PART 7
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Not the guards.
Not Victor Vale.
Not even my father.
Because everyone in that room understood something had changed.
The truth I had spent my entire life searching for was finally within reach.
But it was uglier than I imagined.
“Take him.”
My father’s voice cut through the room.
The security team immediately moved toward Victor.
But Victor didn’t run.
He didn’t fight.
He simply smiled.
Like he had already won.
“Still trying to control everything, Richard?”
My father’s expression darkened.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Victor laughed.
“No?”
He looked at me.
“Your father has spent twenty years making sure you never ask the right questions.”
I felt my chest tighten.
“Stop talking about him.”
My own voice surprised me.
It was calm.
Cold.
Victor looked pleased.
“Good.”
He smiled.
“Finally, you’re thinking for yourself.”
My father looked at me.
“Emma, don’t listen to him.”
I turned.
“Then tell me.”
Silence.
“Tell me about the phone call.”
My father’s face changed.
And that was enough.
He knew exactly what I meant.
“The night Mom died.”
My voice trembled.
“What happened?”
My father looked away.
“Emma…”
“No.”
I stepped forward.
“I spent my entire childhood believing my mother left me because of an accident.”
My eyes burned.
“If that wasn’t true, I deserve to know.”
Victor leaned against the doorway.
“Let me tell her.”
My father immediately said:
“No.”
But I raised my hand.
“Let him.”
My father stared at me.
I saw the pain in his eyes.
But I needed answers.
Even if they destroyed me.
Victor spoke.
“Your mother discovered everything.”
“Everything about your family.”
“Everything about the Vale empire.”
He looked at my father.
“And everything about Richard.”
My jaw tightened.
“What does that mean?”
Victor smiled.
“Your father wasn’t just investigating me.”
“He was hiding something too.”
I looked at my father.
“Dad?”
He said nothing.
And that silence was becoming unbearable.
Victor continued.
“Your mother found financial records.”
“Payments.”
“Transfers.”
“Secret agreements.”
His eyes narrowed.
“And one name appeared everywhere.”
A pause.
“Richard Hayes.”
My stomach dropped.
“No.”
I shook my head.
“No, that’s not possible.”
Because the man standing beside me was my hero.
My father.
The person who taught me right from wrong.
The person who stayed when everyone else left.
He couldn’t be part of this.
Victor looked at me.
“That’s what makes him dangerous.”
My father’s voice suddenly became sharp.
“Enough.”
The room shook with the force of it.
Everyone stopped.
Because my father rarely raised his voice.
Victor smiled.
“Still protecting your image?”
My father walked toward the old desk.
Slowly.
He opened a drawer.
Then he pulled out something.
A small cassette recorder.
Old.
Dust-covered.
My breath caught.
“What is that?”
My father looked at me.
“Your mother’s last message.”
The room went silent.
“I found it after the accident.”
My father continued.
“I couldn’t bring myself to listen.”
I stared.
“You had this all along?”
A tear appeared in his eyes.
“Yes.”
The answer hurt.
More than I expected.
He placed the recorder on the table.
His hands shook.
Not because he was afraid.
Because he remembered.
“Your mother recorded everything.”
He pressed play.
Static filled the room.
Then…
a voice.
A voice I hadn’t heard since childhood.
My mother.
“Richard…”
The recording was weak.
Like it had been made in a hurry.
“If you’re hearing this, something happened.”
My hand covered my mouth.
My mother’s voice.
Real.
Alive.
“I found the truth.”
A pause.
“They weren’t working alone.”
My heart stopped.
“They…”
Static.
Then her voice returned.
“The person helping Victor is someone we trusted.”
Everyone looked at my father.
Including me.
My mother continued.
“Richard, I need you to listen.”
“I was wrong.”
A shaky breath.
“I thought protecting Emma meant hiding the truth.”
“But secrets only protect the person keeping them.”
My eyes filled with tears.
Because those words sounded exactly like what I had been thinking.
Then came the sentence that shattered me.
“If anything happens to me…”
A pause.
“Do not trust anyone.”
My breathing stopped.
“Not even the person who says they’re protecting her.”
The recording ended.
The room went completely silent.
I looked at my father.
He looked destroyed.
Not guilty.
Not angry.
Destroyed.
“Dad…”
My voice broke.
“Was Mom talking about you?”
He closed his eyes.
And whispered:
“Yes.”
My heart sank.
Before I could respond, the lights suddenly went out.
The entire mansion fell into darkness.
Someone screamed.
A window shattered.
The guards reacted instantly.
When the emergency lights turned on…
Victor was gone.
But on the table where he stood…
was a new envelope.
My name again.
EMMA.
My father reached for it.
But I stopped him.
“No.”
I picked it up myself.
Because this time…
I needed to face the truth.
I opened it.
Inside was one photograph.
Old.
Faded.
A picture of my mother.
Standing beside another person.
Someone I recognized.
My blood froze.
Because the person beside her…
was not Victor.
Not my father.
It was Adrian’s mother.
May you like
And written on the back of the photo were six words:
“Your marriage was planned before you were born.”
