Chapter 13 - The Fall of the Solmere Empire
The hidden door finally broke open.
Security men rushed inside.
But they stopped immediately.
Because Charlotte was standing there.
Not afraid.
Not hiding.
Standing like she owned the entire building.
Because she did.
The guards looked uncertain.
They expected a frightened woman.
Instead...
They found Charlotte Vale.
The woman whose family name built Solmere.
"Who sent you?"
Charlotte asked.
Nobody answered.
She stepped forward.
"Let me guess."
"Adrian?"
The guards looked away.
That was enough.
Alexander immediately contacted authorities.
But before anyone could move...
Victoria appeared behind the guards.
Her perfect appearance was gone.
Her makeup was ruined.
Her confidence disappeared.
"You destroyed everything."
Charlotte looked at her.
"No."
"I exposed everything."
Victoria laughed bitterly.
"You think you're better than us?"
Charlotte stared.
"You dragged me across my own hotel floor."
Victoria's face changed.
"You humiliated me in front of everyone."
Charlotte replied:
"No."
"You humiliated yourself."
The words hurt because they were true.
Victoria looked toward Adrian.
"You promised nobody would find out."
Adrian looked at her coldly.
"You were useful."
Victoria froze.
Charlotte noticed.
Adrian was abandoning everyone.
Just like he planned.
"You never cared about them."
Charlotte said.
"You only used them."
Adrian smiled.
"Of course."
"That is how power works."
Charlotte looked at him.
"No."
"That's how weak people think power works."
The police finally entered the hotel.
Guests watched as Adrian Vale was surrounded.
For the first time...
The man who controlled everyone...
Had no control left.
But before they took him away...
Adrian leaned toward Charlotte.
"You think this is the end?"
Charlotte looked at him.
"It is."
He smiled.
"No."
"Because Damian Blackwood knows something you don't."
Charlotte's expression changed.
"What?"
Adrian whispered:
"Your father didn't die in an accident."
Charlotte froze.
The room went silent.
Everyone heard it.
Your father.
Charlotte had spent years believing her father died peacefully.
But now...
Everything she knew was changing again.
Adrian was taken away.
But his final words remained.
Charlotte turned to Alexander.
"My father."
Alexander looked away.
May you like
And that told her everything.
He knew.
