Chapter 6 - The Queen of the House
Dominic's mother stood in the doorway.
Helena Vale.
Elegant.
Composed.
Untouchable.
She was wearing a pearl necklace and a dark green coat, as if she had merely arrived for dinner.
I stared at her.
“The name on the paper…”
Dominic's voice was barely audible.
“Mother.”
She smiled.
“I wondered how long it would take.”
Victor raised his weapon.
“You knew?”
Helena looked at him.
“You were always the slower one.”
Dominic stepped forward.
“Did you kill Eliana?”
“No.”
“Did you order the kidnapping?”
“No.”
“Then what did you do?”
Helena's eyes moved toward me.
“I separated the girls.”
My stomach dropped.
“Why?”
“Because your father wanted both of them dead.”
Dominic looked stunned.
“And you helped him?”
“I saved them.”
“How?”
“By making him believe one had died.”
She looked at me.
“You were hidden with a family outside the city.”
“And Clara?”
“Clara stayed with Eliana.”
“Then why was Clara kidnapped?”
Helena's expression changed.
“Because Elias discovered the truth.”
Dominic stared.
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
“Because you would have destroyed everyone involved before we found the entire network.”
“I could have protected them.”
“You couldn't even protect Eliana.”
The words landed like a slap.
Dominic's jaw tightened.
Helena continued.
“I watched your father destroy this family.”
“You could have stopped him.”
“I did.”
“By hiding my daughter?”
“By keeping her alive.”
Silence.
I stepped forward.
“Why didn't you find me?”
Helena looked at me.
“I did.”
I felt my breath catch.
“What?”
“I watched you from a distance.”
“That photograph.”
She nodded.
“I needed to know whether you were safe.”
Anger surged through me.
“You watched me struggle.”
“I watched you survive.”
“You could have helped me.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because every person connected to me became a target.”
I shook my head.
“You don't get to call that protection.”
Helena's expression softened.
“No.”
“I call it a mother's failure.”
Everyone went quiet.
Then Helena said something none of us expected.
“Eliana is alive.”
Dominic dropped his weapon.
“What?”
Helena nodded.
“She didn't die that night.”
I felt my knees weaken.
“What are you saying?”
“Elias lied.”
“Where is she?”
“Alive.”
“Where?”
Helena looked at me.
“Somewhere Elias cannot find her.”
Dominic grabbed Helena's arm.
“Tell me.”
She looked at him.
“You're not ready.”
“I've waited twenty-six years.”
“You've been searching for the wrong grave.”
My heart pounded.
“Why didn't she come back?”
“Because she believed returning would expose Maya.”
I whispered,
“Where is my mother?”
Helena gave me a location.
A coastal town three hours away.
Dominic ordered the car immediately.
But before we could leave, his phone rang.
A message appeared.
CLARA IS GONE.
Dominic froze.
“What?”
The security team searched the mansion.
The girl's room was empty.
A hidden camera showed a figure entering through a ventilation passage.
The face was obscured.
But the clothes were familiar.
A dark green coat.
Helena's coat.
Dominic turned.
“Mother.”
She stared at the screen.
Then shook her head.
“That wasn't me.”
Suddenly I understood.
Someone was framing Helena.
The pattern was becoming clear.
First Victor.
Then Elias.
Then Helena.
Someone wanted Dominic to destroy everyone around him.
Why?
Because isolation made him easier to control.
We found a clue in Clara's room.
A small music box was playing.
Inside was another message.
“You were always meant to become enemies.”
Dominic looked at me.
“I won't let them.”
We followed the GPS hidden inside the music box.
It led to an old riverside house.
Victor and several men surrounded it.
Dominic and I entered through the back.
Clara was inside.
But she wasn't alone.
A man stood behind her.
I recognized him.
Elias.
He smiled.
“Welcome home.”
Dominic raised his gun.
“You're finished.”
Elias laughed.
“Not yet.”
He pressed a blade against Clara's neck.
“Put it down.”
Dominic lowered his weapon.
Elias looked at me.
“Your mother is alive because I needed leverage.”
“You killed no one,” I said.
“I arranged every disappearance.”
“Why?”
“Because your father left something behind.”
“The Black Ledger?”
“Wrong.”
Elias smiled.
“He left control of the city.”
Dominic frowned.
“You're lying.”
“No.”
Elias looked at me.
“The ledger was only half of it.”
“What is the other half?”
Elias stepped backward.
“The Vale bloodline.”
He pointed at me.
“Your inheritance gives you control over accounts your father hid from everyone.”
I felt sick.
“You brought me back because of money.”
“Not money.”
Elias smiled.
“Power.”
Then he pushed Clara toward the window.
Dominic lunged.
A gunshot rang out.
Elias vanished.
Clara fell.
Dominic caught her.
I ran forward.
She was bleeding from her arm.
But alive.
Dominic held her against his chest.
Then he looked toward the window.
“He'll come back.”
I nodded.
“We need to find my mother.”
Helena's words echoed in my mind.
You are not ready.
Maybe none of us were.
But the final part of the truth was waiting on the coast.
And when we arrived there, the woman who opened the door looked exactly like the woman in my childhood dreams.
She whispered my name.
“Maya.”
I couldn't breathe.
“Mom?”
May you like
She started crying.
“Yes.”
