Chapter 5: The Woman Behind the Smile
“Dr. Carter.””
Victoria Ashford’s voice echoed through the archive speakers.
Calm.
Controlled.
Almost amused.
Simone stared at the red light on the security camera.
A few hours earlier, Victoria had been the woman everyone saw as a spoiled socialite.
The woman who threw cake.
The woman who smiled while hundreds of people watched another person’s humiliation.
But now?
Now she sounded like someone who had been waiting years for this moment.
Maya stepped toward the speaker.
“Victoria.””
A soft laugh came through the intercom.
“Still using my first name like we’re friends?””
Simone looked at Maya.
Maya lowered her voice.
“She knows us.””
“She knows everyone,” Simone replied.
The archive door remained locked.
Marcus tried the handle again.
Nothing.
“Can you hear me?”” Victoria asked.
Simone walked toward the camera.
“Yes.””
“Good.””
“Open the door.””
Another laugh.
“That’s exactly what I expected you to say.””
Simone’s expression hardened.
“Then you should also know I don’t make requests twice.””
The speaker went silent.
Then Victoria said:
“You really are exactly like your reputation.””
“And what reputation is that?””
“The woman who walks into rooms built by other people and convinces everyone she belongs there.””
The words hung in the archive.
Maya looked at Simone.
But Simone didn’t react.
She had heard versions of that sentence her entire life.
Not always spoken aloud.
Sometimes hidden behind smiles.
Sometimes disguised as advice.
Sometimes delivered as compliments.
You’re different.
You’re impressive.
You’re not like the others.
But underneath was always the same message.
You are still an outsider.
Simone stepped closer to the camera.
“Is this why you attacked me?””
“No.””
“Then why?””
Victoria’s answer came quickly.
“Because I needed everyone watching you.””
Simone frowned.
“You wanted attention on me.””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
“Because when people watch the person they hate, they stop watching the people they trust.””
Daniel closed his eyes.
He understood.
Simone saw it.
“You knew.””
Daniel looked at her.
“I knew some of it.””
“Some?””
Victoria interrupted.
“Don’t waste your anger on Daniel. He’s spent the last ten years trying to fix a family problem he helped create.””
Simone turned toward Daniel.
“Ten years?””
Daniel looked away.
That hurt more than she expected.
Not because she trusted him.
Because she had.
“You knew about this for ten years?””
Daniel’s voice was quiet.
“I knew something was wrong.””
“That’s not an answer.””
“I suspected the foundation was being used.””
“And you stayed.””
His silence was the answer.
Simone felt anger rise.
“You let people invest billions into a project you didn’t understand.””
“I was trying to protect people.””
“By hiding the truth?””
Daniel looked at her.
“No.””
His voice cracked.
“By finding proof.””
Victoria laughed through the speaker.
“Still pretending you’re the hero.””
Daniel looked up.
“Victoria, stop.””
The confidence disappeared from Victoria’s voice for the first time.
“Don’t tell me what to do.””
Simone noticed.
A small change.
A crack.
Victoria wasn’t controlling Daniel.
She was afraid of him.
Interesting.
“Victoria,” Simone said.
The speaker went quiet.
“You’re not in control.””
A long pause.
Then:
“You think you know me?””
“No.””
Simone looked at the archive around her.
“I think I know people like you.””
“And what does that mean?””
“People who grow up surrounded by power.””
Victoria didn’t respond.
“They believe power means nobody can hurt them.””
Silence.
“But the truth is different.””
Simone looked at the camera.
“The most powerful people are usually the most afraid of losing everything.””
For several seconds, nothing happened.
Then Victoria spoke again.
“You’re very good.””
“At what?””
“Finding weaknesses.””
Simone waited.
“That’s why they chose you.””
There it was again.
The same phrase.
The same warning.
Simone narrowed her eyes.
“Who chose me?””
Victoria didn’t answer.
Instead, the archive lights flickered back on.
A monitor mounted on the wall activated.
A video began playing.
The image showed the Ashford gala.
But this wasn’t the public footage.
It was private security footage.
Simone watched herself enter the ballroom.
She watched guests greet her.
She watched Victoria approach.
Then the video froze.
A timestamp appeared.
8:52 p.m.
Victoria turned toward someone off-camera.
The footage zoomed.
A man stepped into view.
Simone recognized him.
Nathan.
But he wasn’t alone.
Standing beside him was another person.
A person Simone had never expected.
Her own father.
Michael Carter.
Maya gasped.
