THE HEIRESS NOBODY KNEW
Victoria burst into laughter.

“Emily? Own Laurent Couture? That’s impossible!”

Eleanor opened a leather folder.

“Emily’s mother, Margaret Carter, was my original business partner. She designed our first collection and owned fifty-one percent of the company.”

My heart pounded.

“My mother never told me.”

“She wanted you to grow up loved for who you were, not for your inheritance,” Eleanor explained.

“Her shares passed to you when she died. The legal transfer has now been completed.”

Victoria stumbled backward.

Laurent Couture was worth hundreds of millions.

Suddenly, Daniel appeared at the doorway.

“Mother, what have you done?”

Victoria rushed toward him.

“Daniel, darling, this changes everything. Emily is wealthy!”

I slowly stood, holding the torn dress.

“No,” I said. “It changes nothing.”

Daniel reached for my hand.

“Emily, please. I had no idea.”

I looked into his eyes.

“When your mother humiliated me for being poor, you stayed silent. Now that I’m rich, you finally want to defend me?”

He had no answer.

Eleanor gently placed a hand on my shoulder.

“Your mother left you something else.”

She handed me a sealed letter.

Inside was one sentence that made my blood run cold.

“Emily, if the Whitmore family ever discovers who you are, never trust them with your inheritance.”

Beneath the letter was a photograph.

My mother stood beside Daniel’s father.

And on the back, written in her handwriting, were four words:

“He knows what happened.”

I looked up at Daniel.

“Why was your father with my mother?”

His expression changed.

Then Eleanor whispered, “Emily, there’s something about your mother’s death you deserve to know.”

What secret had the Whitmore family been hiding all these years?

Comment “PART 3” if you want to discover the truth behind Emily’s mother’s death.