Chapter 4 - THE WOMAN UNDER THE CHAPEL
The Valmont chapel stood beyond the hedge garden, connected to the mansion by an underground passage used during winter.
While firefighters inspected the west wing, Elena and Julian entered the passage through the library.
The tunnel smelled of stone and damp earth.
“How long have you known your mother was dangerous?” Elena asked.
Julian kept his flashlight pointed ahead.
“I grew up believing she was strict.”
“And now?”
“Now I know strict people don’t erase blood from a study at three in the morning.”
“Why didn’t you call the police when your father vanished?”
“I did. He sent a message from his personal account saying he had left the country.”
“You think Isabella sent it.”
“My father never used punctuation in messages. The last message ended with a period.”
“That’s your evidence?”
“It was enough to make me search his study.”
They reached a locked iron gate beneath the chapel.
Julian used his key card, but the reader flashed red.
Elena examined the stone wall.
“Vivian said below the chapel. There must be another entrance.”
She found a carved angel near the floor. One wing moved when pressed.
The wall opened inward.
Beyond it lay a narrow chamber illuminated by a single bulb.
Celeste sat in her wheelchair near the far wall.
Vivian was tied to a chair beside her.
Elena rushed inside.
Vivian’s lip was bleeding, but she was conscious.
“Marcus,” she whispered. “He found us moving Lady Celeste.”
Julian untied her.
“Why bring her here?”
“Because Isabella’s private ambulance was due at four. Once Lady Celeste left the country, no one would see her again.”
Celeste reached for Elena.
“The locket.”
Elena showed her the half around her neck.
“I found the other things in the nursery.”
“Not enough.”
“What happened there?”
Celeste closed her eyes.
“Your mother came to the mansion as my companion. She was intelligent, kind and far too trusting.”
“Was Eliana Valmont her child?”
Celeste’s face twisted with grief.
“No.”
“Then who was Eliana?”
“My daughter.”
Elena looked toward Julian.
“Isabella’s sister?”
“Her younger sister. My beloved Eliana.”
Celeste struggled to breathe.
Vivian brought her water.
“Eliana fell in love with a man Isabella wanted,” Celeste continued. “A young lawyer named Samuel Maren.”
Elena’s father’s surname.
“My mother married Samuel.”
“Yes, but not until later. First, Samuel loved Eliana.”
“What happened?”
“Eliana became pregnant. Isabella became consumed by jealousy. She told Samuel that Eliana had chosen another man. She told Eliana that Samuel had abandoned her.”
Celeste’s voice weakened.
“I believed Isabella. We all did.”
“And the baby?”
“Eliana gave birth in the west nursery during a storm. The family doctor was paid to keep it secret.”
Celeste looked at Elena.
“The child was you.”
Elena could not move.
“That’s impossible. Mara was my mother.”
“Mara raised you. She loved you more fiercely than anyone. But Eliana gave birth to you.”
“Where is Eliana?”
Celeste began to cry.
“She died that night.”
The chamber seemed to narrow around Elena.
“How?”
“I was told there were complications. But Mara saw Isabella enter the nursery carrying a glass syringe. Minutes later, Eliana began convulsing.”
Julian turned pale.
“My mother murdered her own sister?”
“Mara believed so.”
“Why didn’t she go to the police?”
“She tried. Samuel had been called to the mansion, but before he arrived, someone struck him on the road. His car went into the river.”
Elena remembered her mother saying her father had died before she was born.
“Was his body found?”
“No.”
Celeste continued.
“Mara took you and escaped through the greenhouse. Isabella searched for both of you. I pretended to believe the baby had died with Eliana.”
“The birth record?” Elena asked.
“Hidden by the doctor. It proved Eliana gave birth to a living daughter.”
“Why does it matter now?”
“Because my father’s will created a bloodline trust. The estate passes through the youngest direct female heir.”
Elena stared at her.
“If I am Eliana’s daughter…”
“Then Valmont Mansion, the controlling shares of the family foundation and much of Isabella’s fortune legally belong to you.”
Julian lowered his head.
The revelation stripped him of an inheritance, yet his face showed no anger.
Only shock.
A slow clap came from the doorway.
Marcus Vale stood there with a pistol.
“You should have left the nursery when you had the chance.”
Julian stepped in front of Elena.
“Put the weapon down.”
Marcus smiled.
“You’ve spent your life giving orders because your mother allowed it.”
He pointed the pistol toward Celeste.
“She only needs to disappear for another few hours.”
Vivian moved first.
She kicked the bulb hanging from the ceiling.
Darkness swallowed the chamber.
A gunshot exploded.
Someone screamed.
Elena dropped to the floor as Julian collided with Marcus. The pistol fired again, illuminating the room for a fraction of a second.
Elena saw Celeste’s wheelchair tipping.
She crawled forward and caught it.
Vivian found the gun.
“Don’t move!”
The emergency lights flickered on.
Marcus lay against the wall with Julian’s arm across his throat.
Blood spread across Julian’s white shirt.
Elena rushed to him.
“Are you hit?”
He looked down.
The bullet had grazed his side.
Marcus laughed despite the pressure on his throat.
“You think this changes anything? Isabella already has the document.”
“What document?” Elena demanded.
“The one Mara came back for.”
Elena froze.
“My mother returned here?”
Marcus’s smile widened.
“Twenty-five years ago, she walked back into this mansion carrying proof.”
“What happened to her?”
“Ask the woman in the red dress.”
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A bell rang overhead as the first official guests entered the mansion.
The gala had begun.
