Chapter 14 — The Price Eleanor Had to Pay
Chapter 14 — The Price Eleanor Had to Pay
The photograph remained on my phone.
My father.
Four babies.
And a woman I had never seen before.
Beneath it were the words:
YOUR FATHER DIDN'T HIDE THE FOURTH CHILD FROM VICTOR.
HE HID HER FROM YOU.
I stared at the screen until my vision blurred.
Then I read the final sentence again.
AND SHE IS THE ONLY ONE WHO KNOWS WHY YOUR FATHER HAD TO DIE.
I looked toward the hospital bed.
Julian was asleep.
Leo was sitting beside him, holding his brother's hand.
Maria stood near the window.
Nobody spoke.
Finally, Maria whispered:
"That's her."
I looked at her.
"You know the woman?"
Maria nodded.
"Yes."
"Who is she?"
Maria hesitated.
"Your father's last mistake."
My stomach tightened.
"Her name."
She looked at me.
"Isabella."
I froze.
"Isabella what?"
Maria's eyes filled with tears.
"Isabella Vance."
I stopped breathing.
"That's impossible."
"No."
"She has my last name?"
"Because she's your sister."
The room seemed to tilt.
I looked at the photograph again.
Four babies.
Four children.
One hidden daughter.
My sister.
And somehow, she was connected to my father's death.
But before I could ask another question, my phone rang.
The caller ID showed one name.
Eleanor.
I stared at it.
Maria whispered:
"Don't answer."
I did.
"Where are you?"
Her voice was barely audible.
"Prison."
"Why are you calling me?"
"Because they're coming for me."
"Who?"
"Victor."
I frowned.
"Victor is missing."
"I know."
"Then how—"
"Michael."
Her voice cracked.
"Listen to me."
I said nothing.
"You need to understand something."
"What?"
"I never wanted any of this."
I laughed bitterly.
"You kidnapped my son."
"I saved him."
"You lied to me for seven years."
"I was trying to keep him alive."
"You worked for Victor."
"I was forced to."
"You manipulated my children."
"I protected them."
"Stop saying that."
Silence.
Then she whispered:
"I deserve whatever happens to me."
That surprised me.
"What?"
"I deserve it."
She began crying.
"For everything."
I sat down.
"What are you talking about?"
"I betrayed you."
"Yes."
"I betrayed your father."
"Yes."
"I betrayed Daniel."
"Yes."
"And I betrayed myself."
I closed my eyes.
"Tell me the truth."
"I will."
"When?"
"Tonight."
"Where?"
"The federal detention center."
"Why?"
"Because tomorrow I may be dead."
I arrived at the detention center an hour later.
Eleanor was brought into the interview room wearing a gray prison uniform.
She looked completely different.
No designer clothes.
No perfect makeup.
No jewelry.
No carefully controlled expression.
Just a tired woman sitting beneath fluorescent lights.
She looked older.
Human.
She sat across from me.
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then she whispered:
"I know you hate me."
"I don't know what I feel."
"That's fair."
"You told me you loved me."
"I did."
"Was any of it real?"
She looked directly at me.
"Yes."
"When?"
"Before I knew what my father wanted."
"Your father."
She nodded.
"Edward."
"The man who kidnapped Julian."
"Yes."
"The man who controlled Victor."
"Yes."
"The man who destroyed my family."
"Yes."
I leaned forward.
"Why did you obey him?"
Eleanor looked down.
"Because he had my child."
"Daniel."
"Yes."
"But Daniel was your brother's child."
She shook her head.
"No."
I frowned.
"Then whose?"
She stared at me.
"Yours."
My blood froze.
"What?"
"Daniel is your biological son."
"I know."
"No."
She shook her head.
"You don't understand."
"Then explain."
"Daniel isn't just your son."
She swallowed.
"He is the first child you ever had."
I stared.
"The first?"
"Before Leo and Julian."
I couldn't speak.
She continued.
"Sixteen years ago, you were involved in an accident."
"I was nineteen."
"Yes."
"I don't remember."
"Your father made sure you didn't."
My hands tightened.
"What happened?"
"You were unconscious for three days."
"Why?"
"Because someone had tried to kill you."
"Who?"
"Edward."
I stared at her.
"Why?"
"Because your father had discovered the trust."
I shook my head.
"This is impossible."
"No."
She leaned forward.
"Your father knew you were the biological carrier of the Vance marker."
"The trust marker."
"Yes."
"And Daniel?"
"He was conceived using your DNA."
I stared.
"But I was nineteen."
"You were unconscious."
"Who was the mother?"
"Eleanor's eyes filled with tears."
"Elena."
My heart stopped.
"My mother?"
"Yes."
I couldn't breathe.
"She gave birth to my son?"