“Simone…”
Simone didn’t move.
Her father had died eleven years earlier.
At least, that was what she believed.
The image shook slightly.
The quality was poor.
But there was no mistaking the face.
Michael Carter.
Alive.
Standing inside the Ashford ballroom.
Simone felt the room tilt.
“No.””
Nobody spoke.
The video continued.
Nathan handed something to Victoria.
A folder.
Victoria opened it.
Then she looked toward the camera.
Toward the exact place where Simone would later stand.
The footage ended.
Simone stared at the blank screen.
“No.””
This time, louder.
Maya reached for her arm.
“Simone.””
“My father is dead.””
Nobody answered.
Because everyone knew what that meant.
Either the footage was fake.
Or the truth was much worse.
Victoria’s voice returned.
“You always believed your father died because of an accident.””
Simone turned toward the speaker.
“What did you say?””
“Your entire life was built around a lie.””
Daniel looked horrified.
“Victoria, enough.””
“No.””
Her voice became sharper.
“She deserves to know.””
Simone’s hands tightened.
“Know what?””
Victoria paused.
Then:
“Your father didn’t die.””
The room went completely silent.
Simone’s heart raced.
“That’s impossible.””
“No.””
Victoria’s voice lowered.
“That’s exactly what they wanted you to believe.””
Maya shook her head.
“Who is they?””
Victoria ignored her.
“Your father discovered what the Ashfords were doing.””
Simone stared at the screen.
The old pain she had carried for years suddenly felt different.
Her father’s death had always been the one wound she never questioned.
A car accident.
A tragic night.
A funeral.
A goodbye.
But now someone was telling her the entire memory was built on a lie.
“What happened to him?””
Victoria didn’t answer.
“Tell me.””
Silence.
“Victoria.””
Finally:
“He made a deal.””
“With who?””
“With me.””
Simone froze.
Daniel looked at the speaker.
“No.””
Victoria continued.
“Your father understood the system better than anyone. He knew powerful families don’t fall because of scandals.””
She paused.
“They fall because someone removes the foundation.””
Simone looked at the documents.
The hidden contracts.
The missing money.
The archive.
Everything suddenly connected to something much older.
“How long has this been happening?””
Victoria answered:
“Long before you were CEO.””
Simone stepped back.
“No.””
“Yes.””
“Why me?””
Victoria’s voice softened.
And for the first time, Simone heard something unexpected.
Regret.
“Because your father trusted you.””
Simone looked at the camera.
“What does that mean?””
“It means he left something for you.””
“What?””
A pause.
Then Victoria said:
“The original ledger.””
Daniel looked toward the shelves.
“The one that proves everything.””
Victoria continued:
“The one your father hid before he disappeared.””
Simone’s eyes moved across the archive.
“You have it.””
“No.””
“Then where is it?””
The speaker went silent.
Too long.
Simone understood.
Victoria wasn’t hesitating.
She was deciding whether to reveal it.
Finally, Victoria said:
“You already have it.””
Maya looked confused.
“What?””
Simone slowly turned toward the shelves.
The archive suddenly felt different.
Not like a room full of secrets.
Like a room built around one secret.
Her father had hidden something here.
Something only she could find.
“Where?”” Simone asked.
Victoria answered:
“Look at the first thing your father ever taught you.””
Simone froze.
A memory surfaced.
She was twelve years old.
Sitting beside her father at their kitchen table.
He had shown her an old leather notebook.
Numbers.
Names.
Notes.
And he had told her something she never forgot.
Numbers tell stories.
People tell lies.
Simone looked at the oldest cabinet in the archive.
A small leather notebook sat on the shelf.
Hidden behind decades of records.
Her father’s handwriting was visible on the cover.
Maya whispered:
“Is that it?””
Simone reached toward it.
But before her fingers touched the notebook, the archive door unlocked.
Everyone turned.
Footsteps approached from the hallway.
Slow.
Confident.
Not Victoria.
Not Daniel.
Someone else.
Someone who had been listening the entire time.
A man appeared in the doorway.
Simone stopped breathing.
Because she knew him.
She had seen him on the gala footage.
She had heard his name.
And she had trusted him.
The man looked at the notebook in her hand.
Then at Simone.
“Give me that.””
Simone stared.
“Nathan.””
Her brother stood in the doorway.
But this time, he wasn’t warning her.
He was holding a gun.
May you like
And he said the one sentence Simone never thought she would hear from him.
“I’m sorry, but you were never supposed to find this.””
