CHAPTER 9 — THE WITNESS WHO HID THE LAST PIECE
CHAPTER 9 — THE WITNESS WHO HID THE LAST PIECE
The rain continued falling.
Heavy.
Relentless.
Like the sky itself was trying to wash away thirty years of secrets.
Nobody moved.
Not Alexander.
Not Lauren.
Not Eleanor.
Not even Victoria.
Because the sentence she had just spoken changed the entire story.
“The person who caused your father’s death was standing beside him that night.”
Alexander stared at his mother.
His mind raced.
For years, he believed he knew the villain.
Victoria.
The woman who controlled the money.
The woman who separated his family.
The woman who manipulated his entire life.
But now…
Another possibility appeared.
A possibility he hated.
Because if Victoria was telling the truth…
Then someone else had been hiding behind her.
Someone else had benefited.
Someone else had escaped.
“Who?”
Alexander’s voice cut through the rain.
“Who was beside my father?”
Victoria looked at Eleanor.
She didn’t answer.
And that silence told Alexander everything.
His eyes moved slowly.
From Victoria…
To Eleanor.
The woman holding the evidence.
The woman who claimed she wanted justice.
The woman who had disappeared for decades.
Eleanor lowered her eyes.
“Alexander…”
His expression changed.
“No.”
His voice became colder.
“Don’t.”
Eleanor looked hurt.
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain.”
A pause.
“Right now.”
The street was silent.
Even Marcus Vale watched carefully.
Because he also wanted the answer.
Eleanor held the metal box tighter.
“I didn’t kill Jonathan.”
Alexander stared.
“I didn’t say you did.”
“But you’re thinking it.”
He didn’t respond.
Because she was right.
Eleanor looked at Victoria.
“You planned this.”
Victoria shook her head.
“No.”
“You waited thirty years for this moment.”
“No.”
Victoria stepped forward.
“I waited thirty years because I knew the truth would destroy him.”
Alexander looked at her.
“Destroy who?”
Victoria’s expression softened.
“You.”
That answer confused him.
“What?”
She looked at her son.
“You think I wanted power?”
Alexander said nothing.
“You think I wanted Sterling Holdings?”
“Yes.”
Victoria shook her head.
“No.”
Her voice became quieter.
“I wanted to keep you alive.”
Nobody spoke.
Alexander almost laughed.
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“By lying to me?”
“Yes.”
“By stealing my daughter?”
Victoria looked away.
That hesitation hurt.
Because even she knew there was no excuse for that.
“I made mistakes.”
Alexander’s eyes became colder.
“Mistakes?”
His voice rose.
“You took three years from my daughter.”
“You destroyed my marriage.”
“You let me hate the woman I loved.”
“And you call that a mistake?”
Victoria lowered her head.
For the first time…
She looked like a mother.
Not a billionaire.
Not a strategist.
Just a woman who knew she had crossed a line she could never return from.
Then Marcus spoke.
“Enough.”
Everyone turned.
He stepped forward.
“This is exactly what Jonathan wanted.”
Alexander looked at him.
“What?”
Marcus smiled.
“Everyone fighting each other.”
Victoria looked at him sharply.
“Marcus.”
He ignored her.
“You still don’t understand.”
Alexander’s eyes narrowed.
“Understand what?”
Marcus looked at the group.
“The Sterling family has always been blind.”
“Everyone thinks this is about money.”
“It isn’t.”
“Then what is it about?”
Marcus answered:
“Control.”
A cold wind moved through the street.
Marcus continued.
“Jonathan wanted to change the company.”
“Victoria wanted to preserve it.”
“Eleanor wanted justice.”
“And everyone thought they were the hero.”
Alexander stared.
“And you?”
Marcus smiled.
“I wanted what everyone else wanted.”
“What?”
“To survive.”
Then Eleanor suddenly spoke.
“He’s lying.”
Everyone looked at her.