"Yes."
"Then why didn't she tell me?"
"Because she was afraid."
"Of Edward?"
"Of everyone."
I stood.
"My mother was alive."
Eleanor nodded.
"She was."
"For how long?"
"Until Daniel was born."
I stared.
"What?"
"She died giving birth."
I felt something inside me collapse.
My mother.
My first child.
Both had been taken from me.
And I had spent sixteen years believing neither story existed.
"Why did my father hide Daniel?"
Eleanor wiped her tears.
"Because Edward wanted him."
"Why?"
"Because Daniel carried the complete marker."
"The original heir."
"Yes."
"Then why did my father create Leo?"
"He didn't."
I frowned.
"What?"
"Leo was born naturally."
"Then Julian?"
"Julian was the manufactured heir."
My chest tightened.
"Victor altered Julian's records."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"To confuse the trust."
"So Daniel was the real heir."
"No."
She shook her head.
"Daniel was the first carrier."
"Then who is the heir?"
Eleanor looked at me.
"Leo."
I closed my eyes.
"Why?"
"Because Leo is the first naturally conceived male descendant carrying the complete marker."
I stared.
"And Daniel?"
"He was the key."
"To what?"
"The original account."
I understood.
The account wasn't designed to transfer money.
It was designed to identify the truth.
Daniel's DNA opened the evidence.
Leo's DNA opened the trust.
And Julian...
I looked at her.
"What was Julian for?"
Eleanor whispered:
"A distraction."
I sat down.
"All these years."
"Yes."
"Everyone was fighting over the wrong child."
"Exactly."
I looked at Eleanor.
"And you?"
"What about me?"
"What did you have to pay?"
She stared at the table.
"Everything."
I waited.
She finally spoke.
"My father made me choose."
"Between what?"
"Daniel and you."
I felt my stomach tighten.
"He told me that if I stayed with you, Daniel would die."
"So you left."
"Yes."
"You married me anyway."
"Because he ordered me to."
"You knew the truth."
"Not all of it."
"When did you learn?"
"After the wedding."
"Then why didn't you leave?"
"Because Victor threatened Daniel."
She looked up.
"He said if I exposed him, Daniel would disappear."
I shook my head.
"You should have trusted me."
"I was afraid."
"You should have trusted me."
"I know."
I stared at her.
"That's the price."
She nodded.
"What price?"
"The price of fear."
She looked at me.
"I spent sixteen years protecting my son by destroying everyone around me."
Silence.
"And now?"
"Now I have nothing."
I didn't answer.
She whispered:
"That's what I deserve."
The door opened.
A federal agent entered.
"Mr. Vance."
I turned.
"What?"
"We found something."
He handed me a tablet.
"Your sister."
I stared at the screen.
A surveillance image showed a woman leaving a train station.
Dark hair.
Long coat.
Same eyes as my father.
"Isabella."
The agent nodded.
"We believe she's alive."
"Where?"
"Mexico City."
My heart jumped.
"Why?"
"Because someone has been transferring money to her for twenty years."
"Who?"
He looked at Eleanor.
She closed her eyes.
"Edward."
The agent nodded.
"Correct."
I stared.
"Why would Edward pay my sister?"
"Because she knows something."
"What?"
He looked at me.
"Who killed your father."
Eleanor whispered:
"Not Edward."
I turned.
"What?"
She looked terrified.
"Edward didn't kill your father."
"Then who did?"
She shook her head.
"I don't know."
The agent looked at her.
"You do."
Eleanor began crying.
"I can't."
"You can."
"No."
I stepped toward her.
"Eleanor."
She looked at me.
"Who killed my father?"
Her lips trembled.
Then she said:
"Your mother."
I froze.
"What?"
"Your mother killed your father."
I shook my head.
"That's impossible."
"She didn't mean to."
"What does that mean?"
"She was trying to save you."
"From whom?"
"Edward."
I stared.
Eleanor continued.
"Your father had decided to expose everything."
"The account."
"The trust."
"The illegal money."
"Yes."
"And my mother?"
"She discovered Edward planned to kill you."
"So she killed Dad."
"She shot him."
I couldn't breathe.
"Why?"
"Because your father was about to reveal your location."
"To Edward?"
"Yes."
"So she saved me."
"Yes."
"And then she died giving birth to Daniel."
"Yes."
I sat down.
My entire childhood had been built on a lie.
I had spent years believing my father died protecting the family.
I had believed my mother abandoned us.
The truth was worse.
She had killed the man she loved to save the son she loved.
And then died giving birth to my first child.
Eleanor reached across the table.
I pulled my hand away.
She stopped.
"I know I have no right."
"No."
"I know you don't owe me forgiveness."
"No."
