CHAPTER 4 – The Uncle Who Stole Everything
No one moved.
Edward Ashford adjusted his cufflinks as if the video meant nothing.
Victoria began crying.
"Uncle Edward... tell them it isn't true."
Edward laughed softly.
"Still so dramatic."
Daniel lunged toward him, but two officers held him back.
"You murdered my father?"
Edward stood.
"I saved this family."
Eleanor's eyes filled with tears.
"You poisoned him."
Edward looked at her.
"And you were supposed to be blamed for it."
The truth hit the room like thunder.
For twenty-five years, Edward had manipulated the family.
He made the children believe Eleanor was greedy.
He turned them against their own mother.
He controlled the company from the shadows.
And worse...
he had been waiting for Richard's death to claim everything.
But Richard had known.
That was why he created Vault Seven.
That was why he left the letter.
That was why Eleanor had stayed silent for so many years.
She wasn't protecting herself.
She was protecting her children from a truth that would destroy them.
Edward suddenly pulled a small remote from his pocket.
The detective shouted,
"Drop it!"
But Edward only smiled wider.
"You think Richard was the only one with secrets?"
He pressed the button.
Every light in the mansion went out.
Screams filled the darkness.
Glass shattered.
Footsteps ran across the room.
When the emergency lights flickered back on...
Edward was gone.
And on the table lay one final note.
Eleanor picked it up with trembling hands.
There were only seven words written on it:
"Ask Eleanor what happened to her first child."
Daniel turned slowly toward his mother.
"First child?"
May you like
Eleanor's face went white.
Because Edward's final revenge had begun.
