Chapter 6 - THE WOMAN IN WHITE
Isabelle entered the hotel through the private elevator.
She walked alone.
She did not hurry.
She knew everyone was waiting.
The ballroom doors unlocked without warning.
The terrified guests turned as Isabelle stepped inside.
For a moment, many believed Evelyn had returned.
Then they noticed the differences.
Isabelle’s hair was darker.
Her eyes were colder.
And she wore no pink diamond ring.
Adrian Langford moved toward her.
“You were not supposed to come upstairs.”
Isabelle ignored him.
Her gaze settled on Victoria.
Victoria stood near a broken table with wine staining her dress.
“Who are you?”
Isabelle smiled.
“The woman your husband should have married.”
Victoria slapped Adrian.
The sound echoed through the ballroom.
Adrian grabbed her wrist.
“Control yourself.”
Victoria stared at him.
“You told me Evelyn was the only obstacle.”
Isabelle stepped closer.
“Evelyn was never the only obstacle.”
Victoria pulled her wrist free.
“You used me.”
“You enjoyed every benefit.”
“I made you acceptable.”
Victoria looked around at the guests.
Some of them were recording.
Her humiliation was becoming public.
She turned toward Isabelle.
“I want my money.”
Isabelle laughed softly.
“You have no money.”
Victoria’s face changed.
“My accounts contain over sixty million dollars.”
“They contained sixty million dollars.”
Isabelle gestured toward the ballroom screen.
Victoria’s banking page appeared.
Every account showed the same balance.
ZERO.
Victoria stumbled backward.
Adrian stared at Isabelle.
“That was not part of the agreement.”
Isabelle looked at him.
“Neither was failing to kill my sister twice.”
The guests began shouting.
The police commissioner moved toward the side door.
But the doors locked again.
This time, Isabelle looked surprised.
The ballroom screens changed.
Evelyn appeared live on camera from the monitoring room.
Her injured arm was bandaged.
Caleb stood beside her.
Lena sat safely behind them.
Evelyn looked directly at Isabelle.
“You always liked dramatic entrances.”
Isabelle’s smile vanished.
“You should be dead.”
“That sentence is becoming repetitive.”
Isabelle approached the camera.
“You stole everything from me.”
“Our father gave you control.”
“You became the perfect daughter.”
“You inherited the company.”
Evelyn remained calm.
“You disappeared.”
“I escaped.”
“You refused every attempt I made to find you.”
Isabelle’s eyes flashed.
“Because you were never searching for me.”
“You were protecting him.”
Evelyn frowned.
“Protecting whom?”
Isabelle raised a remote control.
The screens changed again.
A grainy recording appeared.
It showed their father, Charles Vale, arguing with a teenage Isabelle.
His hand struck her face.
Then he dragged her toward a locked room.
The ballroom went silent.
Evelyn stared at the footage.
“I did not know.”
Isabelle’s voice cracked for the first time.
“You knew enough.”
“I begged you to come home that night.”
“You chose a board meeting.”
Evelyn’s face tightened.
“I was twenty-three.”
“And I was sixteen.”
Isabelle’s pain disappeared behind a cold smile.
“So I decided to take back everything you chose over me.”
She pressed another button.
An alarm sounded beneath the hotel.
Caleb looked at the control panel.
His face turned pale.
“She activated the gas system.”
Lena stood quickly.
“What gas system?”
Caleb stared at Evelyn.
“The old foundation vault is beneath the ballroom.”
“She is going to destroy the evidence.”
May you like
Evelyn looked at the packed room above them.
“And everyone standing over it.”
