Chapter 7 — Victoria’s First Betrayal
Chapter 7 — Victoria’s First Betrayal
The sound of the gun being cocked came from downstairs.
Every instinct in me screamed one word.
Run.
I grabbed Isabella.
Lillian moved toward Sophie.
Victoria stepped between us and the doorway.
“Don't move.”
I stared at her.
“Who is downstairs?”
She didn't answer.
Another sound.
A floorboard creaked.
Then a man's voice drifted up through the darkness.
“Ethan.”
I knew that voice.
It was the same voice from the phone.
The man who had told me not to go to the old house.
The man who had known about the trust.
The man who had known about the key.
Victoria's face went pale.
Lillian whispered:
“He found us.”
“Who?”
She looked at Victoria.
“He.”
That was all she said.
I pulled Isabella behind me.
“Victoria, tell me what's happening.”
She shook her head.
“You need to listen to me.”
“I've been listening to you for years.”
“I know.”
“You lied to me.”
“Yes.”
“You hurt my daughter.”
Her face crumpled.
“I know.”
“You hid Sophie.”
“I know.”
“You tried to put me on that plane.”
Victoria looked directly at me.
“I didn't.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No.”
She took a step closer.
“I expect you to believe what I'm about to tell you.”
The footsteps downstairs stopped.
Victoria whispered:
“The man downstairs is the reason I married you.”
My blood ran cold.
“What?”
“I wasn't sent to steal your money.”
She swallowed.
“I was sent to watch you.”
“By whom?”
She looked toward Lillian.
“Your mother.”
I stared.
“You've already told me that.”
“I lied.”
The words hung between us.
Then Victoria said:
“Your mother didn't send me to protect you from your father.”
She looked at me.
“She sent me to make sure you never found Lillian.”
I felt as if the floor had disappeared.
“You knew where she was?”
Victoria nodded.
“For how long?”
“Twenty-two years.”
Lillian closed her eyes.
I looked at her.
“You knew Victoria?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“She was there when they took me.”
I turned toward Victoria.
“You were there?”
Victoria's eyes filled with tears.
“Yes.”
“You watched them take a three-year-old child?”
“I was twenty-one.”
“That doesn't answer my question.”
“I tried to stop them.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
My voice rose.
“Did you?”
Victoria whispered:
“No.”
I stepped toward her.
“Then you betrayed her.”
“Yes.”
“You betrayed me.”
“Yes.”
“You betrayed Isabella.”
“Yes.”
“You betrayed Sophie.”
Victoria looked down.
“Yes.”
For the first time since I had known her, she didn't defend herself.
She didn't cry.
She didn't make excuses.
She simply stood there and accepted every accusation.
And somehow, that made me angrier.
“Why?”
She finally looked at me.
“Because I was afraid.”
“Of my mother?”
“No.”
She glanced toward the stairs.
“Of the man downstairs.”
The lights came back on.
A man stood at the bottom of the staircase.
Gray suit.
Silver hair.
A gun in his right hand.
I had never seen him before.
But Lillian had.
She immediately stepped behind me.
“That's him.”
The man smiled.
“Hello, Lillian.”
Her face went white.
Victoria moved toward the staircase.
“Marcus.”
The man looked at her.
“Victoria.”
“You weren't supposed to come here.”
He laughed.
“Neither were you.”
I looked between them.
“You know each other.”
Marcus raised the gun slightly.
“We know each other very well.”
Victoria's voice trembled.
“Leave them out of this.”
Marcus smiled.
“That's the problem.”
He looked at me.
“They're already in it.”
“What is this?”
“Your family.”
He took another step.
“Your father.”
Another.
“Your mother.”
Another.
“And the trust.”
I tightened my grip on Isabella's shoulder.
“What do you want?”
“The ledger.”
I held it up.
“You mean this?”
His eyes hardened.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because it contains the names of everyone who funded the Carter empire.”
“And?”
“And one name cannot be allowed to become public.”
“Whose?”
He smiled.
“Mine.”
Victoria suddenly moved.
She grabbed a heavy lamp and threw it toward Marcus.
He fired.
The shot shattered the wall.
I pulled Isabella down.
Lillian grabbed Sophie.
Victoria shouted:
“Run!”
We moved.
All of us.
Through the hallway.
Into the library.
I slammed the door behind us.
Marcus fired again.
The bullet tore through the wood.
Isabella screamed.
I covered her ears.
“Dad!”
“I'm here.”
Victoria locked the second door.
“There is a passage.”
“Where?”
“Behind the bookshelf.”
I stared at her.
“How do you know?”
She gave me a bitter smile.
“Because I built it.”
She pulled a book.
The bookshelf moved.
A narrow passage opened.
Lillian stared.
“You remember.”
Victoria nodded.
“I remember everything.”
We entered.
Victoria closed the passage behind us.
Darkness swallowed the room.
We moved through the narrow tunnel.
Isabella held my hand.
