Chapter 13 — Priscilla Loses Everything
Chapter 13 — Priscilla Loses Everything
The name remained on every screen in the courtroom.
ADRIAN VALE.
Margot stared at it.
Her mind refused to accept what Elena had just said.
“Our brother.”
Daniel turned toward Elena.
“You have another brother?”
Elena nodded slowly.
“Half-brother.”
Margot looked at Clara.
Clara's face had gone completely white.
“You knew.”
Clara lowered her eyes.
Margot felt something inside her break.
“Mom.”
Clara couldn't answer.
“Did you know?”
“Yes.”
The courtroom erupted.
Reporters shouted.
The judge demanded silence.
Security officers rushed toward the locked doors.
And Priscilla—
for the first time since the trial began—
looked genuinely terrified.
Margot turned toward her.
“You knew about Adrian Vale.”
Priscilla shook her head.
“No.”
Elena stepped forward.
“You're lying.”
Priscilla stared at her.
“You were a child.”
“I was six.”
“You don't remember.”
“I remember you.”
Priscilla's face changed.
Elena continued.
“You came to the house.”
“You gave me the pendant.”
“You told me never to trust Walter.”
“You said my brother would come for me.”
Margot looked at Priscilla.
“Your brother?”
Elena nodded.
“Adrian.”
Priscilla whispered:
“He was never supposed to exist.”
Walter laughed.
The sound was bitter.
“Now you finally understand.”
The judge slammed the gavel.
“Mr. Landry, silence!”
Walter ignored him.
“Priscilla didn't lose a child.”
He looked at Margot.
“She created one.”
Priscilla turned toward him.
“Stop.”
“You want them to believe you were innocent?”
“I never said I was.”
“You hid the boy.”
“I protected him.”
“You used him.”
Priscilla's eyes filled with rage.
“Because you would have killed him!”
Walter smiled.
“You still don't understand.”
He looked at Margot.
“Adrian Vale isn't your brother.”
Margot frowned.
“What?”
Walter leaned back.
“He is my son.”
Silence.
Even Priscilla stopped breathing.
Daniel stared at his father.
“What did you say?”
Walter looked at him.
“Adrian is my biological son.”
Daniel's face collapsed.
“You had another family.”
Walter nodded.
“Before your mother.”
Priscilla whispered:
“You promised me he would never find out.”
Walter laughed.
“And you believed me?”
She looked devastated.
Margot suddenly understood.
The family tree was not a tree.
It was a maze.
Everyone was related.
Everyone had lied.
And every secret seemed designed to protect the same thing—
power.
The courtroom doors finally opened.
Officers rushed inside.
The judge ordered an immediate recess.
But before anyone could leave, Elena grabbed Margot's hand.
“Don't go.”
Margot looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because they're going to take me.”
“Who?”
“Priscilla.”
Priscilla turned.
“No.”
Elena stepped behind Margot.
“She tried before.”
Priscilla's eyes widened.
“That isn't true.”
Elena's voice became cold.
“You put me in the car.”
“You told me we were going to see my mother.”
“You drove me to the station.”
“You left me there.”
Priscilla shook her head.
“No.”
“You left me with strangers.”
“I came back.”
“Three years later.”
The room fell silent.
Margot looked at Priscilla.
“You abandoned her.”
Priscilla's face crumpled.
“I was trying to save her.”
“You abandoned a child.”
“I had no choice.”
“There is always a choice.”
Margot's words were quiet.
“And you chose yourself.”
Priscilla looked at Daniel.
“Tell her.”
Daniel didn't move.
“Tell her why I did it.”
Daniel shook his head.
“I don't know anymore.”
“You know.”
“No.”
“You know what your father did.”
“I know what you did.”
Priscilla's eyes filled with tears.
“I sacrificed everything for you.”
Daniel stared.
“No.”
His voice was barely audible.
“You sacrificed everyone for yourself.”
Priscilla stepped backward.
“That isn't fair.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Fair?”
He laughed bitterly.
“You taught me that word didn't matter.”
The prosecutor approached.
“Mrs. Landry, you're under arrest.”
