Chapter 9 - The Bridal Safe
The key opened a private safe inside the bridal suite.
Victoria insisted it did not belong to her.
The wedding coordinator confirmed she had requested it.
Inside were copies of Sarah’s medical records, Lily’s trust documents and a sealed memory card.
Ethan stared at Victoria.
“Why did you have my sister’s medical files?”
“Your family attorney sent them.”
“For what?”
No answer.
The records covered Sarah’s final hospitalization.
Several pages had been removed from the original hospital file.
The missing pages described a visitor who met Sarah privately two days before she died.
The visitor signed in under a false name.
But the surveillance still showed her face.
Victoria.
Ethan looked at her.
“You told me you never met Sarah.”
Victoria’s eyes filled.
“I met her once.”
Lily leaned against Ethan’s chest.
“What did you say to my mom?”
Victoria looked toward the child but could not answer.
The memory card contained an audio recording.
Sarah’s weak voice filled the bridal suite.
“Victoria, Lily is not an obstacle to your marriage.”
Victoria answered:
“She controls property my family has spent years assembling.”
“She is six years old.”
“That is why someone responsible should control it.”
Sarah’s voice hardened.
“You mean someone rich.”
The recording paused.
Then Victoria said the sentence that made Ethan step away from her:
“Children like Lily grow up grateful when they are placed where they belong.”
Victoria began crying.
“I was under pressure from my father.”
Rosa looked at her.
May you like
“You passed that pressure to a dying woman and her child.”
Then Sarah’s recording revealed that Victoria had not come alone.
