Chapter 9 - THE EDEN FILE
Rachel survived.
Paramedics carried her out under police protection.
The shooter escaped into the maze of service passages.
But the estate remained sealed.
Which meant whoever fired that shot was still somewhere inside.
I returned to the laptop.
Eden.
The folder required another password.
Vanessa sat beside me.
“Try Thomas's phrase.”
It failed.
Dad tried several corporate codes.
Nothing.
Then Mom said,
“My birthday.”
Dad looked at her.
“Why?”
“Just try it.”
I entered the date.
Access granted.
Dad stared at Mom.
“How did you know?”
She didn't answer.
The folder opened.
Inside was a twenty-three-page document.
PROJECT EDEN.
SUCCESSOR: CLAIRE EVELYN VALE.
My stomach tightened.
Mom whispered,
“I tried to destroy this.”
I looked at her.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
Victor Cross answered from across the ballroom.
“A coronation.”
I turned.
Police had moved him closer while questioning witnesses.
Victor smiled.
“Northstar needed someone respectable.”
“Young.”
“Intelligent.”
“Untainted.”
“And preferably born into enough wealth that nobody would question her access.”
I felt sick.
“You chose me.”
“Not me.”
He looked at Mom.
“Your mother.”
Dad turned toward her.
Mom shook her head.
“No.”
Victor laughed.
“Tell her.”
“I selected Claire as a theoretical successor when she was a child.”
My stomach dropped.
“How old?”
“Twelve.”
Dad exploded.
“Twelve?”
Mom's eyes filled with tears.
“It wasn't supposed to become this.”
“What was it supposed to become?”
“A watchdog organization.”
“A private anti-corruption network.”
I stared at her.
“And you were preparing me without telling me.”
“Yes.”
Every internship.
Every conversation about responsibility.
Every lesson about reading financial statements.
Every introduction to influential families.
How much of my life had been mine?
I stood.
“I need air.”
Dad almost laughed from disbelief.
“There isn't exactly an open door.”
I walked toward the conservatory instead.
Glass walls overlooked the gardens.
Police lights flashed beyond the reinforced barriers.
Vanessa followed me.
“I know what it feels like.”
I turned.
“No, you don't.”
“My father started training Damian when he was fourteen.”
“And you?”
She smiled bitterly.
“I was the backup.”
For the first time, I understood her.
Not forgave.
Understood.
We stood quietly.
Then Vanessa whispered,
“Damian wasn't always like this.”
I looked at her.
“Don't defend him.”
“I'm not.”
She stared through the glass.
“I'm telling you why he's dangerous.”
She explained that Damian had spent his entire life being told consequences were for other people.
Teachers were paid.
Victims were silenced.
Lawsuits disappeared.
Police reports changed.
Every time he crossed a line, Victor erased it.
“So tonight wasn't the first time.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“No.”
“How many?”
“I don't know.”
That answer made me furious.
“You knew.”
“I knew enough.”
“And you stayed silent.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because the first woman who tried to expose him disappeared.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
“Her name was Lily Harper.”
“Three years ago.”
“She worked for our foundation.”
“She accused Damian of assaulting her.”
“What happened?”
“My father paid her.”
“And then?”
“She vanished two weeks later.”
“Police?”
“Called it voluntary disappearance.”
“Do you believe that?”
Vanessa looked at her father across the room.
“No.”
I felt suddenly cold.
“Is Lily in Northstar?”
“She should be.”
We searched the laptop.
LILY HARPER.
A folder appeared.
Inside were photographs.
Emails.
A settlement agreement.
And one audio file.
I pressed play.
A frightened woman's voice filled the speakers.
“If something happens to me, Victor Cross did it.”
The ballroom went silent again.
Victor's face changed.
The recording continued.
“Damian hurt me.”
“Vanessa tried to help.”
“But Victor said his family would survive me.”
“He said people disappear every day.”
Vanessa covered her mouth.
The recording ended.
Damian looked at his father.
“Dad?”
Victor remained silent.
Damian's confidence finally cracked.
“Dad, what did you do?”
Victor looked at him.
“What I always did.”
“Protected you.”
Damian stepped backward.
Vanessa whispered,
“Oh my God.”
Then one of the detectives received a call.
He listened.
His face became grim.
He approached me.
“Ms. Vale.”
“Yes?”
“We searched a Cross family property listed in these files.”
My heart pounded.
“And?”
“They found human remains.”
Vanessa began crying.
Damian stared at his father.
Victor said nothing.
The detective continued.
“Identification will take time.”
Then he looked at Vanessa.
“But there was jewelry with the remains.”
He showed her a photograph.
A small silver bracelet.
May you like
Vanessa collapsed into a chair.
“That's Lily's.”
