Chapter 9: The Woman Who Pushed Her Own Mother
I arrived at the Callaway Grand Hotel at 7:15 a.m.
The city was waking beneath a gray morning sky.
Police officers guarded the main entrance. Reporters crowded the sidewalk. Every television inside the lobby displayed the same headline.
*CALLAWAY FAMILY HEIR LINKED TO MURDER INVESTIGATION.*
My photograph appeared beneath it.
The story had already turned me into a criminal.
I ignored the cameras and entered the private elevator.
The 82nd floor.
The same rooftop where Eleanor had nearly died.
The same place where everything had begun.
The doors opened.
Victoria stood beside the railing.
She wore no jewelry this time. Her hair was loose, and her eyes were swollen.
She looked nothing like the woman who had walked into the gala in a crimson gown.
"You came," she said.
"You asked me to.""
She looked at my hands.
"Are you hurt?""
I almost laughed.
"Is that what you wanted to ask me?""
She lowered her eyes.
"No.""
I stood several feet away.
"Why did you push Eleanor?""
Victoria stared over the city.
"Because she was going to tell you something.""
"What?""
"That I was the one who switched the babies.""
I felt my stomach tighten.
"She already told me.""
Victoria nodded.
"I know.""
"Then why did you lie?""
She turned toward me.
"Because I didn't want you to know what I had done.""
I took a step closer.
"You saved me?""
She shook her head.
"I saved both of you. Then I destroyed everything.""
She walked toward a small table near the rooftop door.
A glass of untouched water sat beside an old photograph.
She picked it up.
It showed a young Victoria holding two newborn babies.
"That night, Richard came into the hospital and told me one of my children had died.""
I stared at the picture.
"He said Samuel was dead?""
"Yes. He told me the other baby was healthy and would be raised as the future heir.""
"What did you do?""
Victoria's voice trembled.
"I asked to see both babies. The nurse refused. Richard had already ordered the medical staff to separate us.""
She wiped her cheek.
"Then Grace came into my room.""
I listened.
"She told me Richard was planning to remove one child permanently. She said Eleanor had discovered the plan and was trying to stop him.""
Victoria looked at me.
"Grace showed me the original identification bands. She told me that one of my sons had a heart condition, and Richard intended to let him die rather than risk losing control of the company.""
My hands curled into fists.
"So you switched the bands.""
"Yes.""
"Which baby did you save?""
She looked directly at me.
"Both.""
I frowned.
Victoria explained that she had arranged for Grace to take one baby out of the hospital while Eleanor secretly transferred the other to a private medical facility.
The babies' names were altered.
Their records were switched.
And the Callaway family spent the next twenty-six years believing the wrong child had survived.
"Why didn't you come after us?"" I asked.
Victoria looked away.
"Because Richard threatened Grace. He said he would kill her if she ever contacted you. He also told me he had people watching every member of the family.""
"Then why did you stay with him?""
"I was eighteen, Nathaniel. I was terrified.""
Her voice cracked.
"But that's not an excuse for what I became.""
I remembered Eleanor's fingers slipping over the rooftop railing.
"You almost killed your grandmother.""
Victoria nodded.
"I know.""
"Why?""
She picked up the photograph.
"Because Eleanor told me she had found the original hospital records. She said she was going to reveal everything at the gala.""
"And you couldn't let her?""
Victoria closed her eyes.
"She was going to reveal that Richard had paid someone to falsify the death certificate of the child with the heart condition. She also had proof that I had signed the original transfer papers.""
"So you pushed her.""
"I wanted to frighten her. I wanted her to give me the records.""
"By putting her over the edge?""
Victoria began crying.
"I lost control.""
I stared at her.
"You didn't lose control. You made a choice.""
She nodded.
"Yes.""
For a long time, neither of us spoke.
Then she handed me the photograph.
"Look at the back.""
I turned it over.
There was a handwritten message.
To my sons. One day, I hope you will both know that I loved you equally.
Victoria had signed it.
Beneath her name was another signature.
Grace Brooks.
My throat tightened.
"She kept this?""
Victoria nodded.
"Grace sent it to me after you were born. It was the last thing she ever sent.""
"Then why did you let everyone believe she was dead?""
"Because Richard told me she had been killed.""
I looked at her.
"Was she?""
Victoria shook her head.
"No. He lied.""
I remembered the scarred woman in the garage.
The woman who had looked like my mother but wasn't.
"Who was the woman in the footage?""
Victoria hesitated.
"My private investigator. I paid her to find Grace.""
"Why did she wear my mother's bracelet?""
"To make Richard believe Grace was back.""
I stared at her.
"So you were trying to lure him?""
Victoria nodded.
"I wanted him to expose himself. I wanted the original hospital records.""
"And Eleanor?""
"She discovered my plan. She confronted me on the rooftop. I panicked.""
