Chapter 3 - The photograph shook in Eleanor's hand.Her mother was younger.
Twenty-seven, perhaps.
Standing beside her was a tall man with dark hair.
He had one arm around her waist.
They looked happy.
Charles was nowhere in the frame.
Eleanor looked at Mrs. Bell.
“Who is he?”
Mrs. Bell hesitated.
“His name was Adrian Vale.”
Richard turned sharply.
“You shouldn't have that.”
Mrs. Bell ignored him.
“Your mother loved him.”
Charles looked like he had been struck.
“That isn't true.”
Mrs. Bell stared at him.
“You know it is.”
Eleanor's heartbeat accelerated.
“Where is Adrian now?”
Nobody answered.
Then Luca spoke.
“He's dead.”
Eleanor turned toward him.
“How do you know?”
Luca's expression hardened.
“Because I knew him.”
The room fell silent again.
Luca stepped closer.
“Adrian Vale worked in European shipping before my father died.”
Eleanor stared.
“He was a competitor?”
“No.”
Luca looked at Charles.
“He was my father's financial partner.”
Charles said nothing.
Eleanor suddenly understood.
The room wasn't just about her.
It was about a network that had existed before she was born.
A network connecting Whitmore Holdings.
Moretti Global.
The offshore accounts.
Her mother.
And Adrian Vale.
Samuel carefully removed another document.
“There is something else.”
He placed it on the table.
A birth certificate.
Eleanor looked at it.
Her mother's name.
Her own name.
Then the father field.
Blank.
Her breath caught.
Charles stepped forward.
“That's an old copy.”
Eleanor looked at him.
“Why is it blank?”
Charles said nothing.
Richard spoke.
“Because your mother refused to list the father.”
“Why?”
“Because she knew Charles would find out.”
Eleanor turned to Charles.
“You knew?”
Charles closed his eyes.
“I knew you weren't mine.”
The sentence hit harder than a slap.
Nobody moved.
Eleanor's chest tightened.
“So you knew.”
“Yes.”
“And you still raised me.”
Charles looked at her.
“I tried.”
Eleanor laughed once.
It wasn't a happy sound.
“You erased me.”
“I protected you.”
“You called me useless.”
“I kept you alive.”
Her expression changed.
“From whom?”
Charles stared at her.
Then someone fired a gun outside.
Everyone dropped.
Glass exploded.
Luca moved instantly, pulling Eleanor down behind the table.
Another shot.
Security rushed through the hallway.
Charles crouched behind a chair.
Madeline screamed.
Samuel grabbed the documents.
Richard vanished behind the curtains.
Eleanor felt Luca's hand against her shoulder.
“Stay down.”
“Who is shooting?”
“No idea.”
Three more shots.
Then silence.
Luca looked at his security chief.
The man shook his head.
“No shooter.”
“What?”
“The shots came from inside the house.”
Everyone froze.
Inside.
Luca's eyes moved across the room.
Then stopped.
At the chandelier.
A small device had been attached to the ceiling.
A camera.
Eleanor stared at it.
Someone had been watching the dinner.
All night.
Samuel whispered:
“The room was compromised.”
Luca stood.
He moved toward the camera.
Then stopped.
“Don't touch it.”
He pointed.
A red light was blinking.
Recording.
Eleanor suddenly remembered.
Her mother had once told her:
When someone wants you to see them, look for what they're hiding.
The camera wasn't the threat.
It was a message.
A video screen suddenly turned on beside the fireplace.
Everyone stared.
The image was grainy.
Black and white.
Then Eleanor saw her mother's face.
She stopped breathing.
Her mother was sitting inside a room.
Alive.
The date appeared at the bottom of the screen.
Six years ago.
Eleanor's knees weakened.
Her mother looked directly into the camera.
“Eleanor, if you're watching this, I've failed to protect you.”
Eleanor stepped closer.
Her mother's voice trembled.
“Your father will tell you I died.”
Charles closed his eyes.
“But I didn't.”
Eleanor turned toward him.
Charles looked destroyed.
Her mother's voice continued.
“I went into hiding because someone inside our family was trying to kill you.”
The screen flickered.
Her mother looked frightened.
Then she whispered:
“Eleanor, the person you trust most is the one who ordered the accident.”
The video ended.
The room remained dark.
Eleanor turned slowly.
There were only five people in the room who had been close enough to influence her life.
Charles.
Richard.
Mrs. Bell.
Samuel.
And Luca.
Then a sixth person entered.
Eleanor looked at the doorway.
Victoria was standing there.
Her face was wet with tears.
“I know who ordered it.”
Everyone turned.
Victoria swallowed.
“And it wasn't Dad.”
Charles stared at his daughter.
“Victoria.”
May you like
She looked at Eleanor.
“It was Mom.”
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