Sophie held Lillian's.
Victoria walked behind us.
Nobody spoke.
Finally, I stopped.
“Victoria.”
She froze.
“What?”
“Tell me the truth.”
“I will.”
“Everything.”
She looked at the children.
Then at me.
“My first betrayal happened before I ever met you.”
“What did you do?”
“I gave your mother Lillian's location.”
Lillian stopped walking.
“What?”
Victoria closed her eyes.
“I was supposed to take you somewhere safe.”
“You didn't.”
“No.”
“Where did you take me?”
“To a house in Connecticut.”
Lillian's voice shook.
“Why?”
“Because your mother told me you had to disappear.”
“I was three.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
“Because your father had changed the trust.”
Lillian looked at me.
“He named me the primary beneficiary.”
I stared.
“What?”
Victoria nodded.
“Your father intended to give Lillian control of the original trust when she turned eighteen.”
“So why hide her?”
“Because your mother believed someone would kill her.”
“Who?”
Victoria looked at me.
“Your father.”
I shook my head.
“That makes no sense.”
“It did to her.”
Victoria took a breath.
“Your mother believed your father was going to use Lillian as leverage against the people who controlled the family.”
“What people?”
“The people who built the Carter fortune.”
“The people Marcus represents?”
“Yes.”
I looked back.
“Who is Marcus?”
Victoria hesitated.
“Your grandfather's financial architect.”
I stared.
“He's been alive all this time?”
“Yes.”
“And he controls the account?”
“No.”
She looked at me.
“He controls the people who want it.”
The tunnel opened into the old greenhouse.
We emerged into the cold night.
I looked back at the house.
No one followed.
Yet.
I turned to Victoria.
“Continue.”
She nodded.
“When I took Lillian, I believed I was saving her.”
“You gave her to someone.”
“I gave her to a woman I trusted.”
“Who?”
“Maria Bennett.”
I froze.
“Daniel's mother?”
“Yes.”
Lillian stared at Victoria.
“She took care of me.”
Victoria nodded.
“For years.”
“Then what happened?”
“Maria discovered what the trust really contained.”
“She was killed.”
“Yes.”
“And Lillian?”
“Moved again.”
“To where?”
Victoria shook her head.
“I lost track of her.”
Lillian whispered:
“You're lying.”
Victoria looked at her.
“No.”
“You knew where I was.”
“Not after Maria died.”
“You visited me.”
Victoria's face changed.
“When?”
“When I was sixteen.”
Silence.
Victoria looked stunned.
“You remember?”
“I remember your voice.”
Lillian stepped forward.
“You told me to forget my name.”
Victoria's eyes filled with tears.
“I was trying to keep you alive.”
“You told me my father had forgotten me.”
Victoria couldn't answer.
I stared at her.
“You told her I forgot her?”
She nodded.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because if she believed you had abandoned her, she wouldn't come looking for you.”
Lillian's eyes filled with tears.
“I hated you.”
“I know.”
“I hated him.”
She looked at me.
“I thought you didn't want me.”
My chest tightened.
“I didn't know you existed.”
“I know that now.”
For the first time, Lillian looked at me without anger.
Just grief.
Twenty years of grief.
A car engine roared.
Victoria immediately grabbed my arm.
“Down.”
Headlights swept across the greenhouse.
Marcus's men.
Three vehicles.
I pulled the children behind a stone wall.
Victoria whispered:
“There is another exit.”
“Where?”
“Through the orchard.”
We ran.
Branches tore at our clothes.
Isabella stumbled.
I caught her.
Sophie was crying.
Lillian carried her.
Victoria stayed behind us.
Then gunshots erupted.
The orchard filled with echoes.
One bullet struck a tree beside me.
Another shattered a greenhouse window.
“Faster!”
We reached the old stone gate.
A black SUV waited.
The driver's door opened.
Thomas stepped out.
“Get in!”
I stared.
“How did you find us?”
“No time.”
We piled inside.
Thomas drove.
Marcus's vehicles followed.
I looked at Victoria.
She was breathing hard.
Her hands were shaking.
“Why did you come with us?”
She looked at me.
“Because I have one betrayal left.”
My blood ran cold.
“What?”
She reached into her coat.
Pulled out a small envelope.
And handed it to me.
“Your mother gave me this the night she told me to take Lillian.”
I opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
My mother.
Victoria.
And Marcus.
Standing together.
On the back:
If Ethan ever discovers Lillian, eliminate the original beneficiary.
I stared at the words.
“Original beneficiary.”
Lillian.
I looked at Victoria.
“You were ordered to kill her?”
“Yes.”
“But you didn't.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Victoria looked at Lillian.
“Because I couldn't.”
“Then why did you keep lying?”
She whispered:
“Because I knew if they discovered she was alive, they would kill everyone.”
I folded the photograph.
“Who are they?”
Victoria looked at me.
“Your mother wasn't the one giving the orders.”
I froze.
