CHAPTER 14: THE MOTHER I NEVER KNEW
CHAPTER 14: THE MOTHER I NEVER KNEW
For most of my life, I remembered my mother as a shadow.
A warm voice.
A gentle hand.
A perfume I could barely recall.
A woman who disappeared from my life too early, leaving behind only fragments of memories.
To me, Eleanor Hale had always been a story.
A beautiful one.
A painful one.
But a simple one.
She was my mother.
She loved me.
She died.
That was all I knew.
Until now.
Until one file hidden inside my father's safe changed everything.
Because the woman I spent my life missing...
Was connected to the destruction of two powerful families.
The Hales.
The Crosses.
And somehow...
To Daniel.
I spent the entire night reading my father's documents.
Every page created another question.
Every answer created another mystery.
My father had spent years investigating Richard Cross.
But he had also investigated my mother.
Why?
The question kept repeating in my mind.
Why would a man who loved his wife secretly collect information about her?
Unless...
He had a reason.
A reason painful enough to destroy his trust.
I looked at the final document.
A photograph.
My mother standing beside Richard Cross.
I stared at it.
My fingers trembled.
The picture was old.
Before I was born.
Before my parents married.
Before anyone knew what would happen.
On the back of the photograph was a date.
And a sentence.
"The beginning of the lie."
I showed everything to Emily.
She didn't speak for a long time.
Finally, she said:
"Daniel never knew this."
I looked at her.
"How do you know?"
"Because if he did, he would have used it."
She was right.
Daniel collected secrets.
He weaponized information.
If he knew my mother was connected to his father, he would have used it against me from the beginning.
"So what does that mean?"
Emily looked at the photograph.
"It means someone else has been hiding this."
"Who?"
She didn't answer.
Because we both knew.
The person who knew the most...
Was Daniel's family.
That afternoon, I met Sophia again.
This time, I didn't ask politely.
"What do you know about my mother?"
The moment I said those words...
Her expression changed.
Not surprise.
Fear.
And that told me everything.
"You knew."
Sophia looked away.
"Victoria..."
"No."
My voice hardened.
"I am tired of everyone protecting me with lies."
She closed her eyes.
"I didn't want you to find out this way."
"Then tell me the truth."
A long silence.
Then she whispered:
"Your mother was part of my father's company."
I frowned.
"What?"
"Before she married your father, Eleanor worked with Richard Cross."
"Doing what?"
Sophia hesitated.
"She handled private financial accounts."
The words hit me.
My mother?
Financial accounts?
"No."
Sophia looked at me sadly.
"She wasn't the person you think she was."
The sentence hurt.
Because I hated hearing it.
But I needed the truth.
"What happened?"
Sophia took a breath.
"My father trusted your mother."
"Why?"
"Because she was brilliant."
"Then what went wrong?"
Sophia looked down.
"She discovered what he was doing."
Richard's crimes.
The hidden money.
The manipulation.
"She wanted to expose him."
My heart tightened.
"Then why does my father think she helped him?"
Sophia answered quietly:
"Because Richard made it look that way."
Everything changed.
My mother wasn't the villain.
She was another person trapped inside Richard Cross's world.
Like Daniel.
Like Rachel.
Like Emily.
Like me.
But there was one thing I still didn't understand.
"How did she die?"
Sophia became silent.
Too silent.
"Sophia."
She looked at me.
"Your mother didn't die in an accident."
The room froze.
"What?"
She swallowed.
"Richard Cross arranged it."
I felt the air leave my lungs.
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying your mother was trying to reveal the truth."
"And?"
"And she got too close."
That night, I found another message.
From Daniel.
I almost ignored it.
But something made me open it.
"You want the truth about your mother? Meet me."
I stared at the screen.
Emily saw the message.
"Don't go."
I looked at her.
"Why?"
"Because this is exactly what Daniel wants."
Maybe.
But there was something different.
For the first time, Daniel wasn't threatening me.
He was asking me to meet.
That meant one thing.
He was afraid.
I met him at an empty office building.
Not his mansion.
Not his company.
A neutral place.
When Daniel walked in, he looked different.
Older.
Tired.
The confident billionaire image was gone.
For the first time, I saw the man underneath.
"You know about Eleanor."
It wasn't a question.
"Yes."
He looked down.
"Then you know I didn't know."
I studied him.
"You expect me to believe that?"
"No."
That surprised me.
"I don't expect you to believe anything I say."
He sat down.
"I wouldn't believe me either."
Silence.
Then he said:
"My father lied to me."
I didn't answer.
"About your father."
"About Rachel."
"About everything."
His voice cracked slightly.
"But there is one thing he never lied about."
"What?"
He looked at me.
"Your mother."
I froze.
"What about her?"
Daniel looked away.
"My father loved her."
The words shocked me.
"What?"
"Before everything."
He continued.
"Before the lies. Before the betrayal."
"My father and your mother were close."
I felt sick.
"Are you saying they had an affair?"
Daniel shook his head.
"No."
A pause.
"They had a secret."
"What secret?"
Daniel looked at me.
"The kind that could destroy both families."
He placed a small envelope on the table.
"I found this after my father died."
I opened it.
Inside was a letter.
From Eleanor.
My mother.
Addressed to Richard Cross.
The first sentence made my heart stop.
"Richard, if anything happens to me, protect Victoria."
I looked at Daniel.
"Why would she ask him to protect me?"
Daniel's face became serious.
"Because she knew someone wanted you gone."
"Who?"
He didn't answer.
Because he didn't know.
But then he said something that changed everything.
"Victoria..."
"What?"
"My father wasn't the only person hiding secrets."
He looked at the letter.
"Your mother knew who was behind everything."
"And?"
Daniel's eyes met mine.
"She left a clue."
I returned home with the letter.
The truth was no longer a simple battle between Daniel and me.
It was bigger.
Older.
More dangerous.
My mother had known.
My father had known.
Daniel's father had known.
Everyone had been protecting something.
But now I had something they never expected.
The willingness to uncover it all.
That night, Daniel sat alone in his office.
He opened an old photograph.
One he had kept hidden for years.
A photograph of Eleanor.
Beside it was a note.
Written by his father.
"Never let Victoria discover what her mother found."
Daniel closed his eyes.
Because he finally understood.
The secret his father spent his life protecting...
Was the same secret Victoria was about to reveal.
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And once she discovered it...
There would be no way to stop her.
