CHAPTER 16 — The Person Standing Beside Me
The ballroom became completely silent.
Not the uncomfortable silence from earlier.
Not the shocked whispers after Chloe accused me.
This silence was different.
Heavy.
Fearful.
Because everyone had heard Adrian's final words.
"The person who started this is standing beside you."
And now...
Everyone was looking at Dominic.
My husband stood frozen.
His face had lost all color.
"No."
He shook his head slowly.
"No, that's impossible."
Nobody answered.
Because the truth was...
It wasn't impossible anymore.
Not after everything we had seen tonight.
Not after every secret.
Every lie.
Every hidden meeting.
Every person who claimed they were protecting me.
I stared at Dominic.
The man I had loved for years.
The man who had held my hand when we found out we were having a baby.
The man who had promised me that his family would eventually accept me.
The man who had stood silently while his mother tore my dress apart.
"Dominic..."
My voice was quiet.
"Tell me this isn't true."
His eyes filled with pain.
"Vivienne, I swear..."
"I don't know what Adrian is talking about."
I wanted to believe him.
God, I wanted to.
But my heart had learned a painful lesson tonight.
Words were easy.
Truth was harder.
Detective Harris stepped between us.
"Mr. Bennett."
"I need you to answer some questions."
Dominic nodded.
"I understand."
"Did you know Richard Bennett was alive?"
"No."
"Did you know about Project Orion?"
"No."
"Did you communicate with Adrian Ashcroft?"
Dominic hesitated.
Only a second.
But everyone saw it.
Detective Harris noticed.
"Mr. Bennett?"
Dominic looked down.
"Yes."
The room exploded.
Chloe stared at him.
"You talked to him?"
Dominic closed his eyes.
"Yes."
"How long?"
"Three months."
Her face changed.
"Three months?"
"You knew something was happening?"
Dominic didn't answer.
That was the answer.
I felt something inside me break.
Not anger.
Not yet.
Something worse.
Disappointment.
"You knew."
Dominic looked at me.
"I knew something was wrong."
"You knew my family was in danger."
"You knew something involving Adrian was happening."
"But you said nothing."
"I was trying to find the truth."
"No."
I shook my head.
"You were trying to handle it yourself."
"Because you didn't trust me."
His expression changed.
Because I was right.
"I was afraid."
The confession came quietly.
"I thought if I told you..."
"You would get involved."
I stared at him.
"Dominic."
"I was already involved."
"They were destroying me in front of two hundred people."
"Where were you?"
He looked away.
The answer hurt.
My father stepped forward.
"Why did Adrian contact you?"
Dominic took a deep breath.
"Because he knew I hated my father."
Everyone looked surprised.
"Your father?"
Dominic nodded.
"Richard was never the man everyone thought he was."
"He controlled everything."
"My family."
"My decisions."
"My entire life."
Richard laughed from across the room.
"Careful, son."
"You sound ungrateful."
Dominic turned toward him.
For the first time...
There was no fear.
Only anger.
"You disappeared."
"You let everyone think you were dead."
"You watched your own son suffer."
"You destroyed everyone around you."
Richard smiled.
"And yet..."
"You still helped me."
Dominic froze.
The room went quiet again.
I looked at Dominic.
"What does he mean?"
Dominic didn't answer.
Richard did.
"Because your husband was the perfect person to manipulate."
"He's emotional."
"Loyal."
"Desperate to prove himself."
Dominic's fists tightened.
"Stop."
Richard continued.
"He wanted to save Vivienne."
"So I gave him information."
"Little pieces."
"Enough to make him believe he was controlling the situation."
Detective Harris looked at Dominic.
"Did Richard use you?"
Dominic swallowed.
"Yes."
"But..."
He looked at me.
"I never helped him hurt you."
A loud crash interrupted us.
Everyone turned.
One of the security officers had opened the hidden archive entrance beneath the ballroom floor.
A staircase descended into darkness.
The original Orion chamber.
The place everyone had been fighting over.
Detective Harris signaled his team.
"We go in together."
My father stopped him.
"No."
Everyone looked at him.
"I built the security around that archive."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying..."
"If Adrian wanted access..."
"He wouldn't have left it unprotected."
The lights beneath the floor suddenly turned on.
A screen activated.
A message appeared.
Not from Adrian.
Not from Richard.
From Elena Ashcroft.
My mother.
Nobody breathed.
Because the video was old.
But her face was clear.
She looked directly into the camera.
"If you are watching this..."
A pause.
"Then I failed."
My father's eyes filled with tears.
"Elena..."
My mother's voice continued.
"But if Vivienne is watching..."
The entire room froze.
"Then I succeeded."
I stepped closer.
The woman I had lost as a child was speaking directly to me.
"Vivienne..."
"If you are old enough to see this..."
"Then you are old enough to know the truth."
She smiled sadly.
"Your father will tell you he wanted to protect you."
"He did."
"But he also made mistakes."
My father lowered his head.
"He was young."
"He believed power could be controlled."
"It cannot."
The screen showed documents.
Photos.
Names.
Faces.
"This is Project Orion."
"It was never created to destroy people."
"It was created to protect families like ours."
"But someone changed it."
"Someone turned protection into control."
My mother's expression became serious.
"And the person responsible..."
She paused.
Everyone waited.
"Is not Charles."
My father's eyes closed.
A wave of shock moved through the room.
"Then who?"
My mother's recorded voice continued.
"The person responsible is the person who benefits when both sides destroy each other."
The screen changed.
A list of names appeared.
The first name was Richard Bennett.
The second was Eleanor Bennett.
The third...
Everyone froze.
Because the third name belonged to someone still standing in the room.
Dominic Bennett.
I looked at my husband.
His face turned pale.
"No..."
Dominic whispered.
"I didn't know."
My mother's video continued.
"Some people are manipulated."
"Some people are guilty."
"And some..."
"Don't even know they are carrying out someone else's plan."
The screen went black.
Then one final message appeared.
PHASE TWO BEGINS WHEN VIVIENNE KNOWS THE TRUTH.
The archive door suddenly locked.
Everyone jumped.
Detective Harris tried the handle.
"Locked."
"Can you open it?"
"No."
Victoria checked the system.
Her face changed.
"The lock was activated remotely."
"By who?"
She stared at the screen.
"I don't know."
Then...
A voice came through the speakers.
Calm.
Familiar.
Not Adrian.
Not Richard.
A woman's voice.
"Hello, Vivienne."
My blood turned cold.
Because I knew that voice.
It was impossible.
But I knew it.
The voice of someone who had been dead for twenty years.
My mother's voice.
"Now that you know the truth..."
"Come find me."
Everyone froze.
My father whispered:
"No..."
I turned toward him.
"What?"
His face was filled with terror.
"Vivienne..."
May you like
"Your mother..."
"May still be alive."