Priscilla looked at him.
“For what?”
“Conspiracy.”
“That's all?”
“No.”
He opened a file.
“Kidnapping.”
Her face went pale.
“Attempted murder.”
She shook her head.
“Fraud.”
“No.”
“Forgery.”
“Stop.”
“Financial crimes.”
Priscilla backed away.
“That's enough.”
The prosecutor continued.
“And the unlawful concealment of Elena Wren.”
Priscilla finally collapsed into the chair.
Margot watched.
The woman who had once commanded servants, lawyers, and executives now had nothing.
Not even the dignity of denial.
But then Priscilla smiled.
It was small.
Cold.
Almost peaceful.
Margot noticed.
“What?”
Priscilla looked at her.
“You think I've lost.”
Margot said nothing.
Priscilla leaned forward.
“You haven't seen the last file.”
“What file?”
“The one Walter never found.”
Walter's smile vanished.
Priscilla looked at him.
“You remember the blue room.”
Walter stood.
“Where is it?”
Priscilla laughed.
“You're afraid.”
Walter's voice became dangerous.
“Where is it?”
“You spent thirty years searching for something you didn't understand.”
She turned toward Margot.
“It's yours.”
Vance stepped forward.
“What is in the blue room?”
Priscilla smiled.
“The original Wren ledger.”
Everyone froze.
Charles whispered:
“No.”
Priscilla nodded.
“Yes.”
“The ledger that records every transfer.”
“Every murder.”
“Every payment.”
“Every forged identity.”
“Every person Walter bought.”
“Every person he killed.”
Walter's face went blank.
Priscilla continued.
“And my name is in it.”
Margot stared.
“You kept evidence against yourself?”
“I kept insurance.”
“Against Walter.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you use it?”
“Because I wanted more.”
Margot's expression hardened.
“You wanted the empire.”
Priscilla nodded.
“I wanted everything.”
The judge ordered officers to escort Priscilla away.
She looked at Daniel one final time.
“I'm sorry.”
Daniel didn't respond.
She looked at Margot.
“You'll understand someday.”
Margot shook her head.
“No.”
Priscilla smiled sadly.
“That is what makes you different.”
She was taken away.
The courtroom doors closed.
And with them—
Priscilla's world disappeared.
Her accounts were frozen.
Her properties were seized.
Her companies were placed under investigation.
Her name vanished from the boards she had controlled.
By evening, every newspaper carried the same headline:
LANDRY MATRIARCH ARRESTED AS FAMILY EMPIRE COLLAPSES.
But Margot knew the story wasn't over.
That night, the family gathered in an empty conference room.
Daniel sat silently.
Elena stayed beside Margot.
Clara cried quietly.
Evelyn stared at the floor.
Charles studied the documents.
Vance entered with a sealed evidence bag.
“We found the blue room.”
Margot looked up.
“Where?”
“Under the original Wren estate.”
“Was the ledger there?”
Vance nodded.
“Yes.”
He placed it on the table.
The book was enormous.
Leather-bound.
Dust-covered.
The initials A.W. were carved into the cover.
Adrian Wren.
Margot opened it.
Pages of names.
Dates.
Accounts.
Companies.
Payments.
Then she saw one entry.
Her blood froze.
PROJECT VALE.
Below it:
SUBJECT: ADRIAN VALE.
STATUS: ACTIVE.
Margot looked at Elena.
“What does this mean?”
Elena shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Daniel turned the page.
His face went pale.
“There's more.”
He pointed.
SUBJECT: MARGOT WREN.
Margot's heart stopped.
Then another.
SUBJECT: UNBORN CHILD.
The room went silent.
Vance whispered:
“This wasn't just an inheritance.”
“No,” Margot said.
She turned another page.
A final heading appeared.
GENERATION THREE — ACTIVATION PROTOCOL.
Margot's hand trembled.
“What is an activation protocol?”
Charles answered:
“The mechanism that transfers the Wren trust.”
“How?”
“Through the bloodline.”
Margot looked at Elena.
“And Adrian?”
Elena whispered:
“He was the first test.”
