Chapter 11 - THE MESSAGE FROM THE DEAD WOMAN
Nobody spoke.
Nobody moved.
The entire hallway watched the screen.
The woman on the video looked older.
Different.
But I knew her.
A child always knows their mother's face.
Even after years.
Even after memories fade.
Even after people tell you she is gone.
Some part of you never forgets.
My hand covered my mouth.
"Mom..."
The word barely came out.
Griffin looked at me.
He didn't know what to say.
Maybe nobody did.
The woman on the screen took a shaky breath.
"My name is Evelyn Lawson."
Her eyes filled with tears.
"If you are seeing this, Fay, then I failed to protect you."
I started crying before I even realized it.
Twenty-two years.
Twenty-two years believing I had lost her.
The video continued.
"I wanted to come back. I tried."
Evelyn looked away.
"But powerful people made sure I couldn't."
Griffin stepped closer to the screen.
"Who?"
The video did not answer.
Instead, Evelyn continued.
"Griffin Hales..."
Everyone looked at him.
"I am sorry."
Griffin froze.
"I should have told you the truth years ago."
Marcus looked down.
Like he already knew what was coming.
Evelyn continued.
"Your father made mistakes. Terrible mistakes. But Adrian was not the only person responsible."
The screen flickered.
Then she said:
"Someone inside Hales International helped him."
Griffin's face hardened.
"Who?"
The video ended before answering.
The hallway exploded with voices.
Security moved.
Guests were escorted away.
Everyone was trying to understand what had happened.
But I couldn't move.
My entire world had changed in less than one night.
My mother was alive.
My past was a lie.
And somehow, I was connected to Griffin Hales' family war.
Griffin approached me slowly.
"I know this is impossible to process."
I wiped my tears.
"Do you?"
He stopped.
Because he couldn't.
He was a man who lost his entire family story in one night.
I looked at him.
"Someone knew about me."
He nodded.
"Yes."
"Someone brought me here."
"Yes."
"Someone knew I would hear that conversation."
His jaw tightened.
"Yes."
I looked toward Marcus.
"And someone knew my mother."
Nobody answered.
Then Marcus quietly said:
"There is one person who can explain everything."
Griffin turned.
"Who?"
Marcus looked toward the hotel entrance.
The doors slowly opened.
A man stepped inside.
Older.
Gray hair.
Cold eyes.
Everyone around him moved aside.
Because they recognized him.
Adrian Hales.
The brother who supposedly never existed.
The man who had disappeared twenty years ago.
He looked at Griffin.
Then at me.
And smiled.
"I wondered when you would finally find her."
Griffin stepped forward.
"Find who?"
Adrian's eyes moved to me.
May you like
"Your sister."
My blood ran cold.
