for him soon enough. I... I just wish I could have done more for him," My voice sounding quieter than intended.

My mom took in a deep breath and placed a comforting hand on my shoulder, "We couldn't have done anything more than reporting his disappearance to the police. Try to cheer up, hon".

I tried to plaster my best smile onto my face and pulled her into a hug.
"I'll be fine Mom, thanks for trying to cheer me up".

"Well... I have big news for you."My mother replied.

"What?" I mentioned curiosity playing across my face.

"I have started dating this guy...Alex Green and he is coming to lunch to meet you and Dorothy tomorrow", Mom answered my question calmly.

"Really?!" The shock in my voice was evident.

"Yes, really", my mom answered

"Congrats", I murmured as I tried to put on my best smile. I've not seen her so...so happy in the past 5 years and I didn't want to destroy that.

"Are you okay with it," she asked with a questioning expression.

"OF COURSE WHY WOULDN'T I BE OKAY WITH IT?!" The words frantically slipped out of my mouth at the speed of light.

"Thanks, Soph, cheer up." She stood up and left my room, closing the door gently behind her.

When I could no longer hear her footsteps I stood up and bolted out of my room to tell Dorothy this very shocking revelation.