Chapter 3 - THE SECRET HER FATHER TOOK TO HIS GRAVEThat night, Natalie returned home to find her father sitting in the dark.
Daniel Carter rarely watched television.
He rarely talked about the past.
And he almost never mentioned Victoria Vance.
But when Natalie entered the apartment, he immediately knew something had happened.
“You found the documents.”
Natalie stopped.
“How did you know?”
Daniel looked at her.
“Because I knew this day would come.”
Natalie slowly sat across from him.
“Dad.”
Daniel sighed.
“I wanted to protect you.”
“From Victoria?”
“From everything.”
Natalie placed the tablet on the table.
“She knows.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then he stood.
He walked toward an old wooden cabinet.
From the bottom drawer, he pulled out a small metal box.
Natalie had never seen it before.
“What is that?”
“Everything I couldn't prove.”
He placed the box on the table.
Inside were photographs, handwritten notes, contracts, and an old flash drive.
Natalie stared.
“Why didn't you give this to a lawyer?”
“Because the lawyer I hired disappeared from the case.”
“What?”
Daniel looked down.
“I was young. I thought the law would protect me.”
He laughed bitterly.
“I was wrong.”
He explained everything.
Years earlier, Victoria had approached him about partnering on a luxury leather collection.
Daniel created the designs.
Victoria handled distribution.
The agreement gave Daniel ownership of the designs.
But before the first major launch, Victoria secretly registered altered versions of the designs under Vance Atelier.
Then the factories changed.
Daniel had demanded quality.
Victoria wanted profit.
She secretly moved production overseas.
Cheap materials replaced premium leather.
But the branding remained.
Customers paid thousands.
Workers were paid almost nothing.
Daniel confronted her.
Victoria threatened him.
Then his investors suddenly withdrew.
His bank accounts were frozen.
A tax investigation appeared.
His suppliers stopped answering.
Within months, his company collapsed.
Natalie listened in horror.
“You never told me.”
“I wanted you to grow up without carrying my anger.”
“You should have told me the truth.”
Daniel looked at her.
“I know.”
Natalie opened the flash drive.
Inside were dozens of files.
Emails.
Bank transfers.
Factory communications.
And one recording.
Victoria's voice.
Clear.
Cold.
Unmistakable.
“I don't care what Daniel thinks he owns. Once people see the Vance name, they'll pay for anything.”
Natalie stared at the screen.
Then another voice spoke.
A factory manager.
“What about the patent?”
Victoria answered,
“By the time he realizes what happened, he'll be too broke to fight me.”
Natalie's eyes filled with tears.
Her father looked away.
“I should have fought harder.”
“No.”
Natalie reached across the table.
“You shouldn't have had to fight alone.”
The next morning, the campus woke to chaos.
The video of Amber's confrontation had gone viral.
But now another video appeared.
Someone had uploaded excerpts from the documents.
Students began questioning Vance Atelier.
Alumni began posting stories.
Former employees started speaking.
And then a former factory worker named Elena Ruiz appeared on a livestream.
She claimed she had worked in one of Vance Atelier's contracted factories.
She said the company had knowingly mislabeled low-cost products as premium handmade goods.
The internet exploded.
#VanceFraud began trending.
Amber arrived on campus wearing sunglasses.
Nobody approached her.
For the first time in her life, she was walking through Westbridge University without people trying to impress her.
Instead, they were whispering.
“That's her.”
“The fake bag girl.”
“Her mother is being investigated.”
Amber entered the bathroom.
She looked at herself in the mirror.
Then her phone rang.
It was her mother.
“What happened?” Amber asked.
Victoria's voice was shaking.
“Where are you?”
“Campus.”
“Go home.”
“Why?”
“Because people are asking questions.”
Amber frowned.
“What questions?”
A pause.
Then Victoria said,
“About your father.”
Amber froze.
“My father?”
Victoria hung up.
Amber stared at the phone.
Her father had died when she was eight.
As far as Amber knew, he had been a successful businessman who had left the family after a bitter divorce.
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But now, for the first time, Amber wondered why her mother had never allowed anyone to talk about him.
And that question would lead Amber directly to the secret Victoria had spent years hiding.
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