Chapter 15 - The Lowest Point
Charlotte had faced betrayal before.
But nothing prepared her for this.
Because every path led back to the same question.
Who was the person she loved?
The meeting ended in chaos.
Executives fled.
Journalists demanded answers.
Security locked down the building.
But Charlotte stood completely still.
The message repeated in her mind.
Someone you love.
She returned to the Vale Estate.
Nobody spoke.
Richard was gone.
Daniel refused to answer questions.
Even Ethan looked uncertain.
For the first time since returning...
Charlotte had no direction.
No target.
No enemy.
Only questions.
That night, Charlotte opened her mother’s final letter again.
She read every line.
Every warning.
Every hidden meaning.
Then she noticed something.
A sentence she ignored before.
"The person closest to us will be the hardest to see."
Charlotte stared.
Closest to us.
Not closest to the company.
Not closest to the empire.
Closest to the family.
Her hands began shaking.
Because suddenly...
she remembered something.
A memory from childhood.
Her mother crying.
Her father arguing.
And one person standing between them.
Comforting her mother.
Helping the family.
Someone everyone trusted.
Someone Charlotte never questioned.
The next morning, Ethan arrived.
His face was pale.
“We found something.”
Charlotte looked at him.
“What?”
“The Blackthorne records.”
“Where?”
Ethan hesitated.
“Inside the Vale family trust.”
Charlotte closed her eyes.
Again.
The family.
Everything came back to the family.
“Who had access?”
Ethan handed her a list.
Charlotte scanned the names.
Then stopped.
One name.
The only name she did not expect.
The person who helped raise her.
The person who held her mother’s secrets.
The person who stood beside her after everyone else disappeared.
Daniel Reeves.
Charlotte looked up.
“No.”
Ethan said quietly:
“I know.”
“He would never.”
“He already admitted hiding things.”
Charlotte shook her head.
“Not this.”
She grabbed the file.
Inside was a document.
A transfer.
A payment.
Signed by Daniel.
Authorizing funds to Blackthorne.
Charlotte felt everything collapse.
Because Daniel was not just protecting the enemy.
He was connected to them.
That evening, Charlotte confronted Daniel.
He stood in the old garden.
Waiting.
“You knew I would find this.”
Daniel nodded.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Daniel looked broken.
“Because I wanted you to hate me.”
Charlotte froze.
“What?”
“If you hated me…”
He looked away.
“You would stop trusting me.”
“Why would you want that?”
Daniel’s eyes filled with regret.
“Because trusting me was dangerous.”
Charlotte stepped closer.
“Explain.”
Daniel took a deep breath.
“I was never working for Blackthorne.”
“Then why the documents?”
“Because I was working undercover.”
Charlotte stopped.
“What?”
Daniel looked at her.
“The payments were fake.”
“The records were fake.”
“I created a trail.”
Charlotte stared.
“Then why didn’t you tell me?”
Daniel answered:
“Because the person controlling Blackthorne…”
A pause.
“Was inside your family.”
Charlotte whispered:
“Who?”
Daniel looked at her.
And for the first time...
Charlotte saw true fear in his eyes.
“Your mother’s best friend.”
Charlotte froze.
“Evelyn?”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
A long silence.
Then he said:
“The person you called your second mother.”
Charlotte’s blood ran cold.
Because there was only one person.
One person she had trusted her entire life.
One person she never suspected.
May you like
Daniel whispered:
“Your aunt.”
