Chapter 8 - The applause echoed through the mansion.Slow.
Measured.
Mocking.
Ruiz raised his weapon.
“Come out!”
Nothing.
Another clap.
Then another.
Mrs. Howard appeared at the top of the staircase.
Everyone stared at her.
She was smiling.
Not frightened.
Not confused.
Smiling.
Adrian whispered:
“Mother?”
She descended the stairs.
“No one should have opened that room.”
Ruiz pointed his gun.
“Stop.”
She continued walking.
“Do you know why this family survives?”
Nobody answered.
“Because we know when to bury a truth.”
Elena stared at her.
“You knew.”
Mrs. Howard laughed softly.
“I knew everything.”
Ruiz stepped closer.
“How much?”
“Enough to know that Vanessa was never the mastermind.”
Vanessa suddenly appeared behind her.
She was holding a gun.
Adrian stepped backward.
“Vanessa.”
“Don't.”
She raised the weapon.
Tears filled her eyes.
“I never wanted this.”
Elena stared at her.
“Then why did you push me?”
Vanessa's jaw trembled.
“Because they said they would kill me too.”
“Who?”
She looked at Mrs. Howard.
Mrs. Howard smiled.
“Names are expensive.”
Ruiz ordered Vanessa to drop the gun.
Instead, Vanessa pointed it toward Mrs. Howard.
“You promised me!”
Everyone froze.
Mrs. Howard's smile disappeared.
“You were paid to do one thing.”
“I did it!”
“You failed.”
Vanessa began shaking.
“I'm pregnant.”
The room went silent.
Adrian looked at her.
“What?”
Vanessa touched her stomach.
“Your child.”
Elena closed her eyes.
So that was the reason.
Ruiz looked at Adrian.
“Is that true?”
Adrian looked destroyed.
“I didn't know.”
Vanessa laughed bitterly.
“You knew enough.”
Mrs. Howard suddenly stepped forward.
“The child doesn't matter.”
Vanessa stared.
“You said—”
“I said the child would secure your future.”
Mrs. Howard's voice turned cold.
“But that was before Elena found the ledger.”
Elena's eyes narrowed.
“What ledger?”
Mrs. Howard looked directly at her.
“The one that proves your mother is alive.”
Elena froze.
“You knew where she was?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
Mrs. Howard smiled.
“Closer than you think.”
A phone rang from inside Mrs. Howard's coat.
She answered it.
A man's voice came through.
“It's time.”
She hung up.
Ruiz moved toward her.
“Who was that?”
Mrs. Howard did not answer.
Instead, she looked toward the front doors.
They opened.
A man walked inside.
Tall.
Gray-haired.
Wearing an expensive black suit.
He looked exactly like the photographs of Charles Howard.
Elena felt her blood run cold.
Adrian whispered:
“Father?”
The man smiled.
“Hello, son.”
Adrian stumbled backward.
“You're dead.”
Charles looked at him.
“Only the man you knew is dead.”
Ruiz raised his weapon.
“Charles Howard, you're under arrest.”
Charles laughed.
“You still haven't understood.”
He looked at Elena.
“You think this house belongs to your husband.”
Then he smiled.
“It doesn't.”
He turned toward the staircase.
“It belongs to the woman carrying my bloodline.”
Elena froze.
May you like
Charles pointed directly at her stomach.
“Your child.”
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