Marcus’s expression changed.
“You’re still doing this?”
Eleanor stepped forward.
“I know what happened.”
“Then tell them.”
Marcus smiled.
“Tell them everything.”
Eleanor looked at Alexander.
Her eyes filled with guilt.
“I wasn’t completely honest.”
Alexander felt his chest tighten.
“What did you hide?”
She opened the metal box.
Inside was another envelope.
Older.
More damaged.
She handed it to him.
“This was Jonathan’s final document.”
Alexander took it.
“Why didn’t you show me earlier?”
Eleanor looked away.
“Because I was afraid.”
“Of Victoria?”
“No.”
She looked at him.
“Of what it would do to you.”
Alexander opened the envelope.
Inside was a single page.
A handwritten statement.
He read.
"I discovered the person responsible for the financial crimes."
"But the theft is not the greatest betrayal."
Alexander’s eyes moved downward.
"The greatest betrayal is that someone close to me helped them."
His heartbeat increased.
Then the next line.
"Someone I trusted like family."
Alexander stopped.
Because the next name was missing.
The paper had been torn.
Someone had removed the bottom section.
“Who tore this?”
Nobody answered.
Then Sophia’s name appeared in his mind.
His daughter.
A child who had been used as a weapon.
A child who had suffered because adults fought for control.
Alexander looked at everyone.
“My entire life…”
His voice cracked.
“Everyone has been hiding something from me.”
Nobody denied it.
Because it was true.
Then his phone rang.
Unknown number.
Everyone became alert.
Alexander answered.
A distorted voice came through.
“Alexander Sterling.”
“Who is this?”
“You’re searching for the truth.”
Alexander looked around.
“Who are you?”
The voice continued:
“You found Eleanor.”
A pause.
“You found your father’s files.”
Another pause.
“But you still don’t know the biggest secret.”
Alexander tightened his grip.
“What secret?”
The voice whispered:
“Your father’s death wasn’t the beginning.”
Silence.
“It was the second attempt.”
Alexander froze.
“What?”
“The first attempt failed.”
The rain seemed louder.
The voice continued:
“Thirty years ago, someone tried to kill Jonathan Sterling.”
“Then someone tried again.”
Alexander’s eyes narrowed.
“Who are you?”
But the caller ignored him.
“Ask your mother why she never told you about the first attempt.”
The call ended.
Everyone stood frozen.
Alexander slowly lowered the phone.
His eyes moved toward Victoria.
“First attempt?”
Victoria said nothing.
That was the answer.
Alexander felt the last piece of his childhood break apart.
“Mother…”
Victoria looked at him.
“I was trying to protect you.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“You were deciding what I was allowed to know.”
A car engine suddenly roared nearby.
Everyone turned.
A black vehicle accelerated away from the street.
Richard shouted:
“They’re leaving!”
But Alexander didn’t move.
Because he had realized something.
The enemy wasn’t just outside.
It wasn’t just Victoria.
It wasn’t just Marcus.
The entire Sterling family had been trapped inside a web of secrets.
And somewhere in that web…
Someone had been pulling the strings for thirty years.
Then Eleanor whispered something that made Alexander’s blood run cold.
“There’s one person we haven’t found.”
Alexander looked at her.
“Who?”
Eleanor stared into the darkness.
“The person who gave Victoria the idea to control everything.”
“Someone older.”
“Someone more powerful.”
Alexander frowned.
“Who?”
Eleanor answered:
“Your grandfather.”
The name hit like a thunderbolt.
Because Alexander’s grandfather had died before he was born.
A man who supposedly had nothing to do with the modern Sterling empire.
But if Eleanor was right…
Then this wasn’t a three-year betrayal.
Or even a thirty-year betrayal.
It started much earlier.
The Sterling family’s darkest secret…
Had existed before Alexander was even born.
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And now he was about to discover the truth about the family that created him.
TO BE CONTINUED…
