Chapter 3 - THE WOMAN WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD
The next morning, Elena refused to leave the mansion.
Not because she trusted the house.
Because she needed answers.
At 7:12 a.m., Detective Ruiz received a call.
“She's here.”
Elena looked up.
“Who?”
“Victoria.”
Five minutes later, the front doors opened.
The woman from the photographs walked inside.
She wore a simple gray coat and carried no handbag.
No lawyer.
No security.
She looked directly at Elena.
For several seconds, neither woman spoke.
Then Victoria said:
“You look exactly like your mother.”
Elena froze.
“My mother?”
Victoria nodded.
“You don't remember me.”
“No.”
“You were eight.”
Elena's mind raced.
“My mother died when I was twelve.”
“I know.”
Victoria slowly removed her gloves.
“She was the only person who tried to stop them.”
“Stop who?”
Victoria looked toward the staircase.
“Your husband's family.”
Elena felt the room grow colder.
Victoria sat down.
“I was Daniel's father's older sister.”
“You were supposed to be dead.”
“I was supposed to disappear.”
“What happened?”
Victoria took a breath.
“When your husband's grandfather died, he left instructions that would have exposed a secret involving the company, the trust, and a child.”
Elena frowned.
“What child?”
Victoria looked directly at her.
“Me.”
“You were his daughter.”
“Yes.”
“And they erased you?”
“They tried.”
Victoria explained that she had been sent away as a teenager after discovering that her father had hidden millions from the family business.
She eventually returned to America under another name.
For decades, she watched from a distance.
Then Daniel began moving money.
He discovered the old trust.
And he realized Victoria's existence threatened his inheritance.
“So he wanted you dead?”
Victoria shook her head.
“Daniel wasn't smart enough to build this alone.”
Elena looked at her.
“Then who was?”
Victoria's eyes hardened.
“Your mother.”
Elena stopped breathing.
“My mother?”
“She knew what the Howard family was doing.”
“That doesn't make sense.”
“It will.”
Victoria opened a small envelope.
Inside was a letter.
The handwriting was unmistakable.
Elena's mother's handwriting.
She began reading.
My dearest Elena,
If you are reading this, then the people I feared have finally come for you.
Elena's eyes filled with tears.
The letter explained that her mother had discovered the Howard family's secret years before Elena married Daniel.
She had tried to expose them.
But she had been threatened.
Then she had made a deal.
She would remain silent in exchange for one promise.
Her daughter would never become part of the Howard family's financial machinery.
But the promise had been broken.
Elena looked up.
“Why didn't she tell me?”
Victoria's expression softened.
“Because she thought silence would keep you alive.”
Elena's heart broke.
Then she read the final paragraph.
There is one person in the Howard family who knows everything.
Do not trust Daniel.
Do not trust Vanessa.
And above all, do not trust—
The sentence ended.
The rest of the page had been torn away.
Elena stared at it.
“Who was the name?”
Victoria looked toward the hallway.
“I don't know.”
A sound came from behind them.
Footsteps.
Everyone turned.
Mrs. Howard stood in the doorway.
Her face was pale.
“I know who she meant.”
Elena stood.
“Who?”
Mrs. Howard looked at Victoria.
Then at Elena.
“My husband.”
Elena's breath caught.
“He's been dead for fifteen years.”
Mrs. Howard nodded.
“I know.”
“Then how could he be involved?”
Mrs. Howard's voice dropped.
“Because your mother wasn't talking about the man who died.”
She reached into her purse.
And removed an old photograph.
It showed Elena's mother standing beside a man Elena had never seen.
On the back was a date.
The date was three years after the man everyone believed was dead.
Elena stared at it.
“Who is that?”
May you like
Mrs. Howard whispered:
“My husband had a twin.”
