Chapter 5 : Sins of the Past
"You set us up!" Thomas shouted, his face turning an ugly shade of crimson.
"I protected what is mine," William snarled, stepping toward his son-in-law with an intensity that made the younger man shrink back. "I knew the moment I saw the token that Victoria would never let Emma inherit peacefully. So I laid a trap, and you two walked right into it, exposing your own corruption."
Emma stood up, her heart pounding against her ribs. The brass token felt hot against her skin. "Why?" she looked at Victoria, her voice trembling not with fear, but with righteous anger. "Why do you hate me so much? You didn't even know me when I was a maid, yet you shoved me into that lake. And now you try to erase my existence?"
Victoria was backed against the wall, her sophisticated facade completely shattered. Her chest heaved, her eyes wide and manic. "Because you shouldn't exist!" she screamed, the sound echoing off the high ceilings. "Claire was always the favorite! Claire was the perfect daughter! She was going to inherit the company, the estate, everything!"
"Claire was your sister!" William roared.
"And she threw it all away for a mechanic!" Victoria spat back, tears of rage streaking her expensive makeup. "She disgraced this family! And yet... even after she vanished, you never looked at me the way you looked at her. You kept that empty tomb. You kept searching."
William froze, his eyes narrowing as he studied his daughter’s frantic, guilty face. The pieces were suddenly snapping together in his brilliant, calculating mind.
"Victoria," William’s voice dropped to a dangerous, deadly whisper. "How did you know Claire's carriage was found near the river?"
Victoria blinked, caught off guard. "The police told us. It was in the reports."
"The police reported it the following morning," William said, taking a slow, menacing step toward her. "But the night of the storm... you were out late. You told me you had taken refuge at a friend's estate until the rain passed."
"I did!" Victoria cried, her voice pitching into a hysterical squeak.
"No," William said, the horror dawning on him. "I just told Emma earlier today that Claire's crash was three miles from the church. But Claire couldn't have walked three miles with a newborn. Not with the injuries she must have sustained. Someone drove her."
Emma gasped, her hands flying to her mouth as she looked at her aunt.
Victoria began to shake violently. "It was an accident! I didn't run her off the road! The storm was blinding!"
"But you found her," William stated, his voice cracking with the weight of a twenty-six-year-old betrayal. "You found her on that road. Didn't you?"
Victoria collapsed to her knees, sobbing hysterically. "She was crawling in the mud! She was holding the baby! She begged me to help her, to put the baby in my car! I did... I put the baby in my car."
"And Claire?" William demanded, tears finally spilling down his cheeks.
"I told her I would come back for her!" Victoria screamed, burying her face in her hands. "I took the baby to the church and left her on the steps. I thought someone would find her. I thought... I thought if Claire was gone, finally, I would be enough for you!"
"You left your sister to die in the mud," William whispered, the absolute finality in his voice sounding like a gavel dropping. "And you left your own niece in the freezing rain."
Emma felt a tear slide down her cheek. The mystery of her survival, the tragedy of her mother’s final moments—it was all laid bare in the horrific confession of a jealous sister. Her mother had fought through the wreckage of a crash just to hand her baby to the one person she thought she could trust.
"Get out," William commanded, his voice devoid of all emotion.
"Father, please—"
May you like
"You are no longer my daughter," William said, turning his back on her. "Thomas, collect your wife. You have one hour to vacate this property. Tomorrow, my lawyers will begin the process of liquidating your shares and completely disinheriting you. If you ever come near Emma again, I will release the recording of this room to the District Attorney."
Victoria wailed, but Thomas grabbed her roughly by the arm, dragging his disgraced wife out of the drawing-room and into the stormy night.
