Chapter 10 — The Woman Who Was Supposed to Be Her Mother
Chapter 10 — The Woman Who Was Supposed to Be Her Mother
Charlotte stared at the screen.
OWNER: EVELYN VALE.
Her mother's name.
Alive.
Officially recognized.
Legally controlling the Solmere Empire.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Charlotte turned slowly.
“Mom?”
Evelyn looked at her.
“Yes.”
“You're the owner.”
“Yes.”
“You've been alive for three years.”
“Yes.”
“You knew I was alive.”
Evelyn's eyes filled with tears.
“I hoped you were.”
Charlotte stepped backward.
“That isn't an answer.”
“No.”
“Then give me one.”
Evelyn looked at Nathan.
Then Adrian.
Then Vivian.
Finally, she looked at her daughter.
“I didn't know where you were.”
Charlotte's voice cracked.
“But you knew I survived.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Adrian told me.”
Charlotte looked at Adrian.
“You found me.”
“Yes.”
“You knew she was alive.”
“Yes.”
“And you still let me believe she was dead.”
Adrian lowered his eyes.
“I was trying to protect both of you.”
Charlotte shook her head.
“Everyone keeps using that word.”
She looked at her mother.
“Protect.”
Her voice hardened.
“You call it protection when you lie to me.”
Evelyn didn't defend herself.
“You're right.”
Charlotte wasn't expecting that.
“You're admitting it?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I have no right to ask you to forgive me.”
Evelyn walked toward the center of the underground room.
For the first time, Charlotte could see how much the past three years had changed her.
Her mother had always been elegant.
Always immaculate.
Always composed.
Now there were silver strands in her hair.
A scar ran beneath her left ear.
Her posture was slightly bent.
But her eyes were the same.
The eyes Charlotte had searched for in every stranger after the accident.
The eyes she had dreamed about.
The eyes she had hated herself for forgetting.
“I didn't disappear because I wanted to,” Evelyn said.
“I disappeared because Arthur wanted you.”
Charlotte frowned.
“He wanted me dead.”
“No.”
Evelyn's expression became bitter.
“He wanted you controllable.”
“What does that mean?”
“He didn't need you dead.”
She looked toward the screens.
“He needed you legally erased.”
Charlotte's stomach tightened.
“Why?”
“Because if you were alive and recognized as my heir, he couldn't control Solmere.”
“But he controlled it anyway.”
“For three years.”
Evelyn nodded.
“And that's exactly why I allowed him to think he had won.”
Charlotte stared.
“You let him take the company?”
“I gave him the illusion of control.”
“Why?”
“Because I needed him to reveal everything.”
Nathan stepped forward.
“Mom.”
Evelyn turned.
“You shouldn't have come.”
“I couldn't let her face this alone.”
Evelyn looked at Charlotte.
“She was never supposed to come back yet.”
Charlotte's expression hardened.
“Yet?”
Evelyn hesitated.
“The plan was for you to stay hidden until Arthur's network collapsed.”
“And when was that supposed to happen?”
“Soon.”
“You've been saying that for three years.”
“I know.”
Charlotte shook her head.
“I was alone.”
“I know.”
“I thought everyone I loved was dead.”
“I know.”
“I thought my brother betrayed me.”
“I know.”
“I thought my father abandoned me.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“I know.”
Charlotte's voice broke.
“And I thought you were dead.”
Evelyn looked at her.
“I know.”
A tear rolled down Charlotte's cheek.
“Then you know why I can't simply forgive you.”
Evelyn nodded.
“I don't expect you to.”
A sharp alarm sounded.
Everyone turned.
The ownership screen flickered.
The words changed.
TRANSFER PENDING.
Then:
AUTHORIZATION REQUIRED.
Evelyn's expression changed.
“No.”
“What?” Charlotte asked.
“Arthur is attempting to reverse the transfer.”
Adrian moved toward the control console.
“Can he?”
“Not without the original succession key.”
“Where is it?”
Evelyn looked at Charlotte.
Charlotte understood.
“The file.”
“Yes.”
“The one that was stolen.”
Evelyn nodded.
“Arthur has it.”
Charlotte looked at Nathan.
“You said the file was destroyed.”
“I thought it was.”
Adrian shook his head.
“It wasn't.”
Everyone looked at him.
He pulled a small device from his pocket.
“The copy was encrypted.”
Charlotte frowned.
“You had a copy?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I didn't know who I could trust.”
Charlotte looked around the room.
“That makes two of us.”
Adrian connected the device.
A password prompt appeared.
ENTER MATERNAL AUTHORIZATION.
Evelyn stepped forward.
She entered a sequence.
The system rejected it.
She tried again.
Rejected.
Her face went pale.
“That isn't my code.”
Charlotte looked at her.
“Then whose is it?”
Evelyn didn't answer.
Nathan suddenly said:
“Dad.”
Charlotte turned.
“My father?”
“Yes.”
Evelyn looked at Nathan.
“He changed the code.”
“Why?”
“Because he knew I might be captured.”
Charlotte stared at the screen.
“Call him.”
“He's dead.”
“I know.”
“But he left something.”
Nathan opened another file.
A video appeared.
Charlotte recognized her father immediately.
Older.
Tired.
Sitting in the same archive room.
He looked directly into the camera.
“If you're watching this, Evelyn failed.”
Charlotte's mother froze.
Her father continued.
“She will hate me for saying this.”
Evelyn whispered:
“Thomas.”
The recording continued.
“Charlotte, if you're watching this, listen carefully.”
Charlotte stepped closer.
“Your mother loves you.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“But love isn't always enough.”
