Chapter 5: The Secret Evelyn Buried
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Not Daniel.
Not me.
Not even Ethan, whose voice had gone silent on the phone.
The only sound was the rain hitting the windows.
Then Daniel slowly lowered the phone.
“Mom.””
Evelyn looked at him.
The sadness in her eyes was something I had never expected to see.
“I wanted to tell you.””
Daniel laughed once, but there was no humor in it.
“When?””
She didn’t answer.
“When were you planning to tell me that my fiancée’s entire past was connected to a company war?””
“Daniel—”
“No.””
His voice cracked slightly.
“You always told me honesty was the most important thing in this family.””
Evelyn looked down.
“I know.””
“Then why did you know who Victoria was before tonight?””
Everyone turned toward me.
I felt exposed all over again.
Because I had spent years hiding from the Moretti name.
And now I was standing in a room full of people who knew exactly who I was.
Evelyn took a slow breath.
“Because your father was involved.””
Daniel froze.
“My father?””
“Yes.””
The color drained from his face.
“My father died when I was twelve.””
“I know.””
“Then what are you saying?””
Evelyn walked toward the fireplace and stared into the flames.
“Your father and Isabella’s father were partners.””
I frowned.
“What?””
She looked at me.
“Before everything collapsed, the Moretti company and Hawthorne Investments were connected.””
Daniel shook his head.
“That’s impossible.””
“No,” Evelyn said softly.
“What’s impossible is the story everyone was given.””
I stepped closer.
“My father always said someone betrayed him.””
“He was right.””
The words landed heavily.
Evelyn turned toward us.
“Your father discovered that someone inside both companies was moving money illegally.””
Daniel stared at her.
“And?””
“And he planned to expose them.””
My heartbeat quickened.
“Who?””
Evelyn looked at the phone in Daniel’s hand.
At Ethan’s name still glowing on the screen.
“Someone who was supposed to be protecting the family.””
The room became colder.
Daniel understood before I did.
“Ethan’s family?””
Evelyn nodded.
I felt my stomach twist.
Ethan hadn’t just betrayed me.
He had been part of something much bigger.
“But why didn’t you tell me?”” Daniel asked.
Evelyn’s face tightened.
“Because after your father died, I was afraid.””
“Afraid of what?””
“That whoever destroyed the Morettis would come after you next.””
Daniel looked away.
“You spent years protecting me by lying?””
“I spent years keeping you alive.””
That sentence silenced him.
I watched the woman who had stood soaked in the garden, humiliated in front of strangers, now standing like someone who had carried a burden alone for decades.
But there was still something I didn’t understand.
“If you knew who I was,” I said, “why did you let me get engaged to Daniel?””
Evelyn looked at me.
“Because I needed to know if you were like them.””
My chest tightened.
“Like who?””
“The people who destroyed both our families.””
The accusation hurt.
“Do you think I’m like them?””
She was silent.
That silence was enough.
I stepped back.
Daniel noticed.
“Mom.””
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“I’m sorry.””
For the first time, she sounded less like a powerful woman and more like a mother.
“I didn’t know what to believe.””
I looked at the floor.
“You thought I was using Daniel.””
“Yes.””
The honesty hurt.
“But I was wrong.””
Daniel looked at her.
“What changed?””
Evelyn looked toward the garden.
“The moment she stood there.””
She paused.
“When she thought I was nobody.””
My face burned with shame.
“She treated me horribly,” Evelyn continued.
I lowered my eyes.
“But afterward, when she realized who I was, she apologized.””
Daniel looked at me.
“She could have blamed me. She could have blamed the situation.””
Evelyn shook her head.
“She didn’t.””
A strange emotion moved through me.
Because this was the first time Evelyn had defended me.
Then Daniel’s phone buzzed.
A message.
He looked at the screen.
His expression changed.
“What?””
I asked.
He turned the phone around.
It was a photograph.
A photograph of Ethan standing outside Hawthorne headquarters.
Taken that afternoon.
Below it was a message:
*You’re asking the wrong questions. Ask your mother why she still has the original contract.*
Evelyn went completely still.
Daniel noticed.
“Mom?””
She didn’t answer.
I looked at her.
“What contract?””
For the first time that night, Evelyn looked afraid.
Not angry.
Not disappointed.
Afraid.
She whispered:
“The contract that proves who actually owns your father’s company.””
Daniel’s eyes widened.
“That contract doesn’t exist.””
Evelyn looked at him.
“Yes, it does.””
May you like
A pause.
“And Ethan knows where it is.””
