CHAPTER 4 – The Woman Everyone Trusted
The palace ballroom fell into complete silence.
Every pair of eyes turned toward the Sterling family.
Richard's chilling words echoed through the room.
"I didn't act alone."
Evelyn slowly scanned the faces she had loved and trusted all her life.
Her father stood frozen.
Her aunt burst into tears.
Her cousins whispered nervously.
Then...
One person quietly began walking toward the exit.
It was Victoria.
Evelyn's elegant stepmother.
"Victoria!" Margaret shouted.
"Don't take another step."
Victoria stopped—but she never turned around.
Instead, she smiled.
A slow...
Confident...
Terrifying smile.
"I wondered how long it would take," she said softly.
Gasps swept through the guests.
Evelyn stared in disbelief.
"No..."
"You loved Clara."
Victoria finally faced her.
"No, Evelyn."
"I loved the fortune."
The room exploded with shocked whispers.
Victoria removed her diamond earrings and placed them on a nearby table as though a lifetime of pretending had finally become exhausting.
"Your father built an empire."
"But he planned to leave almost everything to Clara."
Evelyn's heart pounded.
"That's impossible."
"I saw the will after Clara disappeared."
Victoria laughed.
"Exactly."
"After she disappeared."
Margaret rolled her wheelchair forward and laid another folder on the table.
"This is the original will."
Evelyn opened it with trembling hands.
Her vision blurred.
Margaret had been right.
Seven years earlier, Clara had been named the majority heir to Sterling Industries.
Everything changed only after she vanished.
Evelyn looked at Victoria with tears in her eyes.
"You let everyone believe Clara abandoned us."
Victoria's expression never changed.
"I did more than that."
Richard stepped beside her.
The bride's guests gasped as the two exchanged a knowing glance.
"We planned everything together," Richard admitted.
"I got close to you because Victoria said you were lonely enough to believe in love."
Every word felt like another knife in Evelyn's heart.
The engagement.
The vacations.
The late-night promises.
Every kiss.
Every "I love you."
Nothing had been real.
Leo suddenly tightened his grip on Evelyn's hand.
"My mom said there was someone good inside the family."
"Someone who tried to save her."
Margaret nodded.
"There was."
She turned toward the crowd.
"Come out."
For several seconds...
No one moved.
Then an elderly man stepped forward from the last row.
The palace gardener.
Everyone knew him simply as Mr. Harris.
For twenty-five years he had quietly cared for the Sterling estate.
No one had ever paid much attention to him.
Victoria's confident smile vanished.
"No..."
"It can't be."
Mr. Harris removed his old cap.
Then, with trembling hands, he placed an aged leather journal into Evelyn's hands.
"I've kept this hidden for seven years."
"It belonged to Clara."
Inside the journal were dozens of handwritten entries.
Each one described Victoria's secret meetings with Richard.
Fake legal documents.
Hidden offshore accounts.
Plans to force Clara into signing away the company.
But the final page made Evelyn stop breathing.
Written in Clara's own handwriting were eight haunting words:
"If you're reading this... I'm already being hunted."
Tucked inside the journal was a tiny USB drive.
Margaret looked directly at Evelyn.
"We've never opened it."
"Clara wrote your name on it."
'Only Evelyn must watch this alone.'
The ballroom fell silent again.
Evelyn slowly picked up the USB drive.
What could possibly be on it?
A confession?
Proof of murder?
Or something even darker?
Then the palace lights suddenly went out.
Complete darkness swallowed the room.
A woman's terrified scream echoed through the ballroom.
When the emergency lights flashed back on three seconds later...
Leo was gone.
Only the small piece of bread he had carried all day remained on the floor.
And beside it...
A single handwritten message.
May you like
"If you want the boy alive... come alone."
END OF CHAPTER 4... TO BE CONTINUED.