I looked at her for a long moment.
Then I asked the question that had been haunting me.
"Why did you never tell me you were my mother?""
Victoria's expression crumbled.
"Because I thought you would hate me.""
I stepped back.
"I don't know what I feel.""
She nodded.
"I understand.""
A door opened behind us.
Daniel appeared.
He was holding a thick envelope.
"Sorry to interrupt.""
Victoria turned.
"What are you doing here?""
Daniel looked at her.
"Trying to find out which one of us is supposed to inherit the company.""
Victoria's face went pale.
"Daniel...""
He raised a hand.
"Don't. I spent twenty-six years believing I was nobody's son. I'm not ready to hear another explanation.""
He placed the envelope on the table.
"These are the original DNA results.""
I looked at the documents.
Two laboratory reports.
One confirmed that Victoria was my biological mother.
The other confirmed that she was also Daniel's biological mother.
But something was wrong.
The reports showed that Daniel and I were not identical twins.
We were fraternal twins.
And the second report contained an additional finding.
A third parent.
I stared at the page.
"Who's the father?""
Daniel turned the paper around.
The name was clearly printed.
*ARTHUR CALLAWAY.*
Victoria's face went completely white.
I looked at her.
"That's impossible. You said Richard was my father.""
Victoria shook her head.
"No.""
She looked toward the elevator.
"Richard isn't your father.""
The doors opened.
Eleanor stepped onto the rooftop, accompanied by two police officers.
She looked at the DNA report.
Then at Victoria.
"Tell them the truth.""
Victoria began shaking.
Eleanor continued.
"Arthur was not Richard's father. Richard was adopted into the family when he was six years old. He was never entitled to the Callaway bloodline or the inheritance he spent his life trying to steal.""
I stared at her.
"What?""
Eleanor nodded.
"Arthur was Victoria's biological father. And Richard was the man Arthur's family adopted after his parents died.""
The entire history of the Callaway family had been built on a lie.
Richard had spent twenty-six years trying to eliminate his own adopted family's true heirs.
Victoria turned toward me.
"That's why Richard wanted you and Daniel separated. Arthur's will protected his biological descendants.""
Daniel picked up the report.
"So Richard has no claim to the company?""
"Not anymore," Eleanor replied.
Then she looked at Victoria.
"But there's something else.""
Victoria began crying.
"Mother, please.""
Eleanor stepped closer.
"Tell them what happened to Arthur's original will.""
Victoria closed her eyes.
"I destroyed it.""
The confession landed like a bomb.
I stared at her.
"You destroyed the document that could have protected us?""
"Richard threatened to kill Nathaniel if I didn't.""
She reached into her handbag and removed a small envelope.
"But I kept something.""
Inside was a small brass key.
"Your grandfather left a second will. He gave it to Grace before he died.""
I looked at the key.
"Where is it?""
Victoria pointed toward the hotel.
"Inside the foundation stone of the original Callaway headquarters.""
Eleanor looked stunned.
"Arthur told me that document had been destroyed.""
Victoria shook her head.
"Richard thought so.""
She placed the key in my palm.
"Your grandfather left instructions that only his two biological grandchildren could open the vault.""
I looked at Daniel.
He nodded.
Together, we closed our fingers around the key.
Then Eleanor's phone rang.
She answered.
For a moment, she listened silently.
Then her face changed.
"What do you mean the vault is already open?""
She lowered the phone.
"Someone got there before us.""
Victoria grabbed my arm.
"Who?""
Eleanor looked at me.
"Richard.""
I shook my head.
"He's in police custody.""
Eleanor whispered the words that made my blood run cold.
"Not anymore.""
An hour later, we stood inside the original Callaway headquarters.
The vault door was open.
The steel hinges had been forced.
Inside, the shelves were empty.
Except for one object.
A small wooden box.
I opened it.
Inside was a letter addressed to me and Daniel.
The handwriting belonged to Arthur Callaway.
My grandsons,
If you have found this letter, Richard has failed.
But there is one final truth you must know.
The man who ordered my death was not the only person involved.
The woman who helped him was someone you both know.
I turned the page.
A name had been written beneath the final paragraph.
*ELEANOR CALLAWAY.*
I looked up.
My grandmother stood at the vault entrance.
Her eyes were filled with tears.
And behind her, a police officer quietly closed the door.
"Grandmother?"" I whispered.
She looked at me.
"I'm sorry, Nathaniel.""
Daniel stepped forward.
"What did you do?""
Eleanor lowered her head.
"I helped Richard hide Arthur's death.""
The woman I'd risked my life to save had just confessed to helping murder my grandfather.
Then she placed a second document on the table.
"There's something else you need to know.""
She pointed to the final line.
It contained the name of the person who had actually signed Arthur's death order.
May you like
*Grace Brooks.*
My mother.
