CHAPTER 10 — The Woman Victoria Was Afraid Of
CHAPTER 10 — The Woman Victoria Was Afraid Of
The photograph remained frozen on the screen.
A little boy stood beside a lake.
Four years old.
Dark hair.
Small hands tucked into the pockets of a blue jacket.
And behind him stood Alexander Sterling.
Julian had spent years imagining what his son might look like.
He had imagined holding him.
Teaching him to ride a bicycle.
Hearing him call him Dad.
Now all Julian could think about was the fact that someone had been watching his son every day.
Clara touched the screen.
"He's real."
Julian nodded.
"He's alive."
Neither of them noticed the woman standing silently in the doorway.
Until she spoke.
"You shouldn't have opened that file."
Julian spun around.
His hand moved instinctively toward his weapon.
Clara froze.
The woman raised both hands.
"Please."
She looked terrified.
Julian recognized her immediately.
"Margaret."
The old housekeeper stepped into the room.
Her face was pale.
She looked at the photograph.
Then at Clara.
Then at Julian.
"I know who Alexander is."
Julian lowered his weapon slightly.
"Then start talking."
Margaret shook her head.
"Not here."
"Why?"
"Because this house is still listening."
They moved into the old library.
Margaret locked the door.
Then she checked the fireplace.
The ceiling.
The walls.
Only after she was satisfied did she sit down.
Julian remained standing.
"Who are you afraid of?"
Margaret looked at Clara.
"Victoria."
Clara frowned.
"Victoria?"
Margaret nodded.
"Victoria isn't afraid of Evelyn."
Julian stared.
"What?"
"She never has been."
Margaret's voice trembled.
"The person Victoria fears is someone else."
"Who?"
Margaret looked toward the window.
"A woman named Eleanor Vale."
Clara's face changed.
"Nora?"
"No."
Margaret shook her head.
"Eleanor was Nora's older sister."
Julian frowned.
"What does she have to do with Victoria?"
Margaret whispered:
"Everything."
Twenty-two years earlier.
Victoria Sterling had been nineteen.
She wasn't the powerful woman Julian knew.
She was frightened.
Desperate.
And pregnant.
Margaret had been working for the Sterling family then.
She remembered Victoria arriving at the estate late one night.
She had been crying.
She carried a small suitcase.
And she was holding an envelope.
Evelyn met her at the door.
They argued for nearly an hour.
Then Victoria said something Margaret never forgot.
"I won't let you take my baby."
Evelyn slapped her.
Margaret covered her mouth.
"What happened next?"
Julian asked.
"Victoria disappeared for three months."
"And the baby?"
Margaret looked at Clara.
"The baby disappeared too."
Silence filled the room.
Clara whispered:
"Victoria had a child?"
"Yes."
Julian's eyes narrowed.
"Where is that child?"
Margaret shook her head.
"That's the secret Victoria has spent her entire life protecting."
Clara looked at her.
"Does Evelyn know?"
"Yes."
"Alexander?"
Margaret nodded.
"Yes."
"Then why is Victoria afraid of Eleanor?"
Margaret's hands began shaking.
"Because Eleanor was the only person who knew where the child went."
Julian sat down.
"Tell us everything."
Margaret swallowed.
"Eleanor Vale worked as a nurse at a private maternity clinic."
"The same clinic where Clara was taken?"
"Yes."
Clara's expression hardened.
"Eleanor helped me?"
"No."
Margaret looked at her.
"She helped Victoria."
Clara frowned.
"How?"
"She witnessed the birth."
Julian's eyes widened.
"Victoria's?"
"Yes."
Margaret lowered her voice.
"And she knew the baby wasn't dead."
Julian leaned forward.
"What did Victoria tell everyone?"
"That the baby died."
"But it didn't."
"No."
"Where is it?"
Margaret looked at Clara.
"That's what Victoria is afraid Eleanor will reveal."
A knock sounded.
Everyone froze.
Another knock.
Three times.
Clara immediately recognized the sound.
The midnight knocking.
Her breathing changed.
"That's the sound."
Julian stood.
"Stay here."
The knocking came again.
Three times.
From the library wall.
Julian stared.
Margaret whispered:
"She's here."
"Who?"
Margaret didn't answer.
The wall moved.
A hidden panel opened.
Behind it stood an elderly woman.
Silver hair.
Dark coat.
A scar across her left hand.
Clara gasped.
"Nora."
The woman stepped inside.
She looked at Clara.
Then at Julian.
And finally at Margaret.
"You finally found the room."
Julian stared.
"You knew about this?"
Nora nodded.
"I built it."
"Why?"
"Because Victoria was searching for me."
Julian's eyes narrowed.
"What do you know?"
Nora looked at Clara.
"I know what Victoria did."
"What?"
Nora's expression hardened.
"She didn't simply help imprison you."
Clara waited.
"She betrayed someone."
"Who?"
"Her own child."
Clara went silent.
Julian stared at Nora.
"Explain."
Nora sat down.
"Twenty-two years ago, Victoria gave birth to a baby girl."
Julian frowned.
"A girl?"
"Yes."
"Why hide her?"
"Because Alexander wanted a son."
Nora continued.
"Victoria's father believed a male heir would strengthen the Sterling bloodline."
"So what happened?"
"Victoria refused to surrender her daughter."
"Then?"
"Evelyn offered her a deal."
Clara whispered:
"What deal?"
"Victoria could keep her life."
Nora paused.
"But she had to give up the child."
Julian's expression darkened.
"She agreed."
Nora nodded.
"She signed."
"And the child?"
"Taken away."
"By whom?"
Nora looked toward the door.
