CHAPTER 6: THE WOMAN WHO WAS ERASED FROM HISTORY
The message stayed on my phone screen.
One sentence.
Seven words.
But it felt heavier than a thousand pages of documents.
“Ask Victoria who your real mother was.”
My fingers went numb.
I looked at Victoria.
The woman standing in front of me.
The woman who had just admitted she helped hide the truth for twenty years.
The woman who knew more about my family than I ever did.
“Who is my mother?”
My voice was barely above a whisper.
But everyone in that room heard it.
Victoria didn’t answer.
She simply stared at me.
And that silence told me something.
She knew.
Mr. Bellamy stepped forward.
“Victoria, this has gone too far.”
She slowly turned toward him.
“Has it?”
Her expression remained calm.
“You spent twenty years protecting Eleanor’s secret.”
She smiled slightly.
“And now you’re pretending you care about the truth?”
Mr. Bellamy’s jaw tightened.
“You know why she made that choice.”
“Yes.”
Victoria looked back at me.
“And that is exactly why I hate it.”
I felt my chest tighten.
“Hate what?”
She walked toward the desk.
The heels of her shoes echoed through the archive room.
“I hate that Eleanor believed she could control everyone’s future.”
She picked up the old photograph from the table.
The picture of my father holding me.
“She believed Alexander was innocent.”
A pause.
“She believed you were the rightful heir.”
Her eyes moved toward me.
“But she was wrong.”
I stared at her.
“You keep saying that.”
My voice became stronger.
“But nobody explains anything.”
I stepped closer.
“You all keep talking around the truth like I’m not standing right here.”
Victoria looked surprised for a second.
Maybe because she was used to people being afraid of her.
Maybe because she expected me to stay silent.
But I was tired.
Tired of being the person everyone protected with lies.
“I deserve to know.”
I said it slowly.
“I deserve to know who my mother was.”
For the first time...
Victoria’s expression changed.
Just slightly.
But I saw it.
Pain.
Not anger.
Not hatred.
Pain.
She looked away.
“Your mother was someone who should have never entered the Hart family.”
The words cut deep.
“Why?”
Victoria laughed quietly.
“Because she saw things she wasn’t supposed to see.”
Mr. Bellamy immediately looked at her.
“Enough.”
Victoria ignored him.
“Your mother discovered the truth about the company.”
My heartbeat increased.
“What truth?”
“The same truth Alexander discovered.”
The room became colder.
“The Hart empire was not built only on diamonds.”
She looked around the archive.
“It was built on secrets.”
I waited.
But she didn’t continue.
“Who was she?”
I asked again.
Victoria closed her eyes.
Then she finally said:
“Her name was Isabella.”
The name felt strange.
Foreign.
But somehow...
It felt familiar.
Like a song I had heard before but forgotten.
“Where is she?”
Nobody answered.
That silence hurt more than anything.
I looked at Mr. Bellamy.
“Where is my mother?”
His eyes lowered.
And then he said the words I had secretly feared.
“She’s gone.”
My heart sank.
“Gone?”
He nodded.
“She disappeared shortly after you were born.”
I looked at Victoria.
“Because of Hart Jewelry?”
Victoria said nothing.
That was enough.
My hands trembled.
My whole life, I had believed my family was broken because of circumstances.
Bad luck.
A tragic past.
But now I realized something much darker.
Someone had broken it intentionally.
Someone had erased people.
Removed names.
Destroyed memories.
And everyone had helped.
Including my grandmother.
Including Mr. Bellamy.
Including Victoria.
Suddenly, another thought hit me.
“Wait.”
I looked at Victoria.
“You said my father was about to reveal the truth.”
She nodded.
“So?”
I stepped closer.
“What exactly was he going to reveal?”
Victoria’s face became unreadable.
Then she smiled.
A small, dangerous smile.
“Do you really want to know?”
“Yes.”
She looked at Mr. Bellamy.
Then back at me.
“Your father discovered that the pink diamond necklace you are fighting over tonight…”
She pointed toward the gala outside.
“Was never created for Hart Jewelry.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“It was created as evidence.”
The room went silent.
“Evidence of what?”
Victoria leaned closer.
“Of the person who betrayed your family.”
A chill went through me.
“Who?”
She didn’t answer.
Instead, she walked toward the door.
Before leaving, she stopped.
“You want the truth?”
She looked back.
“Find your father’s original design book.”
Mr. Bellamy’s expression changed.
Because he knew exactly what she was talking about.
Victoria smiled.
“Then you’ll understand why Eleanor chose you.”
The door closed.
Leaving only me and Mr. Bellamy.
I turned toward him.
“What design book?”
He didn’t respond.
“Mr. Bellamy.”
Still nothing.
Then I noticed something.
His hand was shaking.
The first time I had ever seen him afraid.
“What are you not telling me?”
He slowly walked toward the old shelves.
Then he removed a hidden folder.
Inside was a single blueprint.
A jewelry design.
But not just any design.
My eyes widened.
Because at the bottom of the page...
Was my father’s signature.
And next to it...
Was another signature.
One I recognized.
My grandmother’s.
But there was one more.
A third signature.
Someone who should never have been involved.
Someone who was supposed to be innocent.
Someone whose name made Mr. Bellamy whisper:
“No…”
I looked closer.
And my blood froze.
Because the third signature belonged to Vanessa’s father.
A man everyone believed had died years ago.
But according to this document...
He wasn’t dead.
He was alive.
And he had signed the design the night before my father disappeared.
I looked at Mr. Bellamy.
“What does this mean?”
He stared at the paper.
Then whispered:
“It means your father wasn’t betrayed by one person.”
A pause.
“It means the entire Hart family was involved.”
Before I could respond...
The lights in the archive room suddenly went out.
A sound came from behind us.
A drawer opening.
Someone else was inside.
Mr. Bellamy grabbed my arm.
“Don’t move.”
My heart raced.
A shadow stepped forward.
Then a familiar voice spoke from the darkness.
“I told you to stop searching.”
The lights flickered back on.
And standing in front of us...
Was Vanessa.
But this time...
She wasn’t smiling.
She was holding a photograph.
And tears were running down her face.
Because the photograph showed something impossible.
A picture of her father.
Standing beside my mother.
May you like
The night I was born.
TO BE CONTINUED...
