Chapter 10 — The Voice From The Past
Victoria stared at the phone screen.
For the first time that night...
she looked genuinely afraid.
Not angry.
Not confident.
Afraid.
Emily noticed immediately.
Everyone noticed.
Because Victoria Hayes was a woman who controlled every room she entered.
She controlled conversations.
She controlled emotions.
She controlled people.
But now...
one simple phone call had broken through everything.
Daniel looked at her.
"Who is it?"
Victoria didn't answer.
The phone continued ringing.
The name remained visible.
Evelyn Carter.
Emily's mother.
Emily felt her heart stop.
"My mother?"
Victoria slowly looked at her.
And that expression told Emily everything.
They knew each other.
Somehow...
they knew each other.
"Answer it," Daniel said.
Victoria didn't move.
"Victoria."
Her fingers tightened around the phone.
Then she answered.
She put it on speaker.
At first, there was only silence.
Then a weak voice came through.
"Victoria."
Emily covered her mouth.
She recognized her mother's voice immediately.
"Mom?"
Nobody spoke.
Evelyn continued.
"You need to stop this."
Victoria's eyes hardened.
"You don't get to tell me what to do."
Emily stepped forward.
"Mom, what is happening?"
A long pause.
Then Evelyn said:
"Emily..."
Her voice broke.
"I'm sorry."
Emily felt a sudden wave of fear.
"Sorry for what?"
Her mother didn't answer immediately.
Then:
"For keeping the truth from you."
The entire ballroom became silent.
Daniel looked at Emily.
Richard looked confused.
Victoria smiled.
A slow, cruel smile.
Because she knew what was coming.
"Tell her," Victoria said.
"Tell her what her father really did."
Emily froze.
"My father?"
Evelyn started crying.
"No."
Victoria laughed.
"Yes."
Emily looked between them.
"What are you talking about?"
Victoria walked closer.
"Your father wasn't framed."
Emily felt like the air disappeared.
"Stop lying."
But Victoria didn't.
"Your father helped create the entire fraud."
"No."
Emily shook her head.
"No, he didn't."
"He did."
Victoria looked at the guests.
"Thomas Carter wasn't a victim."
She looked back at Emily.
"He was my father's partner."
Emily couldn't breathe.
Every memory of her father suddenly felt uncertain.
The late nights.
The documents.
The anger.
The promises that he was innocent.
Everything.
Her phone slipped slightly in her hand.
Then Evelyn spoke.
"Emily..."
Her voice trembled.
"Your father was trying to expose them."
Everyone turned.
Victoria's smile disappeared.
Evelyn continued:
"He discovered what they were doing."
Emily looked confused.
"Then why did everyone say he was guilty?"
Silence.
Then Evelyn whispered:
"Because they killed the evidence."
Richard closed his eyes.
Because he knew.
Daniel looked at him.
"Dad?"
Richard didn't answer.
Emily turned.
"Did you know?"
Richard looked destroyed.
May you like
"Yes."
That one word shattered everything.