"By Evelyn."
Clara shook her head.
"Where did she take her?"
Nora's eyes filled with sorrow.
"To another family."
Julian frowned.
"Which family?"
Nora didn't answer immediately.
Then she looked directly at Clara.
"The Whitmore family."
Clara froze.
Julian stood.
"You're saying Victoria's daughter was raised by the Whitmores?"
Nora nodded.
"Yes."
"Then who is she?"
Nora whispered:
"Madeline Whitmore."
Clara stared.
The name struck something inside her.
She had seen it.
In one of the files.
A woman who had worked at the estate years earlier.
A woman who had vanished.
A woman Victoria had ordered Daniel to locate.
Julian looked at Clara.
"You know her?"
"No."
"But you've heard the name."
Clara nodded slowly.
"Victoria mentioned her once."
"When?"
"During the second year."
"What did she say?"
Clara closed her eyes.
"She said..."
She struggled to remember.
"She said, 'If Madeline ever finds out who she is, we're all finished.'"
Nora nodded.
"Exactly."
Julian turned to Nora.
"Where is Madeline?"
Nora hesitated.
"Dead."
Clara's face fell.
"No."
"She was murdered."
"By Victoria?"
Nora nodded.
"Three years ago."
Julian's fists tightened.
"Why?"
"Because Madeline discovered the truth."
"What truth?"
Nora looked at Clara.
"That she was Victoria's daughter."
Clara's breath caught.
"And she found evidence."
"Yes."
"What evidence?"
Nora reached inside her coat.
She removed a small envelope.
Then placed it on the table.
"Her final letter."
Julian opened it.
The handwriting was hurried.
My name is Madeline Sterling.
Clara stared.
I was told my mother died when I was born. That was a lie.
The next line was worse.
My mother is Victoria Sterling.
Julian continued reading.
She has spent twenty years pretending I never existed.
Then:
I found the original birth certificate.
Julian's hand stopped.
The certificate was inside the envelope.
Mother:
Victoria Sterling.
Father:
Alexander Sterling.
Child:
Madeline Sterling.
But below the name was another document.
A medical report.
Julian read it.
Then looked at Clara.
"What?"
He couldn't speak.
Clara took the paper.
Her face went white.
The report was a DNA comparison.
Madeline's DNA had been compared with someone else.
Someone they knew.
Clara Vance.
The result:
99.97% biological relationship.
Clara stared.
"That's impossible."
Nora shook her head.
"It isn't."
Julian whispered:
"What does it mean?"
Nora looked directly at Clara.
"Madeline wasn't Victoria's only daughter."
Clara's breathing stopped.
Nora continued.
"Victoria had twins."
Silence.
"One was Madeline."
She looked at Clara.
"And the other..."
Nora paused.
"...was you."
Clara couldn't move.
Julian stared at her.
"No."
Nora nodded.
"Clara, you are Victoria Sterling's biological daughter."
The room seemed to tilt.
Clara shook her head.
"My parents..."
"They raised you."
"But my mother..."
"She wasn't your biological mother."
Clara began crying.
Julian caught her before she fell.
Nora continued softly:
"Victoria didn't know where you were for years."
"Then how..."
"Your father found out."
Julian froze.
"Which father?"
Nora looked at him.
"Victor Vance."
Clara looked up.
"Victor knew?"
"Yes."
"And he protected me?"
"Until Evelyn found out."
Julian understood.
The entire conspiracy suddenly made sense.
Victoria hadn't wanted Clara dead.
She had wanted her controlled.
Because Clara wasn't merely Julian's wife.
She was Victoria's daughter.
And if Clara ever discovered the truth, she could expose the entire Sterling family.
Then Nora said something that made the room go silent again.
"There is one more secret."
Julian looked at her.
"What?"
Nora's eyes filled with fear.
"Victoria didn't order Clara's disappearance."
Julian frowned.
"Then who did?"
Nora looked toward the hidden doorway.
"Alexander."
"Why?"
"Because he discovered Clara was his granddaughter."
Clara froze.
"Granddaughter?"
Nora nodded.
"Your biological father was Alexander Sterling's son."
Julian stared.
"Who?"
Nora looked at him.
"You."
Julian's face went pale.
He was Alexander's son.
Clara was Victoria's daughter.
Which meant—
Julian and Clara were connected through the Sterling family.
But before Julian could process it, Nora whispered:
"That isn't even the worst part."
She opened another document.
A birth certificate.
A second child.
The name was blacked out.
But the date matched Julian's birth.
Nora looked at him.
"Alexander had another son."
Julian's heart stopped.
"Who?"
Nora whispered:
"Arthur Kane."
The man everyone thought was dead.
The man who had helped imprison Clara.
The man who had been watching their son.
Julian stepped backward.
"Arthur is my brother."
Nora nodded.
"And he's coming for Clara."
The lights suddenly flickered.
A phone rang somewhere inside the estate.
Julian looked at his phone.
Unknown number.
He answered.
No one spoke.
Then a child's voice whispered:
"Daddy?"
Julian froze.
Clara covered her mouth.
Their son's voice.
Then another voice came through.
Arthur.
"Now you know who your family really is."
The call ended.
Julian stared at the phone.
Nora stood.
"You need to leave."
"Why?"
"Because Arthur knows where you are."
Clara looked at Julian.
"And he has our son."
Julian's expression hardened.
For four years, he had searched for his wife.
Now he knew the truth.
The woman who had betrayed Victoria knew the truth.
The woman Victoria feared had finally appeared.
And somewhere in the darkness, Arthur was holding the one thing Julian and Clara would risk everything to protect.
May you like
Their son.
To be continued.
