Chapter 3 - The Ghost in the West Wing
That night, a violent thunderstorm rolled over the Connecticut coastline, rattling the old glass panes of the Tudor mansion.
Julian had taken the guest suite on the third floor, citing "respect for Audrey's delicate condition." Lenora had refused to leave the estate, occupying a room in the east wing, claiming she wanted to be near her son.
At two o'clock in the morning, the house was dark.
Audrey slipped out of her bedroom, wearing a black silk robe, her bare feet making no sound on the hardwood floors. She walked down the long, shadowed corridor of the west wing toward her father’s medical room.
The steady, rhythmic beep... beep... beep... of the heart monitor echoed softly in the quiet hallway.
Audrey opened the door.
The room was lit only by the blue glow of the medical equipment. In the center of the room lay Richard Bellamy—a thin, frail man with white hair, his face sunken, his eyes closed, breathing through an oxygen tube.
Sitting in the armchair beside the bed was a dark figure.
Audrey didn't gasp. She didn't flinch. She simply flipped the light switch near the door.
The warm overhead light illuminated Lenora Voss sitting by the bed. She was holding a small leather notebook—Richard’s old private journal—which she had taken from the nightstand drawer.
"Looking for something, Lenora?" Audrey asked softly, leaning against the doorframe.
Lenora didn't look startled. She slowly closed the notebook and set it on her lap, looking up at Audrey with cold, unblinking eyes.
"He kept it," Lenora said, her voice barely above a whisper. "All these years. He kept the journal where he wrote down the account numbers for the Swiss holdings."
"He kept it because he knew you'd eventually come back for it," Audrey replied, walking slowly into the room until she stood on the opposite side of her father's bed. She looked down at Richard's peaceful, unconscious face. "You didn't just ruin his marriage twenty years ago, did you? You stole from him."
Lenora let out a dry, bitter laugh. "Stole? Richard Bellamy gave me those accounts! He gave them to me when I was twenty-five years old, working as his executive secretary, while your precious mother was off in Paris spending his money on antique furniture! I gave him three years of my life, Audrey! I took care of his business while your mother took care of her social standing!"
"And then you gave birth to Julian," Audrey said, her voice dropping into a register of terrifying stillness.
Lenora froze.
The air in the room seemed to vanish.
"What did you say?" Lenora whispered, her knuckles turning white around the arms of the chair.
Audrey reached into the pocket of her silk robe and pulled out a yellowed piece of paper—a certified birth record from a private hospital in Boston, dated twenty-eight years ago.
"Julian Mercer," Audrey read softly, her hazel eyes fixed on Lenora's pale face. "Father: Unknown. Mother: Lenora Voss. Blood type: AB negative. The exact same blood type as Richard Bellamy."
Lenora stood up so fast her chair screeched against the floorboards. "Where did you get that?!"
"My mother’s private safe," Audrey said calmly. "My mother didn't leave my father twenty years ago because he had an affair, Lenora. She left him because she discovered that the boy you were raising—the boy you claimed was the son of a deceased navy officer—was actually Richard’s biological child."
Lenora was breathing heavily now, her chest heaving, the slick mask of sophistication completely slipping from her face. "If you know... if you know Julian is Richard’s son... then why are you doing this?! Why are you marrying him?!"
Audrey leaned across her father’s bed, her face inches from Lenora’s.
"Because Julian doesn't know," Audrey whispered with lethal precision. "Julian thinks he’s a self-made boy whose poor mother sacrificed everything to raise him. He thinks he’s marrying a rich heiress to get his hands on my father's money. He doesn't know that he’s about to marry his own half-sister."
Lenora gasped, her face draining of every drop of color until she looked like a corpse. She reached out, grabbing Audrey's robe with trembling fingers. "You're lying! You wouldn't do that! You wouldn't commit incest just to hurt us!"
"I don't have to," Audrey said, her voice dropping into a chilling whisper as she peeled Lenora's fingers off her clothes. "Because there is no baby in my stomach, Lenora. There never was."
Lenora stared at her, her mouth opening and closing in total, paralyzed horror.
"I staged the pregnancy news to bring Julian back," Audrey continued, her eyes burning like cold steel. "I brought him back so he would sign that waiver. I brought him back so he would stand at the altar tomorrow in front of the magistrate, the press, and the board of directors. And right before the vows are taken, I am going to reveal the DNA test that proves he is Richard Bellamy’s illegitimate son."
Audrey took a step back, folding her hands neatly in front of her robe.
"When I am finished, Lenora," Audrey said, "Julian will know that his entire life was built on your lies. He will know that you let him strike his bride, humiliate himself, and ruin his reputation for a fortune that was never his to take. He will hate you for the rest of his life. And you will watch him walk away from you, just like my mother walked away from this house twenty years ago."
Lenora staggered back, her knees hitting the edge of the armchair. She collapsed into the seat, clutching her chest, tears of pure terror finally spilling from her eyes.
"Please..." Lenora choked out, her voice breaking. "Please, Audrey... don't do this to Julian. He didn't know! He’s innocent!"
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"He hit me, Lenora," Audrey said softly, turning toward the door. "He hit me, he humiliated me, and then he came back to my bed the moment he thought he could profit from my father's land. He is your son through and through. And tomorrow... you both pay the bill."
Audrey stepped out of the room, leaving the door open to the sound of Lenora’s desperate, silent weeping echoing against the machines keeping Richard Bellamy alive.
