Chapter 8: The Truth That Was Buried
Maelis had never met her aunt.
Not really.
She had seen photographs.
A woman with the same eyes as her mother.
A woman who lived thousands of miles away.
A woman Adrian always said was “not ready to be part of their lives.””
Now she was suddenly appearing on television.
Calling Maelis unstable.
Calling Corisande a loving parent.
The interview played on every major news channel.
“My sister would have wanted Corisande to raise Maelis,” the woman said.
Maelis watched from the mansion.
Her face was expressionless.
Adrian noticed.
“You don’t believe her.””
Maelis shook her head.
“No.””
“Why?””
“Because my mother hated Corisande.””
Adrian looked surprised.
“You remember that?””
“I remember everything.””
The answer hurt.
Because Adrian realized something.
Maelis remembered pain better than happiness.
The interview continued.
“She was always a troubled child,” the aunt said.
Maelis laughed softly.
A broken laugh.
“I was seven.””
Adrian looked at her.
“What?””
“I was seven when she died.””
She stared at the television.
“People keep saying I was difficult. I was a child whose mother disappeared.””
Adrian sat beside her.
“Did your mother ever talk about Corisande?””
Maelis hesitated.
Then nodded.
“She said Corisande was dangerous.””
The room became quiet.
“Why didn’t you tell me?””
Maelis looked at him.
“Because you loved her.””
The sentence hurt more than anything else.
Meanwhile, investigators searched the mansion records.
And they found something.
A hidden file.
Not on the security system.
On Corisande’s personal computer.
Inside were documents from years earlier.
Emails.
Messages.
Financial records.
One message stood out.
From Corisande to Maelis’s aunt.
“I need you to confirm the story.””
The investigator stared at the screen.
“What story?””
The answer was in the next message.
“The story that Maelis was always unstable.””
But there was more.
Money transfers.
Large payments.
Regular payments.
Adrian received the news that evening.
His face became cold.
“She paid her?””
The investigator nodded.
“Yes.””
“For years?””
“Yes.””
Adrian looked toward the window.
The ocean was calm.
Almost peaceful.
A cruel contrast to the storm inside the house.
When he confronted Corisande, she didn’t deny it.
She simply sat there.
“I did what I had to do.””
Adrian stared at her.
“You destroyed a child’s life.””
“No.””
She looked up.
“I protected mine.””
The honesty shocked him.
“You knew.””
“Yes.””
“You knew she was innocent.””
Corisande smiled.
“She was a threat.””
Adrian stepped back.
“A threat?””
“She had your attention.””
The words were terrifying.
“She reminded you of your first wife.””
Adrian said nothing.
“And I couldn’t compete with a dead woman.””
There it was.
The real reason.
Not discipline.
Not parenting.
Not misunderstanding.
Jealousy.
Control.
Corisande had never wanted to love Maelis.
She wanted to erase the part of Adrian’s life before her.
But she had made one mistake.
She underestimated the girl she tried to silence.
That night, Maelis received a message.
Unknown number.
One sentence.
“I know what really happened to your mother.””
Her hands froze.
Because nobody had talked about her mother’s death in years.
Then another message arrived.
“Your father was lied to.””
Maelis looked at Adrian.
May you like
And for the first time, she wondered if Corisande’s biggest secret wasn’t what she had done to her.
It was what she had done before Maelis ever entered the mansion.
