Chapter 2: The Woman They Buried Alive
Estelle reached for her tea as if this were an ordinary family disagreement.
“Clara was a mistake,” she said. “A waitress with pretty eyes and no understanding of the world she was trying to enter.”
Christopher’s jaw tightened.
“She was the mother of my child.”
“She was a threat to this family.”
Christopher stepped closer.
“No. She was a threat to you.”
Estelle’s hand stilled around the teacup.
“You were grieving when she disappeared,” she said. “I protected you from scandal.”
Christopher laughed once, but there was no humor in it.
“You told me she died.”
“I told you what was necessary.”
The room went silent.
Then Yvette entered quietly behind him.
In her hands was another recording device.
Estelle’s eyes sharpened.
Christopher turned.
Yvette’s voice trembled, but she did not back down.
“I am sorry, sir. I should have given this to you years ago.”
She pressed play.
Static filled the room.
Then came Estelle’s voice, younger but unmistakable.
“Move her before Christopher finds out she survived.”
A man answered, “And the child?”
Estelle said coldly, “The child stays hidden until I decide what she is worth.”
Christopher’s entire body went still.
Yvette stopped the recording.
Estelle’s mask finally cracked.
“You have no idea what I sacrificed for this family,” she hissed.
Christopher leaned over the table.
“You sacrificed a mother. You hunted a child. You poisoned my home.”
Estelle stood suddenly.
“And I built your empire!”
“No,” Christopher said. “You built a prison.”
At that moment, one of Christopher’s guards entered with a folder.
“We found the payments, sir. Private clinic. Upstate. Three years of transfers under a shell company.”
Christopher took the folder.
There was a name printed across the top.
Rosehaven Neurological Center.
His pulse thundered in his ears.
Clara had been alive for three years.
Hidden.
Silenced.
Kept away from her daughter.
Christopher turned to Yvette.
“Stay with Emma.”
Then he looked at the guards.
“Lock down every exit. My mother doesn’t leave this house.”
Estelle lifted her chin.
“You would imprison your own mother?”
May you like
Christopher opened the door.
“No,” he said without looking back. “I’m saving my daughter from her.”
