Chapter 8 - The Mother Who Chose PowerVictoria walked slowly toward Ethan.
Every step was controlled.
Every movement calculated.
“Give me that letter.”
Ethan looked at her.
“No.”
The answer was immediate.
Victoria stopped.
“You don’t understand what you are doing.”
Ethan laughed softly.
A painful laugh.
“That’s what you always say.”
“You always make everyone feel stupid.”
Victoria’s eyes hardened.
“I was trying to protect this family.”
“No.”
Ethan shook his head.
“You were trying to control it.”
The room became silent.
Victoria looked at her son.
Not with anger.
With disappointment.
“You sound exactly like your father.”
Ethan froze.
The sentence was strange.
Almost like an admission.
“You hated him.”
Victoria’s expression changed.
“No.”
“I loved him.”
“Then why did he fear you?”
Victoria looked away.
For several seconds.
Nobody spoke.
Then she answered.
“Because he became weak.”
Clara stared.
“Dad was not weak.”
Victoria turned.
“You know nothing.”
The bitterness in her voice surprised everyone.
“He wanted to throw everything away.”
“He wanted to destroy everything we built.”
Charles interrupted.
“No.”
“He wanted to save it.”
Victoria looked at him.
“You were always against me.”
Charles smiled sadly.
“Because I knew what you were becoming.”
The train continued moving.
But inside the cabin.
A war had already begun.
Ethan looked at Victoria.
“I need the truth.”
She remained silent.
“Why did Dad die?”
Victoria did not answer.
That silence was enough.
Ethan stepped back.
His face changed.
“You know.”
Victoria finally spoke.
“It was complicated.”
Clara closed her eyes.
“No.”
“Not complicated.”
“Your secret.”
Victoria suddenly turned toward her.
“You have no idea what you are saying.”
Clara looked back.
“I spent years wondering if I was crazy.”
“I spent years thinking something was wrong with me.”
Her voice broke.
“But I was right.”
“You were hiding something.”
Victoria’s expression became colder.
“You were always too emotional.”
Clara smiled sadly.
“And you were always too cruel.”
May you like
The words hit harder than a scream.
Because they came from the daughter who had spent years trying to earn her mother’s approval.
