CHAPTER 7 THE NIGHT MY MOTHER DISAPPEARED
For twenty years...
I believed my mother was gone because life was unfair.
A tragic accident.
A terrible night.
A memory that hurt but could never be changed.
That was the story everyone told me.
My father.
My relatives.
Even the people who claimed they loved me.
But now...
I was staring at a video that proved everything I knew was a lie.
---
My mother's face filled the screen.
She looked younger.
But I knew those eyes.
The same eyes that watched over me when I was a child.
The same eyes that held tears when she said goodbye before leaving for that final trip.
Only this time...
Those eyes were full of fear.
---
"Adrian, you don't understand what you're doing."
My mother's voice shook.
The camera angle was poor.
Hidden.
Someone had recorded it secretly.
Adrian stood across from her.
Younger.
Cold.
Angry.
"You always thought you were smarter than everyone, Elena."
My heart stopped.
Elena.
My mother's name.
---
"You cannot control this company."
My mother said.
"Not everything belongs to you."
Adrian laughed.
"That's where you're wrong."
"Everything belongs to the person willing to take it."
---
I covered my mouth.
Because suddenly...
I understood.
My mother had discovered Adrian's plan.
And she tried to stop him.
---
The video continued.
Adrian placed documents on the table.
"You don't understand the world we live in."
"The Cross family understands."
"The Montrose family understands."
"Only you still believe honesty matters."
My mother's expression changed.
"You partnered with them."
Adrian smiled.
"Of course."
---
Damian looked at me.
His face had lost all color.
Because he was hearing it too.
His family.
My family.
Together.
---
My mother stepped closer.
"If you hurt me..."
"Richard will find out."
Adrian laughed.
"Richard already knows."
Silence.
My father's name.
My father's name was mentioned.
---
"No..."
I whispered.
My entire body felt cold.
My father knew?
---
The video suddenly glitched.
The last thing we heard was my mother's voice.
"Isabella is my daughter."
"Stay away from her."
Then the screen went black.
---
Nobody spoke.
Not even Damian.
Because there was nothing to say.
The truth was too heavy.
---
"My father knew."
I said quietly.
Damian looked at me.
"Maybe he was protecting you."
I turned.
"Protecting me?"
My voice cracked.
"He let me believe my mother died in an accident."
"He let me grow up missing her."
"He let me hate the world instead of knowing the truth."
---
Damian didn't argue.
Because he knew.
Sometimes silence is its own betrayal.
---
Hours later...
I went to see my father.
Not as a daughter.
As someone demanding answers.
---
Richard Montrose was sitting in his office.
He looked older than I remembered.
Not powerful.
Not untouchable.
Just tired.
"You saw the video."
It wasn't a question.
I stared at him.
"Did you know?"
Long silence.
Then:
"Yes."
---
The answer broke something inside me.
"You knew?"
My voice rose.
"You knew who destroyed my mother?"
Richard closed his eyes.
"I knew Adrian was dangerous."
"That's not what I asked."
I stepped closer.
"Did you know?"
---
He finally looked at me.
"Yes."
The word destroyed twenty years of trust.
---
"Why?"
My voice trembled.
"Why would you let me live a lie?"
My father looked away.
"Because the truth would have killed you."
I laughed bitterly.
"No."
"The truth would have hurt."
"But your silence destroyed me."
---
Richard stood.
"There was a reason your mother died."
"She found something."
"What?"
He hesitated.
Then opened a locked drawer.
Inside was an old black folder.
---
"This."
He handed it to me.
I opened it.
Inside were documents from twenty-five years ago.
A secret agreement.
Between:
Montrose Holdings
and
Cross International.
---
But something was different.
At the bottom...
There was another signature.
A third party.
A company I didn't recognize.
Hale Strategic Group.
---
My eyes narrowed.
"Hale?"
Richard nodded.
"Vanessa's family."
---
Everything connected.
Vanessa.
Adrian.
Damian's family.
My mother's death.
The marriage.
The betrayal.
It was all connected.
---
Then Damian entered the room.
His expression was serious.
"We have a problem."
I turned.
"What happened?"
He held up his phone.
"The board meeting."
"What about it?"
He looked at me.
"They removed you as CEO."
Silence.
"How?"
Damian looked at the documents in my hand.
"Because Adrian wasn't trying to destroy your reputation."
"He was distracting everyone."
---
My heart sank.
"From what?"
Damian looked toward the window.
"From taking control."
---
A news alert appeared on every phone.
BREAKING NEWS:
ADRIAN MONTROSE ANNOUNCES NEW OWNERSHIP OF MONTROSE GLOBAL.
---
I stared at the headline.
Impossible.
"He can't do that."
Damian looked at me.
"He can."
"Because your mother signed something twenty years ago."
---
"What?"
He handed me another document.
A transfer agreement.
My mother's signature.
The woman who supposedly died...
Had signed over controlling rights of the company.
---
But there was one problem.
The date.
The signature.
Everything.
Was from three days after she disappeared.
---
My hands started shaking.
"Someone forged this."
Damian nodded.
"Yes."
"And Adrian knows."
---
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
Adrian's voice came through.
Calm.
Almost friendly.
"Hello, Isabella."
I said nothing.
"You finally found the truth."
"Congratulations."
---
"Where is my mother?"
Silence.
Then Adrian laughed softly.
"That's the question you've been asking for twenty years."
A pause.
"And now..."
"You're finally ready for the answer."
---
My heart stopped.
"She's alive."
The line went silent.
Then Adrian whispered:
"Yes."
"Your mother is alive."
---
I couldn't breathe.
Impossible.
A person I mourned for twenty years...
Was alive?
---
Then Adrian said the sentence that changed everything.
"But she doesn't want to be found."
---
The call ended.
And I realized...
The greatest secret wasn't that my mother disappeared.
It was that she had been hiding.
From someone.
Or from something.
---
And now...
May you like
After twenty years...
She was finally coming back.