“What?”
“She was receiving them.”
“From whom?”
Victoria looked at Thomas.
His face had gone pale.
“From your father.”
I stared.
“My father was dead.”
“He wasn't.”
Victoria swallowed.
“Not when I married you.”
The car went silent.
Thomas almost missed the turn.
“What are you saying?”
Victoria looked at me.
“Your father was alive when you were twenty-five.”
I felt dizzy.
“That was twenty years ago.”
“Yes.”
“Then who died?”
“A man who looked like him.”
I couldn't speak.
“The funeral was staged.”
My entire childhood memories began collapsing.
The closed coffin.
The private burial.
The missing medical records.
The trust.
The hidden children.
Everything.
I looked at Thomas.
“Did you know?”
He didn't answer.
“Thomas.”
He whispered:
“Yes.”
My stomach turned.
“You knew my father was alive?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Until three weeks ago.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
Thomas's eyes filled with tears.
“He died three weeks ago.”
The same week Dr. Whitmore died.
The same week Emily was murdered.
The same week Victoria's financial transfers began.
I looked at Victoria.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because your father made me promise.”
“What promise?”
She looked at me.
“That I would never tell you he was alive.”
“Why?”
“Because he was afraid you'd come looking for him.”
I laughed bitterly.
“And what happened?”
Victoria's face broke.
“He came looking for you.”
Thomas slammed on the brakes.
A truck had blocked the road.
Men stepped out.
Marcus had caught us.
Thomas swore.
“Everybody down!”
Gunfire erupted.
Glass exploded.
I pulled Isabella against me.
Lillian covered Sophie.
Victoria opened the rear door.
“Run!”
We jumped out.
Thomas fired back.
The road became chaos.
I grabbed Isabella's hand.
We ran into the woods.
Lillian followed with Sophie.
Victoria stayed behind.
I turned.
“Victoria!”
She was standing in the road.
Facing Marcus.
She raised both hands.
“Stop!”
Marcus lowered his gun.
“Finally.”
Victoria looked at me.
“Go!”
I understood.
She wasn't surrendering.
She was buying us time.
I wanted to go back.
But Isabella was beside me.
I ran.
We reached an abandoned cabin before dawn.
The children fell asleep almost immediately.
Lillian sat beside the window.
I sat across from her.
For a long time, neither of us spoke.
Finally she said:
“I thought about you.”
“When?”
“Every birthday.”
My throat tightened.
“I didn't know.”
“I know.”
“I would have come.”
“I know.”
“I would have found you.”
She looked at me.
“Would you?”
“Yes.”
“Even if it meant losing everything?”
I looked at Isabella sleeping nearby.
“Yes.”
Lillian smiled sadly.
“Then Dad was right.”
“What?”
“He said you'd choose us.”
I looked at her.
“What else did he tell you?”
“That one day, you would discover the truth.”
“And?”
“That the forty million dollars was never the prize.”
“What is?”
She looked at me.
“Freedom.”
I frowned.
“Freedom from what?”
She whispered:
“The Carter name.”
My phone vibrated.
A message.
From Victoria.
I opened it.
Only four words:
I'M SORRY, ETHAN.
Then another message arrived.
I TOLD THEM WHERE YOU ARE.
My blood froze.
I looked toward the window.
Headlights appeared between the trees.
Lillian stood immediately.
“They found us.”
I stared at the phone.
Victoria had betrayed us again.
Or had she?
Another message arrived.
RUN NOW.
Then:
THIS IS MY LAST BETRAYAL.
I understood.
She had given them our location.
But she had also warned us.
She was betraying both sides.
Trying to keep everyone alive.
The headlights grew brighter.
Doors slammed.
Men stepped into the woods.
I woke Isabella.
“Come on.”
She rubbed her eyes.
“Where are we going?”
“Somewhere safe.”
I looked at Lillian.
Then Sophie.
Then toward the approaching men.
For twenty years, my family had buried the truth beneath money.
For twenty years, Victoria had lied to protect it.
And now I finally understood her first betrayal.
She hadn't betrayed me when she married me.
She had betrayed me the moment she decided to save Lillian instead of obeying my mother.
And that single act of disobedience had started a chain of lies that had lasted twenty-two years.
But as we escaped through the back of the cabin, I realized something else.
Victoria's betrayals weren't finished.
Because the next message on my phone contained a photograph.
Victoria was kneeling in front of Marcus.
A gun pressed against her head.
And beneath the photograph were six words:
YOUR WIFE HAS ONE HOUR TO TALK.
Then:
OR SHE DIES.
I stopped running.
Lillian grabbed my arm.
“Dad?”
I looked back toward the road.
For the first time, I wasn't sure who needed saving more.
My daughter.
Or the woman who had spent twenty years betraying everyone she loved just to keep my children alive.
I turned toward the darkness.
May you like
And made the decision that would finally force the Carter family's oldest secret into the open.
I was going back for Victoria.
