Chapter 10 - THE LAST SECRET
Six months later, I stood in front of the renovated Mercer Grand Hotel.
The sign above the entrance had changed.
THE ALEXANDRA MERCER FOUNDATION HOTEL GROUP
The press gathered outside.
Cameras flashed.
Reporters shouted questions.
“Alexandra!”
“Are you taking over the entire company?”
“Is Elijah Mercer returning?”
“Did you forgive him?”
I smiled politely.
“I don't discuss my private life.”
Then I walked inside.
Daniel was waiting.
“You're going to like this.”
“What?”
He handed me a sealed envelope.
“Found in your father's old safe.”
I stared at it.
“Another secret?”
He smiled.
“Apparently your family had a lot of them.”
I opened the envelope.
Inside was a letter.
But this time, it wasn't from my father.
It was from Catherine.
My biological mother.
The letter had been written before she disappeared.
To my daughters, Alexandra and Laura.
I sat down.
She had known about us.
She had known that Richard would try to separate us.
She had planned to expose him.
But someone had betrayed her.
The final page contained a name.
I read it.
Then I dropped the letter.
It wasn't Richard.
It wasn't Evelyn.
It wasn't my father.
It was someone I had never suspected.
Daniel Brooks.
I looked up.
Daniel stood across the room.
He wasn't smiling anymore.
“Why?”
He closed the door.
“Because your father asked me to.”
“What did you do?”
“I protected you.”
“You lied to me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
He walked closer.
“Because Catherine wasn't dead.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
Daniel whispered:
“She has been alive for twenty-eight years.”
I couldn't breathe.
“Where?”
“Europe.”
“Why didn't she come back?”
“Because Richard threatened to kill both children if she did.”
I stared at him.
“Then why tell me now?”
Daniel placed another photograph on the desk.
It showed an older woman standing beside a lake.
Gray hair.
Tired eyes.
But unmistakably familiar.
My heart shattered.
“That's her.”
“Yes.”
“My mother.”
“Your biological mother.”
I touched the photograph.
“Does she know about me?”
“She has always known.”
“And Laura?”
“Yes.”
I stood.
“Then why did Laura hate me?”
Daniel looked away.
“Because she was told you abandoned her.”
My stomach twisted.
“Who told her?”
Daniel didn't answer.
I already knew.
“Richard.”
“Yes.”
The entire family tragedy had been built on one lie.
A lie that had lasted almost three decades.
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
A woman's voice whispered:
“Alexandra?”
I couldn't speak.
The voice trembled.
“My daughter.”
I closed my eyes.
Tears rolled down my face.
“Mom?”
Silence.
May you like
Then:
“I've waited twenty-eight years to hear you say that.”
