Chapter 8 - THE DEAD HEIRESS RETURNS
Cameras turned toward Charlotte.
The crowd began whispering her name.
Conrad’s expression remained composed.
He lowered the gold pen.
“My niece suffered greatly after her mother’s death.”
Charlotte faced the audience.
“My uncle had me declared dead.”
Conrad gave her a sorrowful smile.
“This woman believes she is Charlotte Vale.”
“I am Charlotte Vale.”
“She has used that name before.”
Conrad signaled to Adrian.
The ballroom screens illuminated.
A medical report appeared beside a photograph of Charlotte.
The report claimed she had spent eight months in a psychiatric clinic under the name Claire Vance.
It described hallucinations, violent behavior, and an obsession with the Vale family.
Charlotte had never seen the document.
Conrad turned to the guests.
“She is an impostor who targeted my family during a time of grief.”
Murmurs spread through the ballroom.
Charlotte looked at the dates.
The report had been created while she was living in Lisbon.
Daniel’s voice came through the small receiver hidden in her ear.
“The doctor listed on the file died seven years ago.”
Charlotte reached for the microphone.
Adrian shut it off.
Conrad stepped closer.
“You could have accepted the money I offered.”
“You tried to kill me.”
“I tried to give you a life beyond this family.”
Charlotte saw the hatred beneath his smile.
Roland Laurent approached the stage with two private security officers.
Bianca remained near the merger table.
Her fingers trembled around the flash drive.
Charlotte looked at her.
“That drive contains the payment that funded my mother’s murder.”
Roland stared at his daughter.
“Give it to me.”
Bianca stepped backward.
Adrian moved toward her.
Charlotte suddenly realized Bianca was no longer protecting the drive for them.
She was afraid of what they would do once they had it.
Conrad turned the microphone back on.
“We will allow law enforcement to handle this disturbed young woman.”
Two uniformed officers entered the ballroom.
Charlotte recognized neither of them from the city police department.
Mason’s voice sounded through her receiver.
“They are not police.”
The false officers reached the stage.
Charlotte grabbed the gold pen from the table and drove it into one man’s hand.
He released her.
The second man reached inside his jacket.
Mason tackled him before he could draw his weapon.
Guests screamed and scattered.
The ballroom doors locked.
The chandeliers went dark.
Emergency lights filled the room with red.
Then Eleanor Vale’s face appeared on every screen.
“My name is Eleanor Vale.”
May you like
The entire ballroom became still.
“If this recording is being shown, my brother has betrayed our family.”
