Chapter 11 - Eleanor’s Last Secret
Charlotte held her mother until Eleanor stopped trembling.
There were no words large enough for the moment.
Anger.
Relief.
Grief.
All of it existed together.
Eleanor had suffered brain trauma after the crash.
For months she could barely speak.
Victor controlled the facility through a network of companies.
Her identity had been erased.
She had been listed as Jane Mercer.
Charlotte wanted police immediately.
Eleanor stopped her.
“No.”
“Mom, they kidnapped you.”
“And they still control people inside the police department.”
“We can call federal authorities.”
Eleanor looked at Ethan.
“He knows.”
Ethan nodded.
“I contacted an FBI investigator two months ago.”
Charlotte turned sharply.
“You never told me.”
“I needed evidence strong enough that it couldn’t disappear.”
Eleanor reached for Charlotte’s hand.
“There is evidence.”
“Where?”
“Solmere.”
Charlotte almost laughed.
“Everything is always Solmere.”
Her mother gave a faint smile.
“Your father designed the hotel to hide more than guests.”
Eleanor explained.
Beneath the flagship Solmere Hotel was a private archive room.
Samuel built it when the company expanded.
Original contracts.
Financial ledgers.
Insurance documents.
Security tapes.
Everything.
Victor and Richard believed Eleanor destroyed the archive years earlier.
She had not.
“How do we access it?”
Eleanor looked at the gold watch around Charlotte’s wrist.
“The watch.”
Charlotte removed it.
The back contained a microscopic pattern she had never noticed.
Not engraving.
A fingerprint-sized mechanical key.
Eleanor continued.
“Your father made two.”
“Where’s the other one?”
“With Richard.”
Charlotte exhaled.
Of course.
Eleanor squeezed her hand.
“Charlotte.”
“Yes?”
“There is something else.”
Her voice weakened.
“Celeste.”
Charlotte frowned.
“What about her?”
“She is not Victor’s daughter.”
Charlotte stared.
Eleanor continued.
“Victor raised her.”
“Then whose daughter is she?”
Eleanor’s eyes filled with sadness.
“My sister’s.”
Charlotte froze.
Eleanor had never mentioned a sister.
“Her name was Caroline.”
“What happened to her?”
“She died giving birth.”
“And Victor took Celeste?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Caroline discovered what Victor had done to Samuel.”
Charlotte closed her eyes.
Another life destroyed by the same secret.
Eleanor continued.
“Celeste does not know.”
Charlotte looked toward the door.
The woman who had dragged her across the lobby.
The woman who had publicly humiliated her.
Was actually Charlotte’s cousin.
Eleanor suddenly gripped Charlotte’s wrist.
Hard.
“Victor will use her.”
“For what?”
“To get control when Richard falls.”
Eleanor’s breathing became strained.
Charlotte called for a nurse.
Before staff rushed inside, Eleanor pulled her closer.
“Do not underestimate Celeste.”
Charlotte expected another warning.
May you like
Instead Eleanor whispered.
“She may be the only person who can destroy Victor.”
