Chapter 15: The Truth About That Night
Chapter 15: The Truth About That Night
The name echoed through the room.
Julian Vale.
For a moment, nobody reacted.
Not because they believed it.
Because they couldn't.
Eleanor looked at Sarah.
Her expression was calm, but her hands were trembling.
"No."
The word came out quietly.
Sarah looked at her with sadness.
"I wish I was wrong."
Julian stood frozen near the doorway.
He had heard everything.
Every word.
Every accusation.
And this time, he did not become angry.
He did not shout.
He did not deny it immediately.
That frightened Eleanor more than anything.
"Julian."
He looked at his mother.
"I didn't kill him."
His voice was low.
But Sarah's eyes remained fixed on him.
"Then tell us what happened."
The room became a courtroom without a judge.
Twenty years of secrets.
Twenty years of silence.
And everyone waiting for one person to speak.
Julian sat down slowly.
"I was fourteen."
Sarah nodded.
"I know."
"You were there?"
"Yes."
"Then you know I didn't plan anything."
Sarah looked at him.
"I know you were a child."
A pause.
"But I also know what happened."
Eleanor stepped closer.
"Tell us."
Sarah took a deep breath.
Twenty years earlier.
The night Thomas died.
The storm had been violent.
Rain covered the roads.
The vineyard workers had already gone home.
Thomas was preparing to leave after confronting Marcus about the missing funds.
But before he left...
He received a message.
From Julian.
A message saying he needed to talk.
Thomas never ignored his son.
Not even when Julian was angry.
Not even when Julian was difficult.
He drove to meet him.
Julian looked down.
"I remember."
Everyone turned toward him.
"I called him."
Eleanor's heart sank.
"Why?"
Julian swallowed.
"Because Marcus told me to."
Sarah nodded.
"Exactly."
"He said my father needed to know something."
"What?"
Julian closed his eyes.
"He said Alexander was planning to take everything."
Alexander looked hurt.
"And you believed him."
Julian didn't defend himself.
"Yes."
Thomas met Julian near the old vineyard road.
The rain was heavy.
The wind was strong.
Julian remembered standing beside the car.
"I told him I knew about Alexander."
Eleanor listened silently.
"What did Thomas say?"
Julian's eyes filled.
"He said he was sorry."
A pause.
"He said he should have told me sooner."
That was the part Julian never forgot.
Not the anger.
Not the argument.
The sadness.
His father's disappointment.
Not in him.
In himself.
"Then what happened?" Eleanor asked.
Julian looked at Sarah.
"Your mother arrived."
Sarah nodded.
"I followed Thomas."
"Why?"
"Because I knew Marcus was dangerous."
She looked down.
"I wanted to warn him."
The rain from twenty years ago seemed to return in everyone's minds.
Sarah continued.
"When I arrived, Julian and Thomas were arguing."
"About what?"
"About Alexander."
Julian whispered:
"I said I hated him."
Alexander looked away.
Sarah continued.
"But Thomas didn't become angry."
"What did he do?"
"He hugged Julian."
The room became silent.
"He told him that nothing could replace him."
Eleanor closed her eyes.
Because that was the man she knew.
The father.
The husband.
The person who always tried to fix things.
Then everything changed.
Sarah's voice lowered.
"Marcus arrived."
Julian looked up.
"I thought he was there to help."
Sarah shook her head.
"He wasn't."
She continued.
"He told Thomas that everything was finished."
"What did that mean?"
"Thomas understood."
A pause.
"He knew Marcus had been stealing."
Detective Brooks listened carefully.
"And then?"
"Marcus blamed Julian."
Julian looked confused.
"What?"
"He told Thomas that you had become dangerous."
Julian's face changed.
"He said I was like him."
Sarah nodded.
"He wanted Thomas to believe you were the problem."
Eleanor's anger grew.
Marcus had been using Julian as a shield.
A distraction.
"So what happened to the car?" Detective Brooks asked.
Sarah looked down.
"Marcus had already damaged it."
The room went silent.
"But Thomas still had a chance."
"How?"
"He knew something was wrong."
Eleanor leaned forward.
"Then why did he drive?"
Sarah looked at her.
"Because Julian was still there."
The answer hurt.
"Thomas wanted to get his son home safely."
Julian covered his face.
"I told him I didn't need him."
His voice broke.
"Those were the last words I said to him."
Nobody spoke.
Then Sarah revealed the part that changed everything.
"Thomas didn't die immediately."
Eleanor froze.
"What?"
"He survived the crash."
The room went completely still.
"Then why..."
Sarah's eyes filled with tears.
"Because Marcus arrived before emergency services."
Julian looked up.
"No."
Sarah nodded.
"He could have helped him."
Her voice shook.
"But he didn't."
The truth finally became clear.
Marcus didn't directly cause the crash.
He created the conditions.
He manipulated Julian.
He damaged the car.
And when Thomas survived...
He made sure the truth never came out.
Eleanor felt sick.
The man who had spent twenty years pretending to protect their family had been the reason it was destroyed.
That night, Julian went alone to the vineyard.
The same road where his father died.
Rain began falling again.
Almost exactly like that night.
He stood there for a long time.
Then Eleanor found him.
She didn't speak immediately.
Neither did he.
Finally, Julian said:
"I killed him."
Eleanor's heart broke.
"No."
"I called him there."
"Julian..."
"I was angry."
A pause.
"I wanted him to hurt."
He looked at the road.
"I never wanted him to die."
Eleanor stood beside him.
For the first time, she saw not the man who hurt Clara.
Not the arrogant son who believed everything belonged to him.
She saw the frightened child who had been manipulated for years.
But she also saw the adult who had to face what he became.
"You have to live with the truth."
Julian nodded.
"I know."
"And you have to face Clara."
His expression changed.
"I know."
The next morning, Marcus watched the news from a hidden location.
The investigation was closing in.
The audio recording.
Helena's testimony.
Sarah's return.
Everything was collapsing.
But Marcus was not worried.
Because he still had one final card.
A file he had kept hidden for twenty years.
A file that could destroy Julian completely.
His phone rang.
A voice asked:
"Are you ready?"
Marcus looked at the folder on the table.
Inside was one document.
Thomas Vale's final handwritten statement.
A statement that had never been found.
A statement that could change everything.
"Yes."
Marcus smiled.
"Now they will know who Julian really is."
He opened the folder.
And the first line of Thomas's final letter appeared:
If you are reading this, it means my son has done something I feared.
Marcus smiled.
Because he believed he had finally won.
But he didn't notice the small detail.
The document was incomplete.
May you like
One page was missing.
And someone else already had it.
