Chapter 2: Echoes of the Past
Two years earlier, they weren’t enemies.
They were sisters by law, rivals by blood, and heirs to Arthur Vance’s empire—an empire built on glass towers and buried secrets.
When Eleanor’s car went off the cliffs of Montauk, the official report called it an accident.
No witnesses.
No body.
Only silence.
Victoria inherited everything within months.
Including Julian.
Now, in the ballroom, Julian stepped forward, pale as paper.
“Eleanor… how is this possible?”
For the first time, Eleanor looked at him.
Really looked.
“You cried at my funeral,” she said quietly. “Did it feel real?”
Julian swallowed hard.
“I thought you were gone.”
“I wasn’t gone,” Eleanor replied. “I was hidden.”
A murmur spread through the guests like fire catching dry wood.
Eleanor turned back to Victoria.
“A fisherman pulled me out of the wreckage. I woke up in a clinic with no name, no records… and a bill that said someone was paying for my silence.”
Her gaze sharpened.
“You paid for it, Victoria.”
Victoria’s expression cracked for half a second—just enough.
Then she recovered.
“That’s insane,” she snapped. “You can’t prove any of this.”
Eleanor tilted her head slightly.
“I don’t need to.”
A pause.
Then—
“The government already did.”
May you like
The ballroom doors swung open again.
Two federal agents stepped inside.
