CHAPTER 3: The Truth Behind the Engagement
Victoria was held for investigation.
At first, she still tried to play the victim.
She said Evelyn had provoked her.
She said she had been under pressure.
She said the camera footage did not show the whole situation.
But the head of security did not have only one video.
His name was Daniel Cole, and he had worked for the Reed family since Alexander first started his business. Daniel was a man of few words, always doing his duty quietly, but he observed everything carefully.
He had noticed many unusual things long ago.
There were camera areas Victoria had asked to be turned off for “privacy reasons.”
There were long-term staff members who had been fired after showing kindness to Evelyn.
There were strange phone calls late at night.
And there was the fact that Victoria had paid a technician to delete the staircase camera data on the day of the upcoming engagement party.
Fortunately, Daniel had backed up the system beforehand.
When Alexander sat in the hospital office and reviewed the entire file, his face grew colder and colder.
Victoria had not only wanted to remove Evelyn from his life.
She had prepared something much bigger.
In one week, the engagement party was supposed to take place.
After the engagement, Alexander had planned to sign an agreement transferring part of the family foundation’s shares to Victoria, under the name of building the Reed-Lane charity fund together.
But through Daniel’s investigation, they discovered that Victoria’s foundation had many suspicious expenses. Some donation money had been transferred into shell companies under the names of her relatives.
The man in the photos Evelyn received was Victoria’s private lawyer.
The documents she had signed were not charity documents.
They were drafts stating that after marriage, Victoria would have the right to interfere with Alexander’s personal assets if he ever became unable to run the company because of accident or illness.
Alexander stared at the documents for a long time.
He had once thought he was smarter than everyone.
Yet in love, he had been blind enough not to see that the woman beside him was slowly isolating him from his mother, loyal employees, and the people who truly wanted to protect him.
Daniel stood in front of the desk in silence.
Alexander asked hoarsely:
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
Daniel lowered his head.
“I tried, sir. But every time I asked to speak with you alone, Miss Victoria found out first. Then you told me not to interfere in your personal matters.”
Alexander closed his eyes.
He remembered.
There had indeed been a time Daniel wanted to speak to him.
But Victoria had been sitting beside him, holding his hand, smiling sadly.
“Do you see? Even your staff don’t respect me.”
And Alexander had told Daniel to leave.
He breathed heavily.
“It was my fault.”
Daniel did not deny it.
Some mistakes must be admitted by the person who made them before real change can begin.
News of the incident spread quickly.
The press did not reveal every detail, but Victoria Lane’s name almost disappeared from every upper-class gathering overnight.
The Lane family tried to intervene.
They called Alexander.
They sent lawyers.
They offered private compensation.
Victoria’s father even went to the hospital in person.
“Alexander, if this becomes a public case, it will affect both families. Victoria is still young. She was only impulsive…”
Alexander stood in the hospital hallway, his face frighteningly calm.
“My mother is seventy-five years old.”
Mr. Lane fell silent.
Alexander looked straight at him.
“Your daughter was not impulsive. She calculated everything carefully. She only forgot that my house has cameras.”
Mr. Lane frowned.
“What do you want?”
“I want justice.”
“You could lose many things if this goes to court. Reputation, stock value, investor trust…”
Alexander cut him off.
“The only thing I almost lost was my mother.”
Mr. Lane could say nothing more.
During her days in the hospital, Evelyn received many flowers.
Flowers from Alexander’s former employees.
Flowers from people she had once helped.
Flowers from neighbors around her small house in the suburbs.
But the bouquet that moved her the most was a bundle of lavender placed by the window.
There was no printed card.
Only Alexander’s handwriting:
“Mom, I bought the biggest house in the city. But I forgot that what you needed was never a house. From now on, I will learn again how to be your son.”
After reading it, Evelyn’s tears fell silently.
Not because of pain.
But because after everything, she could still recognize the little Alexander from long ago.
He had not completely disappeared.
He had only been buried under too much money, power, and loneliness.
One month later, Evelyn was discharged from the hospital.
Alexander came to pick her up himself.
There was no long line of cars.
No circle of bodyguards.
There was only him, wearing a simple shirt, standing in front of the hospital entrance with a soft shawl in his hand.
Evelyn looked at him, slightly surprised.
“Aren’t you busy?”
Alexander stepped forward and placed the shawl around her shoulders.
“I am. But nothing is more important than you.”
Evelyn laughed softly.
“That sounds like a line from a movie.”
Alexander smiled too, though his eyes were still red.
“Then let me act well for once.”
He helped her into the car.
On the way back, Evelyn thought he would take her to her small house in the suburbs.
But the car headed toward the northern hill.
She turned to look at him.
“Alexander…”
“I want you to see something.”
The car stopped in front of the Reed mansion.
The large gates opened.
Evelyn looked at the mansion that had once made her feel like a stranger.
But today, something was different.
The servants stood on both sides of the door and bowed to her. There was no longer fear or awkwardness on their faces. Each of them held a lavender flower.
Daniel stood at the front, serious as always, but his gaze had softened.
“Welcome home, Mrs. Parker.”
Evelyn froze.
“Home?”
Alexander helped her into the grand hall.
The double wooden staircase was still there.
The place that had once caused her pain.
But today, there was a soft cream-colored carpet at the bottom of the stairs. New safety railings had been installed. A small elevator for elderly people had been built beside it.
Alexander said slowly:
“I rehired all the staff Victoria forced out. Everyone who was pressured to leave has been invited back. I also made a new rule: no one in this house is ever allowed to stop my mother from seeing me.”
Evelyn was silent.
Alexander led her to the east sitting room.
The door opened.
Inside was not a cold luxurious room, but a warm space with a soft armchair, wooden bookshelves, old photos of mother and son, and a window corner filled with lavender pots.
On the wall hung the photo of Alexander at ten years old holding his student award.
Evelyn covered her mouth with her hand.
“Where did you get this photo?”
“I went back to your old house to get it. I’m sorry I did that without asking…”
She shook her head, tears in her eyes.
Alexander continued:
“I won’t force you to move here. Your small house is still yours. But from now on, this place is also your home. Not because it belongs to me. But because I want you to have a place that will always be waiting for you.”
Evelyn looked around the room.
Many years ago, she thought the biggest house in the city would make her son happy.
But now she understood that a home was not built from marble, expensive wood, or chandeliers.
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A home was built from love.
From having someone who still wanted to return.
