Chapter 5 - The Secret Her Father Took to the GraveVictoria had spent her entire life believing her father was a good man.
He had taught her business.
He had taught her discipline.
He had taught her never to trust strangers.
He had taught her that family came first.
Now she was staring at proof that he had betrayed his own daughter.
Michael placed the photograph on the table.
“Your father knew about Noah.”
Victoria shook her head.
“No.”
“The evidence suggests he did.”
“No.”
“He was present at the hospital.”
Victoria stared at him.
“Why?”
Michael didn't answer.
Noah looked at the photograph.
“That man knew my mother.”
“Yes.”
“Did he know me?”
“Yes.”
Noah's jaw tightened.
“Then why did he let me disappear?”
Nobody answered.
Later that night, Victoria searched her father's old estate.
She had inherited it after his death.
For years, she had barely touched his private study.
Now she opened every drawer.
Every cabinet.
Every locked box.
At the bottom of a wooden cabinet, she found a metal safe.
Inside was a notebook.
Her father's handwriting covered every page.
Victoria began reading.
The first entries were ordinary.
Business deals.
Investments.
Family meetings.
Then she reached a date twenty-two years earlier.
Elizabeth knows too much.
Victoria's hands trembled.
The next entry:
Richard says she will expose everything.
Another:
The boy must disappear.
Victoria stopped breathing.
She turned the page.
Victoria cannot know.
Another page.
If Elizabeth refuses to cooperate, we will make her look unstable.
Victoria dropped the notebook.
Tears streamed down her face.
Her father had helped Richard destroy Elizabeth's reputation.
He had helped make Victoria believe her sister was unstable.
He had helped hide Noah.
And then came the final entry.
If anything happens to Elizabeth, Victoria must never learn the truth.
Victoria sat on the floor.
For twenty-two years, she had blamed herself.
But someone had deliberately built a lie around her.
Lily found her there.
“Victoria?”
Victoria looked up.
“I found it.”
“What?”
“The truth.”
Lily sat beside her.
Victoria showed her the notebook.
Lily read silently.
Then she whispered:
“Mom was telling the truth.”
“Yes.”
“You didn't abandon her.”
Victoria closed her eyes.
“I still abandoned her.”
Lily shook her head.
“You were lied to.”
Victoria looked at the child.
“Both things can be true.”
Lily hugged her.
For the first time, Victoria allowed herself to cry.
Then Noah entered.
“Michael found something.”
Victoria wiped her face.
“What?”
“The man who helped your father.”
“Who?”
“Daniel Cross.”
Victoria's expression hardened.
“Where is he?”
“He's alive.”
“Where?”
“Somewhere in Europe.”
Victoria stood.
“Bring him home.”
Michael nodded.
But before he could leave, the phone rang.
A police officer was calling.
Daniel Cross had been found.
He was ready to talk.
May you like
But he had one condition.
He wanted to speak only to Victoria.
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