Chapter 8 - Victoria's Confession)
Victoria Hale had lied so often that truth no longer came naturally.
She had learned to edit herself.
Remove guilt.
Adjust timelines.
Turn choices into accidents.
But sitting inside a locked clinic with Elena's daughter ten feet away made editing impossible.
So Victoria confessed.
Six years earlier, Daniel Pike appeared outside her apartment.
Everyone believed he was dead.
He told Victoria that his staged death was necessary because Charles Mercer had tried to kill him.
Daniel claimed Charles had stolen Northstar from its original founder.
Margaret.
"He showed me documents with her signature," Victoria said.
Margaret shook her head.
"Forged."
"Maybe."
"You knew they were."
"No. Not then."
Daniel recruited Victoria gradually.
First, he asked her to watch Ethan.
Then Mercer Holdings.
Then Thomas.
He paid her.
Victoria told herself she was gathering information to protect Ethan.
Eventually she was passing confidential records.
"When did you realize Daniel was lying?" Ethan asked.
"Three years ago."
"What happened?"
"He asked me to put something in your office."
Ethan's face hardened.
"What?"
"A listening device."
Elena stared.
"You did it?"
Victoria swallowed.
"Yes."
Ethan turned away.
"I removed it two weeks later."
"How heroic."
"I know how it sounds."
"It sounds like betrayal."
"It was."
Victoria continued because stopping would be cowardice.
One year earlier, Daniel showed her Lily's photograph.
He said Lily's return would destroy Ethan.
Victoria demanded to know why.
Daniel never explained.
Six months ago, he mailed the school photo.
Two months ago, someone entered Victoria's bedroom while she slept and left the same photograph on her pillow.
"I started panicking."
Elena's anger sharpened.
"So when we came to the house, you decided threatening a seven-year-old was a good solution?"
"No."
"That's exactly what you did."
Victoria looked at Lily.
"I wanted you gone before Daniel knew you'd arrived."
"He already knew."
"Yes."
"Then your excuse means nothing."
Victoria nodded.
"You're right."
No defense.
That angered Elena less than excuses would have.
Ethan stood near the window.
"Why the bat?"
Victoria stared at the floor.
"Because I was losing control."
The room became quiet.
"I saw Lily. I saw your face. I knew everything I'd built was ending. Daniel had spent years making me afraid of what would happen if she returned, but when she actually stood there..."
She looked at Ethan.
"I hated her for existing."
Elena's hand closed around Lily's shoulder.
Victoria continued quickly.
"That isn't Lily's fault. It's mine."
Ethan stared at the woman he had planned to marry in six weeks.
Their invitations had already been mailed.
Her dress was upstairs.
A honeymoon villa waited in Italy.
None of that felt real anymore.
"Wedding's over."
Victoria nodded.
"I know."
"I want you out of Mercer House."
"I understand."
"And when this is over, you're giving the police everything."
Victoria hesitated.
Elena noticed.
"Everything?"
Victoria slowly nodded.
"Everything."
Aaron appeared with the preliminary DNA result.
Nobody spoke as he placed the paper on the table.
Ethan stared at it but didn't pick it up.
Elena whispered, "Do it."
He opened it.
Probability of paternity: 99.99 percent.
Ethan closed his eyes.
Lily watched him.
"Am I yours?"
Every adult in the room stopped breathing.
Ethan crouched in front of her.
He could have said yes.
He wanted to.
But the question was bigger than biology.
He chose different words.
"If you want me to be your dad, I would really like the chance to learn how."
Lily's eyes filled.
"You don't know how?"
"No."
"I don't either."
Ethan laughed through tears.
"Then we're equally terrible at this."
Lily smiled.
Then she hugged him.
Elena turned away and covered her mouth.
Margaret cried silently.
Even Victoria looked down.
For one brief moment, Northstar disappeared.
Daniel disappeared.
Seven years disappeared.
There was only a father holding the daughter he never knew existed.
Then Ethan's phone rang.
Thomas.
Ethan almost ignored it.
Elena nodded.
"Answer."
He did.
Thomas sounded breathless.
"Ethan, your clinic has been compromised."
"How do you know where we are?"
"Because Daniel wants me to know."
"Where are you really?"
"Twenty minutes away."
"Why did you try accessing the DNA result?"
"I didn't."
"Your credentials."
"Stolen."
"Convenient."
"Ethan, listen. There are two Northstars."
Margaret went still.
Thomas continued.
"The original organization your mother helped create thirty years ago and the criminal network Daniel turned it into."
Margaret whispered, "Don't."
Thomas heard.
"You still haven't told him?"
Ethan stared at his mother.
"Told me what?"
Thomas answered.
"Elena's father wasn't a victim of Northstar."
Elena felt the room tilt.
"He was one of its founders."
Margaret covered her face.
Thomas continued.
"And before he died, he left control of his entire share to his only biological heir."
Elena looked at Lily.
"No."
Thomas's next words arrived quietly.
"Not Elena."
May you like
The lights flickered.
"He left it to Elena's first child."
