Chapter 9
Part 10: The Woman Behind the Crown
By the time Sofia and Victor returned to the palace, television crews surrounded the gates.
A public announcement had been issued just after midnight.
Queen Madeleine was accused of conspiring to conceal royal records, interfering with a state investigation, and participating in the disappearance of Princess Claire de Valmont.
King Gabriel had authorized her detention.
Victor stared at the announcement on his phone.
"He arrested my mother."
Sofia looked toward the illuminated palace windows.
"He needed someone to blame."
"Or someone gave him a reason."
They entered through a private security gate.
Captain Ward met them in the east courtyard.
His uniform was torn at the shoulder.
"Where's Thomas?"
Sofia asked.
"Missing."
"Missing how?"
"The archive was breached.
Two guards were injured.
The recording equipment was destroyed."
Sofia closed her eyes.
The evidence.
Claire's voice.
Gone.
Ward continued.
"Thomas escaped through a maintenance tunnel.
Security footage shows him carrying a metal case."
"Then he's alive."
"As far as we know."
Victor stepped closer.
"Where's my mother?"
"The old council chamber."
"Take me to her."
Ward hesitated.
"Your father has forbidden visitors."
Victor straightened.
"Then he can come down here and stop me himself."
Ward studied him.
Then quietly opened the door.
The old council chamber stood at the end of a narrow corridor.
Madeleine sat alone at a long mahogany table.
Two guards stood outside.
When Victor entered, she rose.
"My darling."
He stopped several feet away.
"Who's my father?"
Madeleine's face changed.
Only slightly.
But Sofia saw it.
Victor had his answer before she spoke.
"Victor—"
"Don't."
His voice was barely audible.
"Please don't tell me another lie."
Madeleine looked at Sofia.
"What did Adrian Vale say?"
Sofia placed the copied notes from the chapel on the table.
"He showed me a medical register."
Madeleine stared down at the entries.
Tears gathered in her eyes.
"I thought that book had been destroyed."
Victor stepped backward.
"Then it's true."
Madeleine covered her mouth.
He laughed once, bitterly.
"Twenty-six years.
Twenty-six years of being told my blood made me special."
"Your blood doesn't determine your worth."
He looked at her sharply.
"That's convenient, coming from a queen."
Madeleine flinched.
Then she sat down.
"I was married to Gabriel before he became king.
Our marriage was arranged by our families.
He was often absent, consumed by ambition and politics."
Victor remained standing.
"I don't need the romantic details."
"You need the truth."
Madeleine folded her hands.
"I loved someone else."
Sofia's chest tightened.
Madeleine continued.
"He wasn't wealthy.
He wasn't titled.
He worked in the palace gardens."
Victor went utterly still.
"His name?"
"Jonathan Reed."
Victor stared at her.
The palace's former head gardener.
The quiet older man who had taught him to ride a bicycle.
Who had taken him fishing.
Who had once given him a wooden horse he'd carved by hand.
Victor remembered him.
Jonathan had died when Victor was twelve.
Officially from a stroke.
"He was my father?"
Madeleine nodded.
Victor sat down as though his legs had failed.
"He knew?"
"Yes."
"And Gabriel?"
Madeleine's silence answered.
Victor pressed his hands against his face.
"He knew."
"Gabriel discovered the truth before you were born.
He agreed to recognize you publicly."
"Why?"
"Because Alexander had already approved your place in the succession.
Gabriel wanted the political advantages of a secure heir.
And he loved the image of the family we presented."
"Did he love me?"
The question was so quiet that Sofia almost didn't hear it.
Madeleine reached toward him.
"Victor, I know he did, in his way."
He pulled away.
"In his way."
For several moments, nobody spoke.
Then Sofia asked, "Did Claire know?"
Madeleine nodded.
"She knew about Jonathan.
She was the first person I told when I realized I was pregnant."
"And she threatened to expose you?"
"No!"
Madeleine's reply was immediate.
"Claire protected us.
She promised she'd never use Victor's parentage against him."
Sofia frowned.
"Then why did Adrian Vale say someone had more to lose if Claire returned?"
Madeleine looked toward the door.
"Because there was another secret."
She reached beneath the table.
A concealed panel clicked open.
Inside was a slim black book.
Sofia recognized its seal.
King Alexander's.
Madeleine placed it before her.
"The private household register.
Alexander kept records of every confidential royal arrangement."
Sofia opened the first page.
A date.
Twenty-seven years earlier.
A confidential agreement between King Alexander and Gabriel.
Gabriel was to receive the succession if Claire withdrew.
In return, he would protect a substantial network of Crown-controlled companies from public investigation.
Sofia looked up.
"Gabriel was already working with Alexander."
"Yes."
Madeleine turned another page.
"And so was I."
Sofia stared.
Madeleine's name appeared beneath a financial authorization.
Millions had been transferred from the royal charitable trust.
Into a holding company controlled by the queen.
"What is this?"
Madeleine's voice broke.
"The price of silence."
Sofia stepped away from the table.
"You took their money?"
"Yes."
Victor looked at his mother as though he had never seen her before.
"For what?"
May you like
Madeleine closed her eyes.
"To keep Jonathan alive."
