Chapter 9 - Eleanor’s SecretNobody moved.
Eleanor pointed the gun at Charles.
“Stay away from them.”
Victoria stared.
“Eleanor?”
The woman looked at her.
Tears filled her eyes.
“I prayed you would never find me.”
Victoria stepped forward.
“Are you alive?”
Eleanor almost laughed.
“I survived.”
“Where have you been?”
“Running.”
“From whom?”
Eleanor looked at Charles.
“Him.”
Charles shook his head.
“You know that isn't true.”
Eleanor's eyes hardened.
“You expect her to believe you?”
Victoria stood between them.
“Enough.”
She looked at Eleanor.
“Tell me everything.”
Eleanor lowered the gun slightly.
“I took Rosalind from the hospital.”
Victoria closed her eyes.
“You saved her.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because your father ordered Dr. Bell to kill her.”
Victoria looked at Charles.
“Were you involved?”
Eleanor shook her head.
“Charles tried to stop him.”
Charles stared at her.
“You knew?”
“I saw you.”
Victoria’s chest tightened.
“Then why did he lie to me?”
Eleanor answered:
“Because your father had proof that Charles had been investigating him.”
Charles added quietly:
“He threatened to kill you.”
Victoria looked at her husband.
“You could have told me.”
“I thought I could end it first.”
“And failed.”
“Yes.”
Eleanor stepped closer.
“I helped Charles move Rosalind.”
“Then why did you disappear?”
“Because Charles told me to take her and never return.”
Victoria frowned.
“Why?”
“Because someone inside the family was leaking information.”
“Who?”
Eleanor looked at Charles.
He said nothing.
“Tell me.”
Eleanor whispered:
“Claire.”
Victoria froze.
“Claire betrayed you?”
“No.”
“She was working with your father.”
“No.”
Eleanor stepped closer.
“She pretended to betray us.”
Victoria stared.
“To protect the baby?”
“Yes.”
“Then where is Claire?”
Eleanor looked away.
“I don't know.”
Charles spoke.
“She is alive.”
Victoria turned.
“You said you didn't know where she was.”
“I lied.”
Victoria's expression hardened.
“Where?”
Charles pulled a key from his pocket.
“The trust vault.”
Daniel frowned.
“That's impossible.”
Charles looked at him.
“The trust wasn't dissolved.”
“What?”
“It was transferred.”
“To you.”
“No.”
Charles shook his head.
“To Rosalind.”
Victoria felt the air leave the room.
“The trust still belongs to her?”
“Yes.”
“Then why all this?”
“Because your father found a way to control it without killing her.”
“How?”
Charles swallowed.
“By keeping her legally dead.”
Victoria stared.
“As long as Rosalind was dead, the estate remained under temporary guardianship.”
“Yours?”
Charles nodded.
“I never wanted it.”
“But you used it.”
“Yes.”
Victoria stepped closer.
“How much?”
“Thirty million.”
She stared.
“You stole thirty million dollars.”
“I moved it to protect the evidence.”
“Where?”
“Offshore.”
Daniel stepped in.
“We can recover that.”
Charles nodded.
“But that's not the worst.”
Victoria looked at him.
“What is?”
Charles pointed to Eleanor.
“She knows.”
Eleanor's face tightened.
“Don't.”
Charles continued.
“Tell Victoria what happened the day Rosalind was buried.”
Eleanor lowered her gun.
“I was there.”
“You watched?”
“Yes.”
“Tell her.”
Eleanor looked at Victoria.
“There was another baby.”
Victoria felt sick.
“The baby in the coffin.”
“Yes.”
“Who was it?”
Eleanor whispered:
“Claire's daughter.”
Victoria stared.
“Claire had a child?”
“She gave birth three months before Rosalind.”
“How did she die?”
Eleanor closed her eyes.
“She didn't.”
Silence.
Daniel looked stunned.
“Where is she?”
Eleanor turned toward the dark station tunnel.
“You already met her.”
Victoria frowned.
“What?”
Eleanor looked directly at her.
“Rosie is not Rosalind.”
Victoria froze.
Charles's face dropped.
“No.”
Eleanor continued.
“Rosie is Claire's daughter.”
The station seemed to disappear.
Victoria looked toward the child’s empty shoes near the bench.
Her daughter had been dead.
Rosie was someone else.
But then Eleanor said:
“Rosalind is still alive.”
Victoria could barely breathe.
“Where?”
Eleanor pointed into the tunnel.
“Running toward you.”
A little girl stepped out of the darkness.
Same blue eye.
Same green eye.
Same face.
Rosie.
Victoria stared at her.
May you like
Then Eleanor whispered:
“There are two daughters.”
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