Chapter 5 - THE CONFESSION
Bianca sat in the police interview room with her hands trembling.
Julian stood on the other side of the glass.
Detective Reed looked at him.
“You don't have to listen.”
“I do.”
Bianca began speaking.
“Victor has been planning this for years.”
“Why?”
“Your father discovered money missing from Hale Industries.”
“Was Victor stealing it?”
“Yes.”
Julian closed his eyes.
“How much?”
“Over forty million.”
Reed looked shocked.
“And Bianca?”
“I helped him.”
Julian’s jaw tightened.
“Why?”
She looked directly at him through the glass.
“Because Victor threatened my mother.”
Julian entered.
“You could have told me.”
“I was afraid.”
“You almost killed my mother.”
Bianca broke down.
“I know.”
“You told her she wouldn't survive the wedding.”
“I wanted to scare her.”
“You pushed her into a pool.”
“I lost control.”
Julian stared at her.
“That's not an excuse.”
“No.”
She wiped her tears.
“But there's something else.”
“What?”
“Your father didn't die because of Victor.”
Julian went still.
“Then who?”
Bianca whispered one name.
“Evelyn.”
Julian frowned.
“Evelyn who?”
“Your father's assistant.”
Julian remembered her.
Evelyn Cross had worked for his father for fifteen years.
She had disappeared after his death.
“Where is she?”
“I don't know.”
Bianca leaned forward.
“But she left something with me.”
She pulled a key from her pocket.
“A safe deposit box.”
Julian took it.
“What’s inside?”
“Proof.”
“Proof of what?”
Bianca looked at him.
“That your father was going to expose someone much more powerful than Victor.”
Detective Reed opened the door.
“Julian, we have a problem.”
“What?”
“We checked the surveillance footage.”
“And?”
“The footage showing Bianca attacking your mother was edited.”
Julian stared at him.
“What?”
“Someone altered the recording.”
“Then how do we prove what happened?”
Reed looked toward Bianca.
“She confessed.”
“But a confession can be challenged.”
Bianca whispered, “Victor has the original.”
Julian’s phone rang.
It was his mother.
He answered.
“Mom?”
Silence.
Then a man's voice.
“Come to the old Hale warehouse alone.”
Julian’s blood froze.
“If you call the police, your mother dies.”
The call ended.
Julian turned to Detective Reed.
“My mother has been taken.”
Bianca stood.
“Victor.”
Julian grabbed his coat.
“I’m going.”
Reed blocked him.
“You're not going alone.”
Julian looked at Bianca.
She was crying.
Then she said something that changed his mind.
“Julian, the warehouse isn't Victor's trap.”
“Then whose is it?”
May you like
Bianca swallowed.
“It's your father's.”
