Chapter 10: The Woman Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
Chapter 10: The Woman Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
Olivia stared at the message on Victor’s phone.
"Come alone if you want the truth about your father."
The words felt like a direct challenge.
A trap.
Everyone in the vault knew it.
“Absolutely not,” Sophie said immediately.
She stepped in front of Olivia.
“You’re not going anywhere alone.”
Olivia looked at her.
“Sophie...”
“No.”
The young waitress shook her head.
“I don’t care who that person is. Your wedding was almost destroyed tonight. Someone tried to drug you. Someone manipulated everyone around you.”
She looked at the photograph.
“And now someone claiming to be your dead mother wants you to meet them alone?”
Sophie’s voice trembled.
“That’s not happening.”
Emma nodded.
“She’s right.”
Olivia looked at her.
Emma lowered her eyes.
“I know I don’t deserve your trust.”
A painful pause.
“But please believe me when I say this.”
She looked directly at Olivia.
“Whoever is behind this is dangerous.”
For the first time that night, Olivia saw something different in Emma.
Not guilt.
Not fear.
Regret.
But Olivia couldn’t forget what she had done.
Two years of lies.
Two years of helping Daniel.
Trust was not something that could return overnight.
“I appreciate the warning,” Olivia said quietly.
“But I need answers.”
Victor stepped forward.
“Answers won’t matter if you’re dead.”
Olivia looked at him.
“You all keep telling me what I can’t do.”
Her voice became stronger.
“My father hid secrets from me.”
“Daniel lied to me.”
“Emma betrayed me.”
“Dr. Harper protected the truth instead of telling me.”
She looked around the vault.
“I’m done being the person everyone tries to protect while making decisions behind my back.”
Nobody spoke.
Because she was right.
Finally, Dr. Harper sighed.
“Your father would be proud of you.”
Olivia looked at him.
“Don’t say that.”
The doctor lowered his eyes.
“You’re right.”
A moment passed.
Then Victor received another message.
This time, it wasn’t a photo.
It was a location.
An abandoned greenhouse on the far side of the Bennett property.
Olivia stared at it.
“The greenhouse.”
Victor looked surprised.
“You know it?”
She nodded.
“My mother loved that place.”
Everyone became silent.
Olivia remembered being a child.
Her mother spending hours among the flowers.
Her father building the greenhouse himself as a gift.
It had been locked after her mother’s death.
No one ever went inside again.
“Maybe that’s where she is,” Olivia whispered.
Sophie immediately shook her head.
“Or maybe that’s where someone wants you to think she is.”
Olivia knew she was right.
But she also knew something else.
If there was even a small chance her mother was alive...
she had to know.
“I’m going.”
Victor stepped forward.
“I’ll come with you.”
“No.”
Everyone looked at Olivia.
She shook her head.
“Whoever sent this message wants me alone.”
“That’s exactly why you shouldn’t go.”
Olivia looked at him.
“You don’t understand.”
Her voice softened.
“If my mother is alive...”
She paused.
“I need to hear it from her.”
The others knew they couldn’t stop her.
One hour later, Olivia stood outside the abandoned greenhouse.
The night was silent.
The old glass walls reflected the moonlight.
Every step toward the door felt heavier.
She reached for the handle.
Unlocked.
Her heart raced.
Inside, everything was exactly how she remembered.
The flowers.
The wooden tables.
The old gardening tools.
Nothing had changed.
Except one thing.
A candle was burning on the table.
And beside it...
was a photograph.
Olivia picked it up.
Her hands started shaking.
It was a picture of her father.
But not from five years ago.
It was recent.
Impossible.
Her father was smiling.
Standing beside a woman.
Her mother.
Alive.
Olivia covered her mouth.
A sound escaped her.
“No...”
Then she heard footsteps.
Slow.
Quiet.
Coming from behind her.
She turned.
A woman stood in the doorway.
Older.
Tired.
But unmistakable.
Olivia couldn’t breathe.
“Mom?”
The woman’s eyes filled with tears.
“Olivia.”
The world stopped.
For a moment, Olivia was sixteen again.
A daughter running toward her mother.
A child who believed nothing bad could happen.
But reality returned quickly.
Her mother had been gone for fifteen years.
“Why?”
The word came out broken.
“Why did you let me believe you were dead?”
Her mother looked down.
“I had no choice.”
Olivia laughed through tears.
“No choice?”
She stepped backward.
“You abandoned me.”
Her mother’s face broke.
“I was trying to save you.”
“Save me from what?”
The woman looked toward the door.
Fear appeared in her eyes.
“From the people who killed your father.”
Olivia froze.
Then her mother whispered:
“Your father wasn’t the only person they tried to eliminate.”
A chill moved through Olivia.
“What are you saying?”
Her mother walked closer.
“Richard discovered a conspiracy inside his company.”
A pause.
“And before they could silence him...”
She looked at Olivia.
“They came after me.”
Olivia’s heart pounded.
“Who?”
Her mother looked terrified.
Then she said the words Olivia never expected.
“The person behind everything is someone you trusted your entire life.”
Before Olivia could ask who...
a gunshot shattered the greenhouse.
The glass exploded.
Her mother pushed Olivia to the ground.
Another shot fired.
Someone was outside.
Watching.
Waiting.
Olivia crawled behind a table.
“Mom!”
Her mother grabbed her hand.
“We have to leave.”
They ran through the back door.
As they escaped into the darkness, Olivia looked back.
A shadow stood inside the greenhouse.
Watching them.
Then a voice called out:
“You should have stayed hidden, Catherine.”
Olivia froze.
May you like
Because she knew that voice.
And it belonged to someone who had been standing beside her all night.
