CHAPTER 3 — THE LETTER THAT SHATTERED THE LANCASTER NAME
The photograph hit the marble floor.
No one dared pick it up.
The only sound inside the Lancaster Ballroom was Chloe's uneven breathing.
Her father, Victor Lancaster, stood frozen in the entrance.
His tailored tuxedo suddenly looked too tight around his neck.
For years, Victor had been known as the perfect businessman.
Elegant.
Calm.
Untouchable.
Tonight...
For the first time in his life...
He looked afraid.
"That's a lie."
His voice was low but unsteady.
"My wife would never write something like that."
Emily slowly looked at him.
"You didn't even ask where I got the letter."
Victor's jaw tightened.
"There are people who forge documents."
"There are people who fake anything for money."
Emily smiled sadly.
"I've waited twenty-three years."
"If I wanted money..."
"I would've sued you long ago."
The room fell silent again.
Every guest instinctively stepped farther away from the Lancaster family.
No one wanted to be standing too close to a scandal.
Chloe unfolded the second page.
Her hands shook so violently she almost dropped it.
The paper had yellowed with age.
But the handwriting was unmistakable.
She had seen it hundreds of times.
Birthday cards.
Old recipes.
A note tucked inside her lunchbox when she was seven.
It was her mother's writing.
"My precious daughters...
If you are reading this, then I have failed to protect you.
If only one of you grew up as a Lancaster... it was never my choice.
The night you were born, your father made a decision that destroyed our family forever."
Victor lunged forward.
"Give me that!"
Richard stepped directly in front of him.
"No."
For the first time in decades...
The old billionaire looked at his son with open disgust.
"You've hidden long enough."
Victor stared at his father.
"You knew?"
Richard closed his eyes.
"I knew enough..."
"...to hate myself every single day."
Gasps echoed through the ballroom.
Chloe looked between them.
"You both knew?"
Richard whispered,
"I knew your mother gave birth to twins."
"I knew one baby disappeared before sunrise."
"I didn't know where she went."
Victor laughed bitterly.
"That's convenient."
"You always enjoy pretending your hands are clean."
Richard's face hardened.
"I begged you to tell Chloe the truth."
"You said Emily died."
Emily's eyes widened.
"You told everyone I was dead?"
Victor looked directly at her.
"I wish you had been."
The room erupted.
Several women covered their mouths.
Someone whispered,
"My God..."
Emily didn't cry.
Not this time.
She had already cried enough for a lifetime.
Instead...
She quietly reached into her apron pocket.
"I expected you to say that."
She placed a tiny silver flash drive onto the birthday table.
Victor's expression changed instantly.
His confidence vanished.
"Where did you get that?"
Emily answered calmly.
"From the woman who raised me."
"My grandmother."
Victor frowned.
"Margaret?"
Emily nodded.
"Before she died last month..."
"...she told me everything."
Richard's breathing stopped.
"Margaret is dead?"
Emily smiled through tears.
"She waited twenty-three years..."
"...hoping you'd come for me."
"You never did."
She looked at Victor.
"But you did visit."
Victor's eyes widened.
Emily continued,
"Every year."
"Always after midnight."
"You'd leave money outside our apartment."
"You watched from your car."
"You made sure we survived."
"But you never once knocked on the door."
Chloe slowly turned toward her father.
"Is that true?"
Victor remained silent.
Silence...
Was answer enough.
Emily picked up the flash drive.
"My grandmother kept security footage."
"Letters."
"Hospital records."
"And one conversation."
Victor suddenly shouted,
"Don't play it!"
Emily looked at him.
"For twenty-three years..."
"...you never gave me a chance to speak."
"Tonight..."
"...it's finally my turn."
She handed the flash drive to the ballroom's audiovisual technician.
The giant LED screen lit up.
Static.
Then—
A hospital room.
Twenty-three years earlier.
Victor Lancaster.
His wife, Isabella.
And another man Chloe had never seen before.
The timestamp appeared on the screen.
June 18... 23 years ago.
The room held its breath.
Then Victor's younger voice echoed through the ballroom.
"No one can ever know there were two babies."
Chloe stopped breathing.
But the next sentence...
Destroyed her world completely.
May you like
"Take one child away tonight... or the Lancaster inheritance disappears forever."
END OF CHAPTER 3