Charlotte's throat tightened.
“Your mother made a choice.”
The recording paused.
“She chose the empire.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“No.”
Thomas continued.
“She chose Solmere over our family.”
Charlotte looked at her mother.
Evelyn was crying.
“That choice cost us everything.”
The recording ended.
Silence.
Charlotte turned.
“Is it true?”
Evelyn didn't answer.
“Mom.”
“Yes.”
Charlotte's eyes hardened.
“You chose Solmere.”
“I chose to prevent Arthur from owning it.”
“That isn't what Dad said.”
“He didn't know everything.”
“He was your husband.”
“He knew enough to hate me for it.”
Charlotte looked away.
Vivian finally spoke.
“Charlotte.”
Charlotte turned.
“There is something else.”
“What?”
Vivian took a breath.
“The woman you met three years ago wasn't Evelyn.”
Charlotte frowned.
“What?”
Vivian looked toward her mother.
“Arthur created a double.”
Evelyn's face tightened.
“Vivian.”
“No.”
Vivian shook her head.
“She deserves the truth.”
Charlotte stared.
“What double?”
“The woman who appeared after the accident.”
Charlotte felt cold.
“I never met her.”
“You did.”
“When?”
Vivian answered:
“The night you were declared dead.”
Charlotte's memories flashed.
Rain.
A black car.
A woman standing beside the road.
A familiar face.
Her mother's face.
Charlotte remembered thinking she had seen her mother.
But then the car crashed.
Everything went black.
She whispered:
“She was there.”
“Yes.”
“That wasn't Mom.”
“No.”
“Who was she?”
Vivian looked at Evelyn.
“Bianca.”
Charlotte's heart stopped.
The woman who had spent three years being called her mother had not been Evelyn.
She had been Bianca.
The double.
The woman Charlotte had been warned about.
The woman supposedly responsible for Evelyn's disappearance.
Charlotte looked at her mother.
“You replaced yourself.”
“Yes.”
“You let Bianca pretend to be you.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To fool Arthur.”
“Did she know who I was?”
“Yes.”
“Did she know I survived?”
“Yes.”
Charlotte's voice became cold.
“Then why did she try to kill me?”
Evelyn's expression changed.
“She didn't.”
Charlotte stared.
“What?”
“She was trying to save you.”
The room went silent.
Evelyn continued.
“Bianca was never my enemy.”
“Then who was?”
Evelyn looked toward Arthur's security files.
“The woman who betrayed us.”
Charlotte's stomach dropped.
“Who?”
Evelyn whispered:
“Vivian.”
Everyone turned.
Vivian went pale.
Charlotte stared at her.
“You?”
Vivian shook her head.
“No.”
Evelyn stepped forward.
“You told Arthur where the safe house was.”
“I was forced.”
“You gave him Charlotte's location.”
“I was threatened.”
“You betrayed me.”
Vivian's eyes filled with tears.
“I was trying to save my daughter.”
Charlotte froze.
“Your daughter?”
Vivian looked at her.
“She was being held by Arthur.”
Evelyn's face softened.
“I know.”
Charlotte stared between them.
“You both knew.”
“Yes,” Vivian whispered.
“Then why did nobody tell me?”
“Because Arthur would have killed her.”
Charlotte felt exhausted.
Every truth opened another secret.
Every secret led to another betrayal.
She looked at Adrian.
“Is there anyone here who hasn't lied to me?”
Adrian didn't answer.
Charlotte laughed.
“That's what I thought.”
A door opened behind them.
Everyone turned.
A woman walked into the room.
White coat.
Dark hair.
Elegant.
Calm.
Charlotte recognized her.
The socialite from the lobby.
The woman who had dragged her across the marble floor.
The woman who had called her an impostor.
Charlotte stared.
“Bianca.”
Bianca smiled.
“Hello, Charlotte.”
Evelyn stepped forward.
“You shouldn't be here.”
Bianca ignored her.
She looked at Charlotte.
“You finally know.”
“Know what?”
“That your mother never intended to give you Solmere.”
Charlotte froze.
“What?”
Bianca smiled.
“She wanted you to inherit something much more valuable.”
Charlotte frowned.
“What?”
Bianca reached into her coat.
She pulled out a document.
Then placed it on the table.
Charlotte read the first line.
SOLMERE FAMILY TRUST — FINAL BENEFICIARY DECLARATION.
Her name appeared beneath it.
But there was another name.
Charlotte's eyes widened.
“Who is this?”
Bianca smiled.
“Your sister.”
Charlotte looked at Evelyn.
Her mother said nothing.
Charlotte's voice dropped.
“I don't have a sister.”
Evelyn finally whispered:
“You did.”
Charlotte's heart stopped.
“What happened to her?”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“She disappeared the night you did.”
Charlotte stared at Bianca.
“Where is she?”
Bianca's smile vanished.
“That is the question your grandfather has been trying to answer for eighteen years.”
The lights suddenly went out.
A scream echoed from the corridor.
Then a single gunshot.
When the emergency lights returned, Bianca was gone.
So was the document.
And on the wall, written in red across the ownership screen, were four words:
YOUR SISTER IS ALIVE.
Charlotte stared at them.
Her mother reached for her hand.
Charlotte pulled away.
“Don't.”
Evelyn stopped.
Charlotte looked at everyone in the room.
“No more secrets.”
Her voice was quiet.
But absolute.
“I want the truth.”
Then the elevator doors opened.
A little girl stood inside.
She was holding an old photograph.
She looked directly at Charlotte.
May you like
And whispered:
“Mom said you're my sister.”
