Chapter 2: The Secret Behind The Locked Room
The mansion had always been full of secrets.
I just never believed one of them belonged to Victoria.
The security officer replayed the footage again.
This time, slower.
Everyone gathered around the monitor.
My family.
The guards.
Even Maria, who had been allowed to stay after I demanded answers.
Victoria remained standing near the doorway.
Silent.
Too silent.
“Pause there,” I ordered.
The officer stopped the video.
The image showed Victoria reaching toward my glass.
But something else was visible.
Her other hand.
She was holding a small envelope.
“What is that?”” I asked.
Nobody answered.
I turned toward my sister.
“Victoria.””
She looked away.
That was when I knew.
Not everything.
But enough.
“You’ve been hiding something from me.””
Her jaw tightened.
“You don’t understand.””
“I understand that you touched my drink.””
“No.””
Her voice became emotional.
“I understand that you think I betrayed you.””
She stepped closer.
“But I was trying to stop something.””
Maria looked confused.
“You were the one near the glass.””
Victoria looked at her.
And for the first time in my life, I saw two people carrying the same fear.
“I know,” Victoria whispered.
Everyone froze.
“What did you just say?”” I asked.
She closed her eyes.
Then she placed the envelope on the table.
“I was trying to remove something before you saw it.””
I stared at the envelope.
“What is inside?””
Victoria didn’t answer.
Daniel picked it up.
“Let me see.””
“No!””
The force in Victoria’s voice shocked everyone.
Daniel slowly put it down.
I had never heard my sister speak like that.
Not even when our father died.
“Why does this matter?”” I asked.
Victoria looked at me.
Her eyes were filled with regret.
“Because it belongs to your father.””
The name changed the atmosphere instantly.
My father, Richard Hale, had been dead for fifteen years.
A brilliant businessman.
A respected man.
A man everyone in our family worshipped.
Victoria whispered:
“He left instructions that nobody was supposed to open this unless you discovered the truth.””
“The truth about what?””
She looked at Maria.
Then at me.
Then at the envelope.
“About the night you were born.””
My heart stopped for a second.
“What are you talking about?””
Victoria walked toward the window.
Outside, the gardens were dark.
“I spent my entire life protecting you from what happened that night.””
I shook my head.
“No. You were my sister.””
“Yes.””
Her voice broke.
“And that is why I protected you.””
The room became uncomfortable.
Nobody understood.
Including me.
“What did my father do?””
Victoria didn’t respond.
Instead, she looked at Maria.
“You knew, didn’t you?””
Maria lowered her eyes.
“I knew something was wrong.””
Victoria nodded.
“You always did.””
I looked between them.
Two women who had spent years pretending they barely knew each other.
But now they looked like they were carrying the same burden.
“What are you both hiding?””
Maria slowly stepped forward.
“Mr. Alexander…”
She paused.
“There is something your father wrote before he died.””
My fingers tightened.
“What?””
Maria looked toward the sealed envelope.
“He said if you ever found out what happened that night…”
Her voice became barely audible.
“…you would question whether the person protecting you was the same person who hurt you.””
Nobody spoke.
The detective assigned to the investigation entered the room moments later.
“Mr. Hale.””
I turned.
He held a folder.
“We checked your father’s private estate records.””
My stomach tightened.
“And?””
The detective looked at Victoria.
Then at me.
“We found a sealed document that was never supposed to be opened.””
He placed it on the table.
The name written across the front made Victoria step backward.
Because it was not my father’s name.
It was mine.
May you like
And underneath it were four words that changed everything:
*“The truth about Alexander.””*
