Chapter 17
Part 18: The Death That Changed Everything
Thomas sat in silence for several seconds.
Then he looked at Victor.
"Jonathan Reed was my friend."
Victor's hands tightened.
"You knew him?"
"Long before I met Claire."
Thomas explained that Jonathan had discovered financial records hidden inside the palace greenhouse offices.
He had overheard senior officials discussing illegal transfers.
Terrified, Jonathan contacted Claire.
Claire asked Thomas to help him preserve the evidence.
But before they could move the documents, Jonathan fell ill.
"A stroke," Thomas said.
"At least, that's what the doctors believed."
Victor looked at Gabriel.
"Why did you forbid an independent examination?"
Gabriel's expression hardened.
"Because Alexander ordered it."
Sofia stared at him.
"Your father?"
Gabriel nodded.
"He told me Jonathan had been exposed to a classified substance while working near an old military storage facility.
He warned an autopsy could reveal state secrets."
Thomas shook his head.
"That was another lie."
He reached into his jacket and withdrew a laboratory report.
Dr. Marsh had recovered it from Claire's hidden medical files.
Jonathan's blood sample had contained an unusual anticoagulant.
A substance capable of increasing the risk of catastrophic bleeding.
Victor stared at the report.
"Someone poisoned him."
Thomas nodded.
"We couldn't prove who administered it."
Gabriel looked stricken.
"I didn't know."
Sofia studied the king's face.
For once, his surprise appeared genuine.
Victor slowly stood.
"You spent twenty years protecting a man who killed my father."
Gabriel closed his eyes.
"I protected the Crown."
Victor's voice broke.
"And that's supposed to make it better?"
"No."
The prince turned away.
Sofia placed a hand on his arm.
He didn't move.
For a long moment, they stood together without speaking.
Then Captain Ward entered.
"Miss Bennett, the attorney general needs to speak with you."
Sofia looked up.
"Why?"
Ward hesitated.
"Adrian Vale has released a statement."
Victor turned.
"What statement?"
Ward handed Sofia a tablet.
Vale appeared on the screen, seated before a plain gray background.
He looked calm.
Almost cheerful.
"Citizens of Valmont," he began.
"For decades, your royal family has concealed corruption, stolen public funds, and manipulated the institutions meant to protect you."
Sofia watched, sick with dread.
Vale continued.
"Today, I am releasing records that prove King Alexander established an illegal financial network and that King Gabriel preserved it."
Documents appeared beside him.
Bank records.
Private communications.
Government contracts.
Some were genuine.
Sofia recognized them.
Then Vale smiled.
"But the greatest secret concerns the woman now claiming to be Princess Sofia."
Sofia leaned closer.
Vale held up a birth certificate.
Her original certificate.
Alexandra Madeleine de Valmont.
"Her identity," he said, "was used to conceal the largest private fortune in royal history."
Victor looked at Sofia.
Vale continued.
"Miss Bennett is not an innocent servant discovering an inheritance."
He paused.
"She is the legal beneficiary of the entire secret Crown trust."
Sofia's hands went numb.
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The video ended with a single sentence.
"If Sofia Bennett claims the throne, she also claims the debts and crimes attached to the fortune her family concealed."
