CHAPTER 10 – The Trial Begins
CHAPTER 10 – The Trial Begins
The sound of footsteps above us became louder.
Slow.
Heavy.
Deliberate.
Nobody spoke.
Not me.
Not Preston.
Not Clara.
Not even the rain outside.
For twenty-five years, my family had buried secrets beneath this house.
And now...
Someone had come to dig them up.
Preston looked toward the staircase.
His face had lost the confidence I had seen my entire life.
The confidence of a man who believed he controlled every room he entered.
For the first time...
He looked like someone who was afraid of what might be found.
"Who is upstairs?"
I whispered.
Preston didn't answer.
That scared me more than anything.
Because Preston always had an answer.
A lie.
An excuse.
A story.
But now he was silent.
Clara stepped closer to me.
"Evelyn, you need to leave."
I looked at her.
"No."
Her expression changed.
"You don't understand."
"No."
I shook my head.
"I understand perfectly."
I pointed toward Preston.
"Every person in this family has spent years deciding what I could handle."
My voice became stronger.
"My father."
"My mother."
"Preston."
"Everyone thought keeping me in the dark was protecting me."
I looked toward the stairs.
"But all it did was give them more time to hurt me."
Clara looked at me sadly.
"You sound like Richard."
The name made me pause.
My biological father.
The man I never knew.
"Was he like me?"
Clara smiled faintly.
"He believed the truth always came with a price."
A pause.
"But he believed lies cost more."
The footsteps stopped.
Then a voice echoed from upstairs.
"William always did love hiding things in obvious places."
My blood ran cold.
That voice.
I knew it.
Not personally.
But from the recordings.
The voice from my father's old files.
A man from the past.
A man who should not have been here.
A figure appeared at the top of the stairs.
Gray hair.
Expensive suit.
Cold eyes.
Preston whispered:
"Daniel."
The man smiled.
"Hello, Preston."
Then he looked at me.
"And you must be Evelyn."
I stepped back.
"Who are you?"
The man slowly walked down.
"My name is Daniel Cross."
Clara's face became pale.
"You were supposed to be gone."
Daniel smiled.
"So many people thought that."
The Missing Piece
Daniel placed a briefcase on the table.
"I think everyone here deserves the truth."
I almost laughed.
The truth.
That word had become almost meaningless.
Everyone claimed to want it.
Everyone used it.
Everyone hid behind it.
"You came here for the evidence."
I said.
Daniel looked impressed.
"Smart."
Preston stepped forward.
"Don't involve her."
Daniel looked at him.
"Funny."
He laughed.
"After everything you've done, you suddenly care about your sister?"
Preston's face darkened.
"Shut up."
"No."
Daniel opened the briefcase.
"I think she should know exactly what her beloved brother has spent twenty-five years trying to hide."
Inside were documents.
Photographs.
Records.
My stomach turned.
Daniel removed the first file.
"Twenty-five years ago, Richard Vale discovered that Harrington Industries was being used for illegal financial transfers."
He looked at Preston.
"And he discovered who was responsible."
Silence.
I already knew the answer.
But hearing it...
Was different.
"Preston."
The room froze.
Preston's expression became unreadable.
I looked at him.
"No."
He shook his head.
"Don't listen to him."
But Daniel continued.
"Preston was not the victim of this story."
"He was the beginning."
The Man Behind the Monster
I stared at my brother.
For years, I had imagined his cruelty came from pain.
From abandonment.
From feeling unwanted.
But what if I was wrong?
What if pain had only revealed who he already was?
Daniel placed another document on the table.
"Bank transfers."
"Company accounts."
"False signatures."
"All connected to Preston."
I looked at Preston.
"Is this true?"
He didn't answer.
And that was answer enough.
"You framed my daughter."
I whispered.
His eyes moved toward me.
"I didn't want to hurt her."
My anger rose.
"You hit her."
"I lost control."
"No."
I stepped closer.
"You made a choice."
The room became silent.
"You had a hundred choices before that moment."
"Walk away."
"Tell the truth."
"Admit you were wrong."
"But you chose an eight-year-old child."
My voice broke.
"Because you thought she couldn't fight back."
For the first time...
Preston looked ashamed.
But it lasted only a second.
Then his anger returned.
"You think you're better than me?"
"No."
I said.
"I think I'm different."
The Evidence
Daniel placed the final document on the table.
"The reason Preston attacked Sophie wasn't because of the phone."
I already knew.
But hearing it confirmed made my stomach twist.
"He believed Richard's final evidence was hidden with Evelyn."
Clara nodded.
"The necklace."
Daniel looked at her.
"No."
Everyone turned.
"What?"
Daniel smiled.
"The necklace was only a distraction."
My heart stopped.
"Then where is it?"
Daniel looked at me.
"Your father left the evidence somewhere Preston would never look."
"Where?"
Daniel pointed at me.
"Inside your own memories."
I frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Before he could answer...
The front door exploded open.
Several police officers entered.
Everyone froze.
One officer stepped forward.
"Evelyn Harrington?"
"Yes."
He looked at Preston.
"Preston Harrington."
Preston's face changed.
The officer continued.
"You are under arrest for assault, fraud, and attempted evidence destruction."
The room erupted.
My mother, who had been standing silently outside the doorway, gasped.
"Arrest?"
The officer nodded.
"We have the hotel CCTV footage."
Everything stopped.
The recording.
The thing Preston never expected.
The thing that proved my daughter was innocent.
The thing that showed the world exactly who he was.
Preston looked at me.
Not angry.
Desperate.
"Evelyn."
I stared at him.
The brother I grew up with.
The man I defended for years.
The man my parents protected.
"I'm sorry."
The words surprised everyone.
But I didn't move.
Because apologies after destruction are not redemption.
They are only proof that someone finally ran out of places to hide.
As the officers placed handcuffs around Preston's wrists...
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
A man's voice whispered:
"You think Preston's trial is the end?"
I froze.
"Who is this?"
The voice replied:
"The trial you should be worried about..."
A pause.
"...is yours."
The call ended.
I looked at Daniel.
His face had gone pale.
Because he knew who had called.
And then he whispered:
"He's alive."
My blood turned cold.
"Who?"
Daniel looked toward the dark window.
"The man who started everything."
A pause.
May you like
"Richard Vale."
End of Chapter 10
