Chapter 8 - THE STEPSISTER WHO DISCOVERED HER OWN LIE
Bianca Whitmore had spent her entire life believing she was the rightful princess of the Whitmore family.
Now she was staring at documents proving her mother had been lying to her since birth.
Thomas Vale placed the metal lockbox on Victoria's dressing table.
Bianca stood in the doorway.
“What's inside?”
Thomas turned sharply.
“You shouldn't be here.”
“Neither should you.”
Bianca crossed her arms.
“Why were you searching Ava's bedroom?”
“Your mother asked me to collect some old papers.”
“Then open the box.”
“I can't.”
Bianca lifted her phone.
“I recorded you entering her room. Should I send it to the police?”
Thomas cursed under his breath.
He opened the lockbox.
Inside were old photographs, financial statements, and a sealed birth certificate.
Bianca snatched the certificate.
Her eyes moved across the page.
Mother: Victoria Lane.
Father: Richard Whitmore.
She blinked.
“No.”
Thomas said nothing.
Bianca read it again.
“Richard is my biological father?”
“Yes.”
She stumbled backward.
Her entire life had been constructed around a story in which she was the beautiful, talented daughter Victoria brought into the marriage.
Ava had been the unwanted reminder of Richard’s first wife.
But Bianca was the child of the affair that destroyed that marriage.
“Mom told me my father died before I was born.”
Thomas looked away.
Bianca felt tears rise.
“Did Ava know?”
“No.”
Something ugly twisted inside her chest.
For years, she had mocked Ava for not belonging.
And now she realized they shared the same father.
Bianca reached for the remaining documents.
One folder contained copies of Eleanor Monroe's original design contracts.
Another showed Richard's personal accounts.
Then Bianca discovered something worse.
A private insurance policy had been opened in Eleanor's name shortly before the accident.
The beneficiaries were Richard and Victoria.
The payout had funded the first major expansion of Whitmore Couture.
Bianca stared at the amount.
Two million dollars.
“Did my mother know about this?”
Thomas didn't answer.
“Did she?”
“Yes.”
Bianca's voice broke.
“Was Eleanor's death planned?”
Thomas closed the box.
“You need to stop asking questions.”
Bianca stepped back.
“Are you threatening me?”
“No. I'm trying to keep you alive.”
For the first time, she saw genuine fear in his eyes.
A car door slammed outside.
Thomas moved toward the window.
“Your mother is home.”
Bianca quickly photographed the paperwork.
Then she slipped the insurance document beneath her jacket.
Victoria entered moments later.
“Bianca, darling. We need to talk about what happened at the gala.”
Bianca stared at her mother.
“Before we talk about Ava, tell me something.”
Victoria smiled.
“Of course.”
“Did you marry Richard because you loved him?”
Victoria's smile faded.
Bianca held up the birth certificate.
“Or because you'd already stolen his first wife's life?”
Victoria reached for the paper.
“Where did you get that?”
Bianca stepped away.
Victoria's voice dropped.
“You have no idea what Eleanor was going to do to us.”
“Us?”
Victoria looked toward Thomas.
“Take her phone.”
Bianca froze.
“Mom?”
Victoria turned back to her daughter.
May you like
And said something Bianca would never forget.
“Your sister was never supposed to survive long enough to ask questions.”
