Part 3
Three weeks later, the heavy iron gates of the Reed estate opened to admit a sleek black sedan. Evelyn was finally coming home.
She looked thinner, her face still carrying a lingering paleness, but her eyes were clear and sharp. Alexander walked beside her, his arm gently supporting her waist as they entered the foyer. The dark stain on the marble floor was completely gone, replaced by a flawless, pristine polish, yet the memory of that night seemed to hang invisibly in the air.
"I had her things removed," Alexander said quietly, breaking the silence. "Every dress, every piece of jewelry, every photograph. There is nothing left of her here."
Evelyn looked around the vast, quiet house. "And where is she now, Alex?"
"In a maximum-security holding facility," Alexander replied, his voice hardening. "Her family tried to post bail twice. I personally bought out the debt of their primary holding company. By yesterday afternoon, the Lanes filed for bankruptcy. They don’t have the resources to protect her anymore. Her trial starts next month."
Evelyn sat down on the plush velvet sofa in the living room, letting out a long, weary breath. "You destroyed them."
"They tried to take you from me," he said simply, kneeling in front of her just as he had on the night of the fall. "They got off easy."
But the peace Alexander had fought so hard to secure was short-lived. That evening, a private courier arrived at the estate, bypassing the usual mail screening under strict instructions from the Reed corporate legal team.
Alexander opened the thick manila envelope in his study. Inside was a transcript of a recorded phone call from the prison, along with a handwritten note from Victoria.
He skipped the note and looked straight at the transcript. It was a logged conversation between Victoria and an unknown, encrypted number, dated just two days ago.
"You told me the cameras would be looping," Victoria’s recorded words read. "You said the cloud backup would be jammed for thirty minutes. You promised me she would look like an old woman who just lost her balance!"
The unknown voice replied: "The system override failed because Alexander updated the mainframe encryption the night before. You botched the execution, Victoria. Do not call this number again."
"If I go down, I’m taking the whole firm with me," Victoria hissed. "Alexander thinks this was about jealousy. He doesn't know about the offshore accounts. He doesn't know what his mother was actually carrying in her purse that night."
Alexander’s breath hitched. He dropped the papers onto his desk.
Victoria hadn't pushed his mother in a fit of passionate rage or panic. It wasn't an argument about love or status. It was a calculated assassination attempt, masked as a domestic dispute—and someone else had been pulling the strings from the shadows.
He stood up, his heart hammering against his ribs, and walked down the hallway to his mother’s room. Evelyn was asleep, the soft glow of the bedside lamp illuminating her fragile frame.
May you like
Alexander looked at the safe in the corner of her room, then down at his phone. He dialed his chief of security.
"Get the car ready," Alexander commanded, his voice trembling with a mixture of rage and newfound dread. "We’re going to the prison. I need to speak to Victoria tonight."
