Chapter 8 - VICTORIA'S FINAL CONFESSION
The lights came back on.
And Victoria stood at the entrance.
Her expensive wedding dress was covered with dirt.
Her makeup was ruined.
She no longer looked like the confident woman who entered the wedding hall that morning.
She looked broken.
Adrian stared at her.
“How did you find us?”
Victoria didn’t answer.
She looked at Lena.
Then at the children.
Then at Richard.
“I need to tell you the truth.”
Adrian’s voice was cold.
“You already had seven years.”
Victoria lowered her eyes.
“I know.”
“Seven years of lies.”
“I know.”
“Seven years of making me hate someone who loved me.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I know.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“Then why are you here?”
Victoria took a deep breath.
“Because Daniel is going to kill everyone who knows the truth.”
Marcus immediately looked at her.
“Where is he?”
Victoria shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
Richard stared.
“You worked with him.”
Victoria looked ashamed.
“I thought I could control him.”
Adrian almost laughed.
“You thought you could control Daniel?”
Victoria looked at him.
“No.”
A pause.
“I thought I could control the situation.”
She looked at Lena.
“I was wrong.”
Lena said nothing.
Victoria walked closer.
“I hated you.”
Everyone looked at her.
She continued:
“Not because you did anything wrong.”
Her voice cracked.
“Because Adrian loved you in a way he never loved me.”
Adrian looked away.
Victoria wiped her tears.
“When Daniel came to me, he knew exactly what to say.”
“What did he promise?”
“Everything.”
She looked down.
“Your company.”
“Your money.”
“Your name.”
Adrian clenched his jaw.
“And you believed him.”
“Yes.”
The honesty surprised everyone.
“I thought after Lena disappeared, Adrian would eventually choose me.”
She looked at him.
“But he never stopped waiting for her.”
Silence.
Victoria pulled something from her pocket.
A small USB drive.
“I found this in Daniel’s office.”
Marcus immediately stepped forward.
“What’s on it?”
Victoria looked terrified.
“Everything.”
Adrian took it.
“What kind of everything?”
Victoria whispered:
“The recordings.”
“What recordings?”
“Your father.”
“Daniel.”
“Me.”
She looked at Lena.
“And the night your sister disappeared.”
Adrian froze.
“My sister?”
Victoria nodded.
“She wasn’t just Lena’s sister.”
Confusion crossed his face.
“What are you talking about?”
Victoria looked at the children.
Then at Adrian.
“There is something else you don’t know.”
She pointed toward the USB.
“Play it.”
Marcus connected it to the laptop.
A video appeared.
A dark room.
Daniel’s voice.
Then Victoria’s.
Then Richard’s.
Adrian watched.
And slowly realized something impossible.
The woman in the video...
Was not Lena.
It was someone else.
Someone Adrian knew.
Someone connected to his past.
Then Daniel’s voice came through the speakers.
“Once Adrian signs the final transfer papers, the Cross family belongs to us.”
Adrian froze.
Transfer papers?
“What is he talking about?”
Richard looked away.
Because he knew.
Adrian turned.
“Dad.”
Richard stayed silent.
Adrian’s voice became dangerous.
“What did I sign?”
No one answered.
Then the video showed a document.
A document with Adrian’s name.
A document transferring control of the entire Cross empire.
To Daniel.
Adrian stared.
“When?”
Richard whispered:
“The night you lost your memory.”
Adrian turned sharply.
“What?”
Richard looked at him.
“You were in an accident.”
Lena covered her mouth.
Adrian felt dizzy.
“Why don’t I remember?”
Richard said:
“Because someone made sure you wouldn’t.”
The screen suddenly went black.
A final message appeared.
ONE MORE SECRET REMAINS.
Adrian stared.
Then his phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A familiar voice spoke.
“Adrian.”
His blood froze.
Because the voice belonged to the woman from the photograph.
The woman he thought was gone.
The woman who was supposed to be dead.
May you like
“Your children are not the only ones who were hidden from you.”
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