Chapter 3: The Secret Beneath the Estate
That night Isabella returned to the archives carrying a hidden camera.
She followed an old maintenance corridor that appeared on the mansion's original blueprints but nowhere else.
At the end of the hallway stood a steel security door.
She heard voices inside.
Evelyn.
Adrian.
Several family attorneys.
"...the trust transfers to Oliver on his eighteenth birthday," one attorney said.
"But only if the mother remains legally recognized."
"And if she doesn't?" Adrian asked calmly.
"The board appoints a guardian."
Silence.
Then Evelyn answered.
"History can repeat itself."
Isabella stopped breathing.
Her entire marriage suddenly made sense.
She had never been chosen because Adrian loved her.
She had been chosen because she could produce the next Vance heir.
Nothing more.
She quietly backed away.
A floorboard creaked.
The voices stopped.
The steel door opened.
Adrian stepped into the hallway.
Their eyes met.
Neither spoke.
For several endless seconds.
Then Adrian simply said,
"Come back upstairs."
May you like
He turned and walked away.
He already knew she had heard everything.
