The Cartwright Estate
The Cartwright estate sat on the edge of the hills—silent, sprawling, and steeped in generations of power. Muri hadn't been here in years, but as her car crept up the curved drive, the air around her felt heavier, thicker. Like it knew secrets.
She clutched the photograph tighter.
Micah. Herself. Lex's father.
Smiling like they weren't hiding a lie that would crack a legacy in two.
Eleanor Cartwright was waiting in the grand foyer, dressed immaculately in slate gray, her silver hair pinned in place, her expression unreadable.
"Muri," she said calmly. "You came."
"You left me no choice," Muri replied. "What is this about?"
Eleanor turned. "Follow me."
She led Muri through the old halls, past heavy portraits and locked doors, until they reached a narrow room at the back of the estate. She opened it with a brass key that glinted like a dagger.
Inside was an archive. Wood-paneled. Dusty. Rows of files, ledgers, and a locked glass cabinet.
Eleanor pointed to it.
"Your name is in there."
Muri stepped closer. Her eyes scanned the documents. Then she saw it: a sealed file labeled:
Project AURELIA — Winters
"What is this?" she whispered.
Eleanor's face tightened. "Lex's father discovered something years ago. A data leak. Corporate espionage traced back to someone inside your father's company. But instead of exposing it, he made a deal… with Archer Winters."
Muri's heart dropped.
"My father?" she breathed.
Eleanor nodded. "In exchange for silence, Archer promised one thing: that you, Muri, would never step into Cartwright Industries. Never get close enough to uncover what was really being developed."
"Why me?" Muri asked, voice shaking.
Eleanor looked her in the eyes.
"Because you designed it."
Muri froze.
"Designed what?" she demanded.
Eleanor didn't flinch. "A prototype. A sustainability tech program with potential to change global markets. You created it when you interned here at seventeen. And you didn't even know how valuable it was."
"But why erase me? Why cause an accident?"
Eleanor's voice softened, almost regretful.
"Because you were getting close to Lex. And his father feared that if he trusted you, he'd find out the truth."
Silence settled like ash between them.
Muri's chest rose and fell. "So the accident… was to protect Lex?"
"To protect the company," Eleanor corrected coldly. "And everything the Cartwright name stood for."
Muri turned to the file again, hands shaking as she reached for it.
This wasn't just about memory.
Or love.
Or betrayal.
This was about legacy.
About power.
And about the lie she'd been living her whole life.