Chapter 2: Buried Truths
Chapter 2: Buried Truths
No one in the ballroom spoke.
The soft music had stopped. Crystal chandeliers sparkled overhead, but the elegant room suddenly felt cold.
Damian picked up the flash drive.
"What proof?" he asked quietly.
Mary met his eyes.
"Documents. Bank transfers. Court records that disappeared. Witness statements that were never heard."
Elena stepped forward.
"Don't listen to her."
But her voice lacked the confidence everyone had admired only minutes earlier.
Damian handed the flash drive to the event's technical manager.
"Play it."
Within moments, the ballroom's giant screen came to life.
The first file displayed a series of land ownership records.
Families had signed documents they could neither read nor understand.
Properties worth millions had been purchased for almost nothing.
Then came financial records.
Payments had been sent to local officials only days before the court ruled against the villagers.
The final video appeared.
It showed an elderly man giving a sworn testimony.
"I was paid to say the fire was an accident," he confessed.
"It wasn't."
The room erupted in whispers.
Elena's hands began to shake.
"My father handled all of that," she said.
"I was only a child."
Mary nodded.
"So was I."
The difference was impossible to ignore.
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One child had grown up surrounded by privilege.
The other had grown up with nothing except memories of smoke, loss, and a promise to uncover the truth.
