CHAPTER 5 – “The Woman Everyone Buried Alive”
Victoria couldn't breathe.
Her knees hit the marble floor with a loud crack.
"No... no, this can't be happening."
The investigator stared at the report one last time before slowly removing his glasses.
"The forged death certificate was signed by someone using the authority of the Whitmore Family Office."
Every pair of eyes turned toward Victoria.
She shook her head frantically.
"I didn't kill Jonathan!"
Eleanor's expression hardened.
"No."
She took one slow step forward.
"But you made sure everyone believed he was dead."
Emily felt as if the walls were closing in around her.
"If my father wasn't dead..."
Her voice barely escaped her lips.
"...where has he been for twenty-six years?"
No one answered.
The investigator quietly unlocked the silver briefcase again.
"There is another piece of evidence."
He removed an old cassette tape that had recently been digitized.
"The recording was discovered inside a safety deposit box opened only after today's inheritance ruling."
He pressed Play.
Static filled the room.
Then...
A man's weak voice emerged.
"If anyone is hearing this... my name is Jonathan Whitmore."
Emily's entire body froze.
It was her father.
"I've been held against my will for years."
The room erupted in disbelief.
"If anything happens to me... protect my daughter."
Emily covered her mouth, tears streaming down her face.
Jonathan continued.
"I trusted my own family..."
A painful cough interrupted him.
"...and they betrayed me."
Victoria suddenly screamed,
"Turn it off!"
But no one moved.
The tape continued.
"The person responsible isn't acting alone."
Everyone stared at the speaker.
"I never feared my enemies."
Another cough.
"I feared..."
The recording crackled violently.
"...my own brother."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Ethan looked at Eleanor.
"My father?"
Eleanor's face drained of color.
She whispered,
"No..."
Just then...
The massive front doors slowly opened.
An elderly man wearing an expensive black suit entered the mansion.
He walked with authority.
Every employee immediately lowered their heads.
It was Richard Whitmore.
Jonathan's older brother.
Ethan's father.
Victoria's husband.
He looked around the room calmly before smiling.
"So..."
"I see you've finally found the tape."
Emily stared at him.
"You knew my father was alive."
Richard didn't deny it.
Instead...
He clapped slowly.
"Congratulations, Emily."
"You solved half of the mystery."
He reached into his jacket and pulled out a faded photograph.
It showed Jonathan...
Standing beside a woman.
But it wasn't Emily's mother.
It was Eleanor.
Much younger.
Holding a newborn baby.
Richard tossed the photo onto the floor.
"You've all believed the wrong story for twenty-six years."
He looked directly into Emily's eyes.
"The biggest secret isn't that Jonathan survived."
He smiled.
May you like
"It's that..."
"...the woman you call Grandmother has been lying to you since the day you were born."
