CHAPTER 2: THE SECRET HER MOTHER KEPT
CHAPTER 2: THE SECRET HER MOTHER KEPT
Nobody spoke.
The ballroom felt frozen in time.
Vanessa looked from Lily to Richard.
Then back again.
"What is she talking about?"
Richard ignored her.
His eyes never left Lily.
"Your mother..."
His voice cracked.
"She's alive?"
Lily looked down.
The answer was enough.
Richard's stomach dropped.
"No."
Tears rolled down Lily's cheeks.
"She passed away three months ago."
The words hit him like a truck.
For a moment, the billionaire looked completely broken.
Not rich.
Not powerful.
Just heartbroken.
Lily wiped her eyes.
"Before she died, she told me to find you."
Vanessa stepped forward.
"This is ridiculous."
Neither of them looked at her.
Lily continued.
"My mom said you never abandoned her."
Richard stared.
Because it was true.
Twenty-three years earlier, he had planned to marry Emily.
Then one day she disappeared.
No goodbye.
No explanation.
Nothing.
"I searched for her," he whispered.
"For years."
Lily nodded.
"I know."
Richard felt his chest tighten.
"Then why did she leave?"
Lily hesitated.
The answer clearly hurt.
Finally she said:
"Because somebody paid her to disappear."
The room exploded with whispers.
Richard froze.
"What?"
"My mother kept letters."
Lily pulled a second envelope from her purse.
Old.
Yellowed.
Unopened.
She handed it to him.
Richard stared at the handwriting.
His blood turned cold.
Because he recognized it instantly.
The letter belonged to someone he trusted.
Someone very close.
Someone sitting only a few feet away.
Slowly, Richard turned toward Vanessa's mother.
Margaret Sinclair.
The woman who had been smiling all evening.
May you like
The smile vanished from her face.
END OF CHAPTER 2
TO BE CONTINUED...
