Chapter 8: The Person Nobody Suspected
The photograph slipped slightly in Harper’s hand.
She couldn’t stop staring at it.
The face staring back at her wasn’t a stranger.
It wasn’t some hidden enemy from the past.
It was someone she had seen all night.
Someone who had sat at the Christmas table.
Someone who had watched her arrive bruised and broken.
Gabriel noticed her expression.
“What is it?””
Harper looked up.
Her voice was barely audible.
“It’s him.””
Everyone followed her eyes.
They landed on Victor.
The room changed.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
Just enough.
Enough for suspicion to enter.
Victor looked at the photograph.
Then his face became unreadable.
Gabriel stepped back.
“Dad?””
Victor didn’t answer.
Harper’s heart pounded.
“No.””
She shook her head.
“This doesn’t make sense.””
Because it didn’t.
Victor was many things.
Cold.
Powerful.
Controlling.
But a murderer?
She couldn’t believe it.
Eleanor looked at the photograph.
Then at Victor.
“You never told me.””
Victor finally spoke.
“I didn’t know.””
Nobody believed him.
Especially Eleanor.
“You were there.””
Victor’s eyes narrowed.
“What?””
“You were there that night.””
Gabriel looked between them.
“What night?””
Eleanor’s voice cracked.
“The night Thomas died.””
The room became silent.
Harper looked at Victor.
“You said you weren’t involved.””
“I said I didn’t kill him.””
That sentence stopped everyone.
Not I wasn’t there.
Not I had nothing to do with it.
I didn’t kill him.
Gabriel stared at his father.
“What does that mean?””
Victor looked older suddenly.
Like the weight of years had finally caught up with him.
“It means your mother is right.””
Eleanor looked shocked.
“You’re admitting it?””
“I’m admitting I made mistakes.””
Harper stepped closer.
“What mistakes?””
Victor looked at the photograph.
“I trusted the wrong people.””
The guards left the room, sensing the family needed privacy.
For once, nobody ordered them to stay.
Victor sat down.
A man who had spent his entire life standing above everyone finally looked defeated.
“Thomas discovered someone was stealing from the company.””
Gabriel listened.
“He thought it was someone outside the family.””
Victor looked down.
“He was wrong.””
“Who was it?”” Harper asked.
Victor didn’t answer.
Instead, he looked at Eleanor.
Then Gabriel.
Then Harper.
“The person who betrayed this family is someone you have already met.””
A chill moved through the room.
Harper thought about the dinner.
The guests.
The staff.
Everyone.
Then she remembered something.
Derek’s message.
Ask Victor Ashford what happened at Mercer Street.
Not ask Eleanor.
Not ask the family.
Victor.
Because Derek knew Victor was the center of it.
Gabriel stood.
“Who?””
Victor looked toward the hallway.
“The person who helped Derek get close to Harper.””
Harper froze.
“What?””
Victor looked at her.
“Derek didn’t meet you by accident.””
Her chest tightened.
“No.””
Gabriel looked at him.
“You’re saying someone introduced them?””
Victor nodded.
Harper felt sick.
The memories came rushing back.
The first time she met Derek.
The charity event.
The woman who introduced them.
The person who told her Derek was trustworthy.
The person she never questioned.
Because why would she?
She had known her for years.
Harper whispered the name.
“Eleanor.””
Everyone looked at her.
Eleanor’s face changed.
“No.””
Harper backed away.
“You introduced us.””
Eleanor shook her head.
“That’s not what happened.””
“You told me he was a good man.””
“Because I believed he was.””
“Then why?””
Eleanor’s eyes filled.
“Because Derek asked me to.””
The answer broke something open.
Gabriel stared.
“Mom.””
Eleanor covered her face.
“I didn’t know what he was planning.””
Harper felt tears forming.
“All this time…”
She couldn’t finish.
All this time, she had thought Derek chose her.
But maybe she was chosen.
Victor stood.
“We need to find Derek.””
Harper looked at him.
“He’s gone.””
Victor’s expression changed.
“No.””
“What?””
Victor looked toward the window.
“Derek Lawson doesn’t disappear.””
A pause.
“He makes people believe he disappeared.””
Gabriel frowned.
“You think he’s alive?””
Nobody answered.
Then the mansion lights suddenly went out.
The entire house fell into darkness.
A second later, every phone in the room received the same message.
Harper looked at her screen.
Her hands started shaking.
The message was from Derek.
“I know who betrayed us.””
May you like
Then another line appeared.
“And she’s standing in the room with you.””
