Chapter 13 - THE BODY THAT WASN’T THEREWe searched the hotel from top to bottom.
Richard was gone.
But he had left clues.
Blood on the basement stairs.
A broken watch.
And a piece of black fabric caught on a security door.
Marcus followed the trail.
It led to an old refrigeration room beneath the kitchen.
Inside was a steel container.
Locked.
Alexander opened it.
There was no body.
Only clothing.
A suit.
A pair of shoes.
A wedding ring.
Edward looked at it.
“That isn't Richard.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I saw this ring before.”
He pointed to an engraved symbol.
A small black raven.
Edward's expression changed.
“Richard used it to mark people he planned to disappear.”
Amelia opened the suit jacket.
A folded photograph fell out.
It showed Cynthia.
Vanessa.
The family attorney.
And one more person.
Dr. Martin Cole.
All standing together.
Behind them was a woman I didn't recognize.
An older woman.
Alexander stared.
“Who is she?”
Edward didn't answer.
Amelia did.
“My mother.”
The room went silent.
“Your mother?”
Amelia nodded.
“She was alive when I met her.”
“But I thought she died…”
“She didn't.”
Another Whitmore secret.
Another death that had never happened.
Amelia's mother had been helping her investigate the network.
Then she disappeared.
The photograph proved she had known Richard.
But why?
We found the answer in the back of the photo.
A handwritten message.
The real heir is not Nora.
Alexander looked confused.
“What?”
Edward's face tightened.
“The trust contains a second beneficiary.”
“Who?”
He didn't know.
Then Lily spoke.
“Mom.”
She pointed toward a hidden drawer.
Inside was a birth certificate.
Not Nora's.
Not Amelia's.
Mine.
My full name.
My mother's name.
And beneath it, a note:
SUBJECT CONNECTED TO THE ORIGINAL WHITMORE ESTATE.
I stared.
“What does that mean?”
Edward read the document.
Then looked at me.
“Your mother worked here.”
“At Whitmore?”
“Yes.”
I shook my head.
“She was a housekeeper.”
Edward nodded.
“And she saw something she shouldn't have.”
“What?”
“The night Richard killed the real Victor.”
I stared at him.
My mother had never told me.
Edward continued.
“She escaped. Changed her name. Raised you away from the family.”
My chest tightened.
Then the final piece appeared.
My mother had once found a baby abandoned in the estate.
A baby whose identity was unknown.
She took the child to safety.
That baby was…
Amelia.
I looked at Amelia.
She was crying.
“My mother saved me.”
“And she never told anyone where you were.”
“Because she knew Richard would kill me.”
Alexander looked at me.
“Then why was Lily in the files?”
Amelia stepped forward.
“Because Richard believed your family still had the original evidence.”
“What evidence?”
“The recording of the murder.”
My blood went cold.
My mother had hidden it.
Somewhere.
Maybe inside our old family home.
Then Lily looked at me.
“Mom.”
“What?”
She whispered:
“I know where Grandma hid it.”
Everyone turned toward her.
“How?”
She looked afraid.
“Because I saw it in my dream.”
Before anyone could laugh, the hotel lights went out.
A voice came through the speakers.
May you like
Richard.
“You were always the last piece.”
