CHAPTER 13 — The Woman Who Witnessed My Mother's Death
The entire ballroom froze.
Not one person moved.
Not one person spoke.
The woman standing in the doorway looked completely out of place among the chaos.
While everyone else wore expressions of panic and confusion...
She looked calm.
Almost like she had been waiting twenty years for this exact moment.
My father stared at her as if he had seen a ghost.
"Elena..."
The woman's eyes softened.
"No, Charles."
Her voice was quiet.
"But I knew she would be the first name that came to your mind."
My heart stopped.
Because she knew my mother's name.
Detective Harris stepped forward immediately.
"Who are you?"
The woman looked at him.
"My name is Margaret Vale."
She held out an old identification card.
"I was Elena Ashcroft's closest friend."
My father looked away.
"Margaret..."
"You disappeared."
She smiled sadly.
"No."
"I survived."
The room became even quieter.
My father looked shaken.
"Why are you here?"
Margaret looked at me.
"Because she deserves the truth."
Her eyes moved to my stomach.
Then back to my face.
"Especially now."
I stepped forward.
"Tell me."
My father's voice immediately changed.
"Vivienne—"
"No."
I looked at him.
"Not this time."
I swallowed.
"Everyone keeps deciding what I should know."
"Everyone keeps protecting me by lying to me."
I looked at Margaret.
"If you know what happened to my mother..."
"Tell me."
Margaret nodded slowly.
"Your mother was not killed because she discovered Project Orion."
Everyone looked at my father.
"She was killed because she discovered who started it."
A heavy silence followed.
Detective Harris frowned.
"Who?"
Margaret looked directly at Charles Ashcroft.
My father became completely still.
"Charles didn't create Project Orion."
A wave of relief passed through the room.
But Margaret continued.
"He inherited it."
Nobody understood.
"What does that mean?"
She looked at me.
"Your grandfather started it."
The words hit like a storm.
"My grandfather?"
Margaret nodded.
"The first Ashcroft chairman."
"He created a private intelligence network."
"At first, it was designed to protect the company."
"To identify threats."
"To prevent attacks."
"But power changes people."
"Eventually..."
"It became something else."
Victoria looked horrified.
"So Project Orion existed before Charles?"
"Yes."
"Then why did Elena investigate it?"
Margaret looked at the old photograph in her hand.
"Because Elena believed your father was trying to destroy it."
My heart tightened.
"But Adrian's video said Dad was involved."
"He was."
Margaret answered.
"But not the way Adrian believes."
My father finally spoke.
"I tried to shut it down."
Margaret nodded.
"And that's why Elena trusted you."
"But..."
She looked at him.
"You failed."
The words hurt.
Because my father didn't deny them.
"Twenty-eight years ago..."
Margaret continued.
"Elena discovered that someone inside the company was rebuilding Orion."
"Using new technology."
"New employees."
"New methods."
"She found financial transfers."
"Secret meetings."
"People disappearing."
My hands became cold.
"Adrian found out too."
Margaret nodded.
"Yes."
"He was only a teenager."
"But he was intelligent."
"He wanted to help."
I looked at my father.
"What happened that night?"
Margaret took a deep breath.
"The night Elena died..."
"She wasn't alone."
My father's face changed.
"Margaret..."
She ignored him.
"She was meeting someone."
"Who?"
She looked at me.
"Adrian."
My breath caught.
"My brother was there?"
"Yes."
"But he was six years old?"
Margaret shook her head.
"No."
"He was fourteen."
The room went silent.
My father whispered:
"Adrian was seventeen."
Margaret looked at him.
"You still can't say it."
I looked between them.
"What aren't you telling me?"
Nobody answered.
And that scared me.
Margaret slowly opened the photograph she carried.
It wasn't a picture.
It was a document hidden behind the photo.
She handed it to me.
I read the first line.
ASHCROFT FAMILY SUCCESSION AGREEMENT
My eyes moved downward.
Then stopped.
My name.
My name was written there.
Primary successor: Vivienne Ashcroft.
I looked up.
"What is this?"
My father looked away.
"Your inheritance."
I stared at him.
"My inheritance?"
Margaret nodded.
"Your mother changed the succession plan before she died."
"She removed Adrian."
"She chose you."
Everything suddenly connected.
The wedding.
The fake ring.
The documents.
The attempt to transfer assets.
The accusation.
They weren't trying to embarrass me.
They were trying to remove me.
Because I was the obstacle.
Detective Harris looked at the documents.
"If this is real..."
"Adrian has a motive."
Margaret nodded.
"He believes everything was stolen from him."
"He believes Vivienne was chosen because Charles replaced him."
I whispered:
"But I didn't even know."
"I know."
Margaret touched my hand gently.
"That's what makes it tragic."
My father's expression broke.
"I thought I was protecting both of my children."
Margaret looked at him sadly.
"No."
"You protected a secret."
"And secrets grow."
Suddenly...
A security alarm sounded.
Everyone jumped.
Victoria checked her phone.
Her face changed.
"What happened?"
She looked at my father.
"The Ashcroft private vault has been opened."
My father's expression turned serious.
"What?"
"The family archive vault."
"The one containing the original Project Orion files."
Detective Harris stood.
"Who accessed it?"
Victoria looked at the screen.
Her voice became quiet.
"Only one person."
Everyone waited.
"Adrian Ashcroft."
My father closed his eyes.
"He wants the original files."
"Why?"
Margaret answered.
"Because those files contain the one thing he has searched for his entire life."
"What?"
She looked at me.
"The truth about who betrayed him."
The ballroom lights flickered.
Then every screen turned on again.
A video appeared.
Adrian.
This time...
He wasn't hiding.
He was standing inside the Ashcroft vault.
Behind him were shelves filled with decades of secrets.
He looked directly at the camera.
"Father."
My father's face hardened.
"You wanted the truth."
Adrian smiled.
"Now everyone will see it."
He lifted a folder.
"Inside this file..."
"...is proof that Elena Ashcroft was murdered."
A pause.
"And the person responsible..."
He looked directly into the camera.
"...is standing in that ballroom."
Everyone turned.
May you like
Slowly.
Toward my father.