"I know I destroyed your family."
"You did."
She nodded.
"But I can still help you."
"How?"
"By telling you where Isabella is."
I looked at her.
"You know?"
"Yes."
"Where?"
"She's hiding in a monastery."
"Why?"
"Because she's afraid."
"Of Edward?"
"No."
"Then who?"
Eleanor looked toward the door.
"Victor."
"But Victor is working with Edward."
She shook her head.
"Not anymore."
"Why?"
"Because Victor discovered something."
"What?"
"Edward isn't trying to steal the trust."
I frowned.
"Then what?"
"He wants to destroy it."
"Why?"
"Because the trust contains evidence that can destroy him."
I stared.
"And Isabella?"
"She has the original evidence."
"What evidence?"
Eleanor whispered:
"The recording of your father's death."
My blood went cold.
"The actual recording?"
"Yes."
"Who recorded it?"
"Your mother."
I closed my eyes.
"Then Isabella has it."
"Yes."
"And she knows who killed him."
"Yes."
I stood.
"I'm going to Mexico."
Eleanor looked at me.
"Michael."
I turned.
"What?"
"You can't go."
"Why?"
"Because Victor is already there."
I stopped.
"And Edward?"
She nodded.
"He's going too."
That evening, Eleanor was transferred.
Before she left, she stopped beside me.
"I know you'll never forgive me."
I looked at her.
"I don't know."
She nodded.
"That's enough."
Then she handed me something.
A small silver pendant.
The same pendant I had seen in my father's photograph.
"What is this?"
"Your mother gave it to me."
"Why?"
"She told me to give it to you when you finally learned the truth."
I opened it.
Inside was a tiny photograph.
Me.
As a baby.
And beneath it, handwriting.
Michael,
If you ever see this, I failed to protect you the way I wanted.
But I need you to know one thing.
Your father didn't die because of the money.
He died because he refused to surrender you.
I couldn't breathe.
There was more.
And if you ever meet the fourth child, don't ask her why she disappeared.
Ask her who she was protecting.
I looked up.
"Eleanor."
She was crying.
"What does that mean?"
She shook her head.
"I don't know."
Then she walked away.
I returned to the hospital.
Leo was asleep.
Julian was awake.
He looked at me.
"Did you see Mommy?"
"Yes."
"Is she coming home?"
I sat beside him.
"I don't know."
He looked down.
"She said she was sorry."
I swallowed.
"She is."
"Are you angry?"
"Yes."
"At me?"
"Never."
He reached for my hand.
I held it.
After a moment, he whispered:
"Do you still love her?"
The question hurt more than anything Eleanor had said.
I looked at my son.
"I don't know."
He nodded.
"That's okay."
"Why?"
"Because sometimes people do bad things."
He looked toward Leo.
"But they can still love you."
I stared at him.
Seven years old.
And somehow, he understood something adults had spent decades refusing to accept.
Love did not erase betrayal.
But betrayal didn't necessarily erase love either.
At midnight, my phone rang.
The investigator.
"We found Isabella."
My heart jumped.
"Where?"
"Mexico City."
"Is she safe?"
Silence.
"What?"
"We're not sure."
"Why?"
"Her apartment was attacked two hours ago."
"Is she alive?"
"We found blood."
My chest tightened.
"Isabella?"
"We don't know."
"Then find her."
"We're trying."
"No."
I looked at the photograph.
My sister.
The fourth child.
The woman who held the final piece of my father's story.
"I'll find her."
The investigator sighed.
"Michael—"
"I've spent my whole life waiting for other people to tell me the truth."
I looked at Leo and Julian.
"I'm done waiting."
I grabbed my coat.
Then I stopped.
There was one more message on my phone.
Unknown number.
I opened it.
A photograph appeared.
Isabella.
Alive.
Standing in a train station.
And beside her...
Victor.
Beneath the photograph were six words:
BRING THE BOYS IF YOU WANT HER.
I stared at the screen.
My blood turned cold.
Victor wasn't running from me.
He was hunting my children.
And now he had my sister.
I looked at Leo.
Then Julian.
Then the dark window.
The war had changed.
It wasn't about money anymore.
It wasn't about the trust.
It wasn't even about revenge.
It was about four children who had been turned into pieces on a board by adults who believed blood gave them ownership.
And I was finally ready to tear that board apart.
Even if I had to burn the entire Vance empire to do it.
Because Eleanor had paid the first price.
My father had paid with his life.
My mother had paid with hers.
Thomas had paid with his.
And now Victor wanted my children.
He had made one mistake.
He had forgotten the one thing my father had passed down to me.
I wasn't afraid of losing the empire.
May you like
I was afraid of losing my family.
And that made me more dangerous than every man who had ever tried to control us.
