Chapter 14 - Stellan’s Mother
Vivienne Cross arrived at the mansion thirty minutes later.
She did not knock.
Of course she didn’t.
She walked into Stellan’s office wearing a cream coat, pearl earrings, and the expression of a woman who had spent sixty years expecting doors to open before she reached them.
Her eyes landed on Fern.
She stopped.
For one second, she looked exactly like Stellan had the first time he held her.
Like she had seen a ghost.
Then the mask came back.
“So,” she said. “Rose finally lost her nerve.”
I stood.
“You knew my mother was alive.”
Vivienne looked at me.
“I knew she survived the accident.”
“Did you create Ava Cross?”
“Yes.”
Stellan’s voice turned lethal.
“Why?”
Vivienne looked at him with something almost maternal.
“Because your father was going to use that baby to own you.”
I hated how every answer came wrapped in protection.
“Fern is not a tool,” I said.
“No. But Gideon would have made her one.”
Vivienne sat without being invited.
She explained that Gideon had discovered my pregnancy weeks before I gave birth. He had planned to bring Fern into the Cross succession trust, then use custody and money to force Stellan back under family control.
Rose discovered the plan.
Vivienne discovered the threat against me.
Together, they created Ava Cross as a temporary ghost identity.
“What threat?” Stellan asked.
Vivienne looked at me.
“Someone had paid for Selene’s hospital chart.”
“Roman?”
“No.”
“Who?”
“I never learned the name.”
Stellan laughed without humor.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I expect you to believe I was afraid.”
He stared at her.
I realized he had probably never heard his mother admit that before.
Vivienne continued.
“The plan was to hide Fern for one night, close the Ava identity, and let Selene leave Chicago quietly.”
“But somebody kept Ava alive legally,” I said.
“Yes.”
“And convinced Stellan Ava was his dead daughter.”
“Yes.”
“And opened the trust.”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Vivienne looked at her son.
“I thought Gideon.”
Gideon had denied it.
Stellan told her.
For the first time, Vivienne looked truly shaken.
“Then someone was inside the family systems before his stroke.”
Darius entered.
“We have Roman.”
Stellan frowned.
“You brought him?”
“No. He walked in downstairs.”
Roman Cross entered behind him.
He was younger than Gideon, silver at the temples, elegant, controlled.
He looked at Fern.
Then at me.
“Good,” he said. “You finally put the correct people in the same room.”
Stellan stepped toward him.
“Did you use Ava’s account?”
“Yes.”
Everyone froze.
Roman did not look ashamed.
“I moved the thirty-eight million.”
“Why?”
“To keep Rose’s network alive.”
Vivienne stood.
“You knew Rose was alive?”
“For years.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because she asked me not to.”
I almost screamed.
Stellan said, “Who forged my biometrics?”
Roman looked at Mercer.
“Ask the doctor.”
Mercer went pale.
Stellan turned.
Mercer whispered, “I created the emergency biometric package.”
“For who?”
“Gideon.”
Roman shook his head.
“No. For Rose.”
I stared at my mother’s name hanging in the room like smoke.
Roman looked directly at me.
“Your mother had Stellan’s biometric keys.”
I could barely speak.
“Why?”
“Because she expected him to die.”
Stellan went still.
Roman’s next words changed everything again.
“And because the night you met Stellan at that gala, Rose was the one who arranged for you to be there.”
---
The next chapters are on the left side of your screen.
If you enjoyed the story, bookmark my site: https://metro.treeiq.biz
May you like
New stories are posted daily, so check back for updates.
