CHAPTER 13: THE MOTHER WHO WANTED HER DAUGHTER ERASED
The entire ballroom stared at the screen.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Because the woman appearing before them was supposed to be a memory.
A name buried in the past.
A person Emily barely remembered.
Her mother.
Isabella Voss.
For twenty years, Emily had lived with only fragments.
A perfume she could barely recall.
A voice that appeared in forgotten dreams.
A photograph hidden in an old family album.
That was all she had.
A ghost.
But now...
That ghost was alive.
And she was smiling.
"Hello, Emily."
The voice was calm.
Warm.
Almost loving.
That was the most terrifying part.
Because cruelty was easier to understand when it looked cruel.
But Isabella didn't look like a monster.
She looked like a mother.
A mother who had been waiting to speak to her daughter.
Emily stepped closer to the screen.
Her face showed no emotion.
But inside...
A storm was tearing through her.
"Where are you?"
She asked.
Isabella smiled.
"Still direct."
A small laugh.
"Your father always said you inherited my personality."
Emily's eyes hardened.
"Don't talk about my father."
The smile faded slightly.
Not completely.
Just enough.
"You hate me."
Emily answered immediately.
"Shouldn't I?"
Silence.
Even Isabella seemed to respect the answer.
"You have every reason."
That surprised everyone.
Alexander looked at the screen carefully.
Victor remained frozen.
Richard looked exhausted.
Because unlike the others...
He knew this conversation had been coming.
"You wanted me dead."
Emily said.
Isabella looked at her.
"Yes."
The honesty shocked the room.
No denial.
No excuse.
Just the truth.
Emily's hands tightened.
"And you admit it?"
"I do."
A cold feeling spread through the ballroom.
"Why?"
The question came out quieter than expected.
Not angry.
Not loud.
Just wounded.
Why?
The question of a daughter who wanted to understand why her own mother had tried to erase her.
Isabella looked away for a moment.
Then back.
"Because you were never supposed to exist."
The words hit harder than any insult.
Emily froze.
Richard closed his eyes.
Alexander looked down.
Isabella continued.
"Before you were born, your father and I built something."
"The Carter-Voss Alliance."
"The most powerful information network in the world."
Emily listened.
"We controlled everything."
"Markets."
"Companies."
"Governments."
"People."
Her expression became colder.
"Then Richard changed."
Emily looked at her father.
"He wanted to leave."
Richard said nothing.
Isabella continued.
"He wanted a normal life."
"He wanted a family."
"He wanted you."
Her eyes returned to Emily.
"And that was when he became weak."
Emily felt anger rising.
"You call having a child weakness?"
"No."
Isabella answered.
"I call choosing love over power weakness."
The room became silent.
Because everyone finally understood.
This was not just a battle over money.
It was a battle between two beliefs.
One person who believed love was a weakness.
And one who believed it was the only thing worth protecting.
"After you were born..."
Isabella continued.
"Richard changed the rules."
"What rules?"
"The Carter Legacy Protocol."
Emily's eyes narrowed.
"The thing my father created."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Isabella smiled.
"Because he was afraid of me."
A pause.
"And he was right."
The honesty was unsettling.
Emily looked at the document in her hand.
"So you tried to kill me because of the protocol."
"Not exactly."
Emily frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Isabella leaned closer to the camera.
"Your father made a mistake."
"What mistake?"
"He didn't create the protocol for himself."
"He created it for you."
The room went quiet.
Isabella continued.
"He knew that one day you would inherit everything."
"The money."
"The information."
"The power."
"And he knew people would come after you."
Emily looked at Richard.
Her father looked away.
"So he created a test."
Isabella nodded.
"The Carter Legacy Protocol."
"A system designed to reveal who truly cared about you."
Emily understood.
The marriage.
The betrayal.
The secrets.
Everything.
Her father had been preparing her.
But then Isabella said something unexpected.
"And that is why I needed you gone."
Emily stared.
"Because I would fail the test?"
"No."
Isabella smiled sadly.
"Because you would pass it."
The answer confused everyone.
Emily frowned.
"What?"
Isabella continued.
"Your father believed you were stronger than everyone around you."
"He believed you could see the truth."
"But I knew something he didn't."
"What?"
"You were too compassionate."
Emily said nothing.
Isabella's voice became colder.
"You would forgive people."
"You would believe people could change."
"You would give second chances."
"And that..."
She paused.
"Would destroy everything."
Emily looked at Alexander.
Because she knew what Isabella meant.
She was talking about him.
Isabella smiled.
"Alexander was the perfect example."
Alexander's expression changed.
"He was supposed to be a weapon."
"He was supposed to enter your life."
"Take your trust."
"Take your inheritance."
"Disappear."
Emily looked at Alexander.
"But he didn't."
"No."
Isabella smiled.
"He failed."
"Because he became human."
The words surprised everyone.
Even Alexander.
Isabella continued.
"And that is why I had to remove him too."
Emily froze.
"What?"
"Alexander stopped obeying."
"He protected you."
"He betrayed me."
A pause.
"So I decided he was no longer useful."
Alexander's eyes darkened.
"You tried to kill me."
Isabella looked at him.
"Yes."
The answer was terrifyingly calm.
"You were a broken tool."
Emily stared.
For the first time...
She understood something.
Alexander wasn't the only victim.
He was also a survivor.
Then Isabella looked directly at Emily.
"But there is one thing your father never told you."
Richard immediately stepped forward.
"Isabella, don't."
She smiled.
"Why?"
"She deserves the truth."
Emily looked between them.
"What truth?"
Isabella's expression changed.
For the first time...
She looked almost afraid.
"Emily..."
"The person who attacked Jonathan tonight..."
"The person who exposed your father's survival..."
"The person who has been moving every piece on this board..."
Emily's heart began racing.
"Who?"
Isabella looked directly into the camera.
Then said:
"It wasn't me."
Silence.
"What?"
Isabella continued.
"I was preparing to fight you."
"But someone else moved first."
Richard's face changed.
Because he understood.
"Who?"
Isabella smiled.
"The person your father trusted most."
Everyone turned.
Slowly.
Toward Richard.
Emily felt cold.
"No..."
Isabella continued.
"The person who helped your father fake his death."
"The person who protected you."
"The person who controlled the Carter Trust."
A pause.
"The person who has been lying to all of you."
The screen flickered.
A document appeared.
A signature.
A name.
Emily stared.
Because she recognized it.
Her entire body went cold.
Jonathan Reed.
Alive or dead.
Victor.
Alexander.
Even her father.
All of them had secrets.
But this person...
This person had been the closest to her family for decades.
The signature belonged to:
Richard Carter's closest friend.
And beneath it was a message:
"Phase Two begins tonight."
Emily slowly turned around.
Because she realized something terrifying.
The enemy had never been outside the family.
May you like
The enemy had been invited inside.
And they had been waiting for Emily to discover the truth.
