Chapter 5: The House Of Secrets
My house had always been the one place where I felt untouchable.
A thirty-million-dollar mansion overlooking the city.
Private security.
Cameras everywhere.
A place built to protect me.
But as I drove toward it that night, I realized something terrifying.
A person didn’t need to break into your home if you had already invited them inside.
Rain slammed against the windshield as we arrived.
Ethan sat beside me, silent.
He had barely spoken since we left the hospital.
I hadn’t forgiven him.
I wasn’t even sure I could.
But I needed answers.
The front door was unlocked.
That scared me more than anything.
“Stay behind me,” I told Lily.
She nodded, holding Emma carefully.
I walked inside.
The mansion was dark.
The wedding decorations were still everywhere.
Flowers.
Champagne glasses.
A life that had almost become real.
Then I heard a sound.
A woman crying.
I followed it into the living room.
Victoria was standing beside the fireplace.
Still wearing her wedding dress.
But the perfect image was gone.
Her makeup was ruined.
Her smile had disappeared.
She looked like someone who had lost control of the story.
“You came,” she whispered.
I stared at her.
“You knew I would.””
She looked at Lily.
Then at Emma.
Her expression became cold.
“I can’t believe Elena sent them.””
I stepped forward.
“Don’t talk about my daughters like they’re a weapon.””
Victoria laughed bitterly.
“Your daughters?””
“Yes.””
A strange sadness crossed her face.
“You really believe that?””
The question bothered me.
“What does that mean?””
She walked toward the table and picked up a glass of water.
“Do you know what Elena did?””
I didn’t answer.
“She disappeared. She took everything from you. She let you believe she was gone.””
“She was hiding because of you.””
Victoria’s eyes flashed.
“She was weak.””
Lily suddenly spoke.
“Don’t say bad things about Mommy.””
Victoria looked at her.
And something ugly appeared in her expression.
“You don’t know anything.””
I immediately stepped between them.
“Enough.””
Victoria looked at me.
“You always were like this.””
“Like what?””
“Always trying to save everyone.””
She placed the glass down.
“Do you know why I was going to marry you?””
I stayed silent.
“Because I loved you.””
The words sounded empty.
“You loved my money.””
“No.””
She shook her head.
“I loved the man you became.””
“Not the man I was.””
Her silence answered.
I remembered Elena.
Before the money.
Before the fame.
Before the luxury.
She loved me when I was sleeping on a broken couch in a tiny apartment.
Victoria loved the version of me that appeared on magazine covers.
“You knew about Lily and Emma,” I said.
Victoria looked away.
“Yes.””
“How long?””
“Since Elena was pregnant.””
The room felt smaller.
“Why?””
Victoria’s eyes filled with anger.
“Because she was ruining everything.””
“Everything?””
“My future.””
I stared at her.
“You thought my children were ruining your future?””
She walked closer.
“You don’t understand what it’s like to spend years building a place beside someone, only to have a woman from his past appear and take it away.””
I shook my head.
“You never had a place beside me.””
The words hurt her.
Good.
Then she whispered something unexpected.
“Ask Elena about the night she left.””
I froze.
“What?””
Victoria smiled faintly.
“Ask her what really happened.””
A chill moved through me.
“You’re lying.””
“Am I?””
Before I could respond, Lily started crying.
“Daddy…”
I turned.
She was staring at something on the floor.
A small box.
An old wooden box hidden beneath the cabinet.
I picked it up.
Inside were documents.
Photographs.
Letters.
Everything someone had tried to hide.
I opened the first envelope.
The handwriting was Elena’s.
My heart raced as I read the first line.
“Adrian, if you ever find this, please know I never chose to leave you.””
I looked at Victoria.
Her face had gone pale.
Because she knew what was inside.
I opened the next page.
And the final sentence made my hands shake.
“Your father knew about our daughters before you did…”
I stopped breathing.
My father had been dead for three years.
I looked at Ethan.
Then at Victoria.
“What does my father have to do with this?””
Nobody answered.
May you like
Until Victoria whispered:
“Because your father paid me to keep Elena away from you.””