Daniel stood suddenly.
“No.”
Everyone looked at him.
“My father said Adrian was his son.”
“So?”
“So if Adrian is Walter's son…”
He looked at Margot.
“…then he's not a pure Wren.”
Margot understood.
“That means the inheritance wouldn't recognize him.”
“Exactly.”
Elena stared at the ledger.
“Unless…”
She stopped.
“Unless what?”
Elena looked at Margot's stomach.
“Unless Adrian was genetically modified.”
Silence.
Vance frowned.
“What are you talking about?”
Elena pointed to a page.
There was a medical notation.
GENETIC COMPATIBILITY: 99.8%.
Margot's face went cold.
“They experimented on him.”
Elena nodded.
“That's why they called it Project Vale.”
The door opened.
A lawyer entered.
“Mrs. Wren?”
Margot turned.
“What?”
“I have something from Priscilla.”
He handed her an envelope.
“She requested that you receive it personally.”
Margot opened it.
Inside was a single photograph.
A young Priscilla.
A newborn baby.
And Walter standing beside them.
On the back:
I DIDN'T STEAL THE CHILD.
I SAVED HIM.
BUT I COULDN'T SAVE MYSELF.
Margot turned the photograph over.
Another line had been written beneath it.
ASK CLARA WHO ADRIAN'S REAL MOTHER WAS.
Margot looked at Clara.
Her mother began crying.
“You already know.”
Margot's voice was cold.
“Tell me.”
Clara shook her head.
“I can't.”
“Mom.”
“I can't.”
“Tell me.”
Clara finally looked up.
Her voice broke.
“His mother was Eleanor.”
Margot froze.
Elena gasped.
Daniel stared.
Vance whispered:
“Eleanor?”
Clara nodded.
“She gave birth to Adrian in secret.”
Margot's mind raced.
Eleanor had been Adrian Wren's mother.
Walter had been his biological father.
Priscilla had raised him.
And the entire family had spent decades hiding him.
But why?
Margot opened the ledger again.
At the bottom of the final page was a handwritten note.
ADRIAN IS NOT THE FINAL HEIR.
HE IS THE KEY.
Margot looked at Elena.
“What does that mean?”
Elena whispered:
“I think he can unlock the trust.”
“Then where is he?”
No one answered.
Then Daniel's phone rang.
He looked at the screen.
Unknown number.
He answered.
No one spoke.
Then a young man's voice whispered:
“Daniel.”
Daniel froze.
“Who is this?”
A pause.
Then:
“You're my brother.”
Daniel's face went white.
“Adrian?”
The voice laughed softly.
“Yes.”
Margot stood.
“Put it on speaker.”
Daniel did.
Margot heard the voice.
“Margot.”
Her heart pounded.
“You know me?”
“I've known about you my entire life.”
“Where are you?”
“Somewhere your family will never find me.”
“Why?”
“Because your family doesn't want me found.”
Margot looked at Elena.
“Who are you hiding from?”
The line went silent.
Then Adrian whispered:
“Not Walter.”
Margot's heart sank.
“Then who?”
Adrian answered:
“Eleanor.”
The call ended.
Everyone stared at one another.
And somewhere across the city, Priscilla sat alone in a holding cell.
She smiled.
Because she had lost everything—
her wealth,
her influence,
her family,
her freedom.
But she had finally accomplished the one thing she had wanted for thirty years.
She had forced Margot to open the ledger.
And now the truth was moving faster than anyone could stop.
Priscilla looked through the bars.
“Let them come.”
She whispered the words to herself.
“Let them finally learn what I learned.”
A guard passed her cell.
“What did you say?”
Priscilla smiled.
“I said…”
She looked into the darkness.
“…the Landry family hasn't lost yet.”
Outside, thunder rolled across the city.
And beneath the old Wren estate, one final file unlocked itself.
The screen displayed a single sentence:
PROJECT VALE — SUBJECT LOCATED.
Then another:
ADRIAN VALE IS ALIVE.
May you like
And beneath that—
HE HAS ALREADY CHOSEN HIS SIDE.
