Chapter 442 The Recording

Chapter 442: Chapter 442 The Recording

This was clearly a Taylor family matter.

Ryan had never intended to get involved.

Until now, he’d kept his distance, observing everything like an outsider and speaking only when he thought something needed to be said.

But his calm, almost indifferent tone now carried a ruthlessness that made the entire room feel colder.

Rose stared at him.

She was struggling to keep everything inside.

“What exactly do you mean?”

James forced the words through clenched teeth.

“Ryan, you and Rose are divorced. Do you really need to involve yourself in the Taylor family’s business?”

Victoria had managed to regain some of her composure.

She took a slow breath, trying desperately to steady herself.

Alicia’s identity had been exposed at the worst possible moment.

And now Derick knew.

The guilt and sympathy that had filled his eyes only moments ago were gone.

There was nothing left but anger.

Disgust.

Betrayal.

Victoria knew he might never forgive her.

He might cut her out of his life completely.

The thought made her chest ache.

This secret had been meant to stay buried forever.

But now her own daughter had torn away the last protection she had.

“Are you part of the Taylor family?”

Ryan looked at Victoria.

His expression was cold, almost mocking.

Victoria’s face tightened.

Grace’s head was pounding, but she forced herself to stay upright.

“Ryan,” she said impatiently, “just tell us what you’re getting at.”

Ryan looked at her.

“I think you and Derick should meet Rose’s mother.”

Victoria’s expression changed instantly.

The tears, fear, and helplessness on her face seemed to freeze in place.

She knew exactly where this was going.

“Why?” she blurted out. “Why would you want to see her? She’s on Sophia’s side. She hates me more than anyone. She—”

“I do hate you.”

A woman’s voice came from the doorway.

Victoria froze.

Her eyes widened.

Everyone turned.

Rose’s entire body went rigid.

Then she quickly wiped beneath her eyes, making sure she wasn’t crying, and turned toward the doorway.

Diana was pushing Morgan in a wheelchair.

Rose immediately walked over and crouched beside her.

“Mom?”

Morgan silently reached for her hand.

Her expression was nothing like it had been over the previous few days.

The vacant confusion was gone.

So was the weakness.

Her eyes were filled with something Rose had never seen there before.

Hatred.

Raw and unmistakable.

Grace stood immediately.

“Morgan? How are you feeling?”

She was genuinely concerned.

Morgan had only just regained consciousness. Given everything she’d been through, simply being awake was already remarkable.

But Morgan didn’t answer.

Her fingers tightened around the wheelchair armrest.

Her eyes remained fixed on Victoria.

“Sophia didn’t kill herself.”

Her voice was hoarse.

“She was murdered.”

The room went silent.

Morgan’s eyes burned.

“And the person responsible is her.”

She pointed at Victoria.

“A woman who looks harmless but is nothing more than a snake.”

Alicia’s eyes widened.

Derick stared at Morgan in disbelief.

“What did you just say?”

Victoria’s composure shattered.

“That’s a lie!”

She screamed.

“Morgan, how dare you accuse me of something like that? You’re only saying this because you want revenge for Sophia!”

Rose stood frozen.

Her ears rang.

Her blood ran cold.

There was something else.

Something even worse.

Diana immediately noticed Rose’s reaction and hurried to her side, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

Morgan took a shaky breath.

“The day Sophia died, she was on her way to a business meeting.”

Her voice trembled.

“She called me before she left. She told me she wanted to buy a house. She wanted to start over and give Rose a stable life. She asked me to help her look at neighborhoods.”

Rose’s eyes widened.

Morgan continued.

“Two hours later, she drove her car into the lake.”

Her voice broke.

“She was planning a future.”

Morgan’s fingers clenched around the wheelchair.

“How could someone who had just decided to start over with her child suddenly decide to kill herself?”

No one answered.

“At the time, the medical examiner and police told me she’d been struggling with severe depression for a long time. They even raised the possibility of another serious mood disorder. They said it could have affected her judgment.”

Morgan shook her head.

“They told me there was no clear evidence of homicide.”

Her eyes filled with tears.

“I tried to get the investigation reopened. More than once.”

“But every time, I was told the same thing.”

Her voice grew quieter.

“Eventually, I started wondering if I was the one who was losing my mind. Maybe I was seeing connections that weren’t there.”

She laughed bitterly.

“But then I saw her.”

Victoria’s face drained of color.

“I saw that woman meeting Daisy in private.”

Morgan’s breathing became uneven.

“I heard them talking about Sophia.”

She stared at Victoria.

“Both of them were involved.”

The room seemed to stop breathing.

“I recorded them.”

Victoria’s eyes widened.

“I still have it.”

Morgan had spent years burying those memories.

She hadn’t wanted to remember.

Her mind had protected her by pushing away everything associated with the trauma.

But then she’d seen Victoria at the Taylor estate.

That face.

The face she’d hated for years.

The face that had haunted her dreams.

Something inside her had broken open.

And suddenly, she remembered.

Everything.

“No!”

Victoria’s scream shattered the silence.

“Morgan is lying!”

James’s eyes turned red.

He surged forward, his fists clenched.

“What did you do to my mother?”

He looked ready to tear Victoria apart.

At the same time, Derick stood completely still.

It felt as though someone had ripped his entire world apart.

He couldn’t speak.

Couldn’t move.

Grace’s voice trembled.

“The recording...”

She swallowed.

“Do you still have it?”

Morgan reached into her coat and pulled out her phone.

It was a new phone.

But the files had been transferred from an encrypted email account she had saved before the accident.

“No one knew about those emails,” Morgan said quietly. “That’s why they survived.”

Victoria’s eyes widened.

“Morgan... how could you—”

Morgan took a slow breath.

Then she pressed play.

A recording filled the room.

A woman’s voice came through the speaker.

“Victoria, you used me, didn’t you?”

The voice was Daisy’s.

“You deliberately told me Sophia was going to audit the accounts. You made me think she was going to report me and that I’d end up in prison. You knew exactly how frightened I was.”

Victoria’s recorded voice answered calmly.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You do!”

Daisy’s voice rose.

“You set the whole thing up. You had someone give me that drug, didn’t you? Sophia started hallucinating because of it. You knew exactly what would happen when she got behind the wheel!”

“What does that have to do with me?”

Victoria’s recorded voice remained soft.

“You’re the one who did it, aren’t you? You’re the murderer.”

Daisy sounded hysterical.

“You’re a snake! You gave her the drug, then made sure I took the blame!”

There was a brief silence.

Then Victoria spoke again.

“You’re making this much more complicated than it needs to be.”

Her voice was gentle.

Almost soothing.

“You were the one who carried it out. