Chapter 3 - The Ghost Appears
At precisely 9:00 PM, the grand double doors of the ballroom swung open.
The loud chatter of two hundred investors and high-society guests began to die down, replaced by confused whispers.
Two men in dark suits stepped into the room, standing at attention beside the entrance. Behind them walked a woman holding a small child wrapped in a clean, white cashmere blanket.
Lena walked down the central red carpet with her head held high.
She wore an elegant midnight-blue gown provided by Marcus's team. The yellow bruise on her cheek was visible under the soft lighting, a stark, unvarnished testament to the cruelty she had endured. In her arms, Grace looked around with wide, curious eyes.
The silence in the ballroom became absolute.
Shareholders stood up from their tables. gasps echoed through the room.
"Is that...?" "No, that's impossible..." "She died two years ago!"
Evelyn froze. The champagne glass slipped from her hand, shattering against the marble floor, splashing sparkling wine over her velvet dress. She stared at Lena as if looking at a demon summoned from the depths of hell.
"You..." Evelyn gasped, her breath catching in her throat. Her face drained of all color, turning an ash-gray. "No... no, you're dead..."
"I am very much alive, Evelyn," Lena’s voice echoed clearly across the quiet room.
I stood up from the head table, stepping away from my mother.
Evelyn spun around, grabbing my forearm with a desperate, claw-like grip. "Daniel! It's an impostor! Look at her! It's a scam designed to ruin the vote! Call security immediately!"
I gently, deliberately detached her fingers from my arm.
"She isn't an impostor, Mother," I said, my voice carrying across the head table so every board member could hear. "She is my wife. And the child in her arms is my daughter—the legitimate heir to Ashford Holdings."
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Evelyn backed away, stumbling against her chair. "You... you knew..."
"I knew the moment I realized my father’s trust couldn't be touched as long as Lena was alive," I said coldly. "You didn't kill her because you needed her alive to forge her signature on the trust transfer documents eventually. You kept her locked in a Blackwood County farmhouse for seven hundred and thirty days."
