CHAPTER 9 The Woman Who Knew My Past
CHAPTER 9 The Woman Who Knew My Past
For several seconds, I couldn’t breathe.
Not because Victoria Hale was standing in my hotel room.
Not because she had somehow bypassed security.
Not because she was the woman who had secretly altered my daughter’s birth records.
It was because of one sentence.
You are the secret.
I stared at her.
A woman I had never met before tonight.
A woman who somehow knew more about my life than I did.
“Explain.”
My voice was colder than I expected.
Victoria looked at Lily.
Then back at me.
“Not here.”
I almost laughed.
“Everyone always says that.”
Her expression changed.
“What?”
“You people.”
I pointed toward the hallway.
“The Bennetts. Everyone has a secret. Everyone has a reason. Everyone says they’re protecting me.”
My eyes hardened.
“But somehow, I’m always the last person to know the truth about my own life.”
Victoria lowered her head.
And for the first time, I noticed something.
She wasn’t acting like Diane.
Diane entered every room like she owned it.
Victoria entered like she was afraid the walls were listening.
“I deserve your anger.”
I didn’t expect that.
“What?”
“I deserve it.”
She looked at the floor.
“I made choices I regret.”
I tightened my grip on the necklace.
“You changed my daughter’s medical records.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Her eyes filled with guilt.
“Because Diane ordered me to.”
I stepped closer.
“And you obeyed.”
“Yes.”
The honesty surprised me.
“Why?”
Victoria looked at Lily.
“Because I was afraid.”
I shook my head.
“Everyone is afraid of Diane.”
Victoria nodded.
“That’s how she wins.”
I woke Michael.
He arrived twenty minutes later.
The moment he saw Victoria, his face changed.
“You.”
Victoria looked at him.
“Michael.”
His voice was full of anger.
“You’re alive.”
She looked hurt.
“That’s what you think?”
“What am I supposed to think?”
Michael stepped forward.
“You disappeared after helping Diane destroy my life.”
Victoria closed her eyes.
“I know.”
“No.”
His voice became louder.
“You don’t know.”
He pointed at her.
“You signed the documents that removed me from my own family.”
“I was forced.”
Michael laughed.
“Everyone says that.”
The pain in his voice was obvious.
But Victoria didn’t defend herself.
She simply said:
“I was threatened.”
Silence.
Michael stopped.
“What?”
Victoria looked at me.
“She threatened my son.”
The room went quiet.
“She knew where he lived. She knew his school. She knew everything.”
I stared.
“She used your child against you?”
Victoria nodded.
“That’s what Diane does.”
Michael looked away.
For the first time, his anger weakened.
Not because he forgave her.
Because he understood.
Diane’s greatest weapon wasn’t money.
It was fear.
I placed the memory card from my necklace on the table.
Victoria immediately recognized it.
Her expression changed.
“Where did you get that?”
I stared.
“My father gave me this necklace.”
Victoria whispered:
“Edward Parker.”
My heart stopped.
“You knew my father.”
She nodded.
“Yes.”
“How?”
Victoria sat down slowly.
“Your father was the reason I started questioning Diane.”
I looked at her.
“Tell me everything.”
She took a deep breath.
“Your father discovered Diane was moving money through fake companies.”
“I know.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“You don’t understand.”
She pointed at the memory card.
“Your father didn’t just find financial fraud.”
“What else?”
“He found a plan.”
My stomach tightened.
“What plan?”
Victoria looked at Michael.
Then at me.
“The Bennett family had been searching for a way to control powerful connections outside their circle.”
I frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“Diane believed every relationship had value.”
I felt sick.
“Like marriage?”
Victoria nodded.
“Yes.”
My hands went cold.
“She chose Jason.”
“Yes.”
“To marry me.”
“Yes.”
I looked down.
The truth hurt.
Even though part of me already knew.
“Was Jason part of the plan?”
Victoria hesitated.
That hesitation was enough.
“Answer me.”
She whispered:
“At first.”
My eyes closed.
At first.
Those words hurt more than anything.
“What does that mean?”
“Jason was supposed to get close to you.”
“Why?”
“Because your father had hidden information Diane wanted.”
I touched the necklace.
“This?”
“Yes.”
I looked at the memory card.
“What’s on it?”
Victoria’s face became serious.
“Evidence.”
“Of what?”
“Everything.”
The room became silent.
“Everything?”
“Diane’s crimes.”
Michael stepped closer.
“And Lily?”
Victoria looked at him.
“That’s where everything changed.”
My heart started racing.
“What do you mean?”
Victoria looked at me.
“When Lily was born, Diane discovered something unexpected.”
“What?”
“She discovered that your daughter had the same rare genetic marker as Edward Parker.”
I frowned.
“That’s impossible.”
Victoria shook her head.
“No.”
She looked at Lily.
“Your father had a medical condition that was passed through his bloodline.”
I stared.
“My father was sick?”
“Yes.”
“But what does that have to do with Lily?”
Victoria whispered:
“Because Diane realized Lily carried proof.”
“Proof of what?”
“That Edward Parker was not just a financial partner.”
I felt frozen.
“What was he?”
Victoria answered:
“The original owner of information that could destroy the Bennett empire.”
I couldn’t sleep after Victoria left.
Not because I was scared.
Because I was thinking.
About my father.
About Jason.
About Lily.
About every moment I thought I understood.
Maybe my entire marriage had started with a lie.
But one question kept bothering me.
If Jason married me because of Diane’s plan…
when did he start loving me?
Or did he ever?
At 3:17 a.m., my phone rang.
Jason.
I almost ignored it.
Almost.
But I answered.
“What?”
His voice sounded panicked.
“Emma.”
“What happened?”
“Diane knows Victoria found you.”
My body went still.
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
“Jason.”
“I’m serious.”
He sounded terrified.
“Emma, you need to leave the hotel.”
“Why?”
A pause.
Then:
“Because Diane isn’t coming for the evidence anymore.”
I gripped the phone.
“Then what is she coming for?”
Jason whispered:
“She’s coming for Lily.”
My heart stopped.
“Why?”
His answer was barely audible.
“Because she knows the DNA test results.”
I froze.
“What DNA test?”
Jason took a breath.
“The one she secretly ordered.”
I couldn’t speak.
“Emma…”
“What did it say?”
Silence.
Then Jason said:
“The test proved something Diane never expected.”
My hands shook.
“What?”
Jason whispered:
“Lily is not connected to the Bennett family.”
I felt confused.
“What?”
“She’s connected to yours.”
I looked at Lily sleeping peacefully.
My daughter.
My baby.
My heart.
“What are you saying?”
Jason’s voice broke.
“Emma…”
“The reason Diane wants Lily…”
“Is because Lily’s blood proves your father was right.”
I looked at the memory card.
The necklace.
The secrets.
The lies.
And suddenly I understood.
Diane didn’t want my daughter because she was weak.
She wanted Lily because she was the last piece of evidence left.
May you like
And if Diane couldn’t control the truth…
she would destroy it.
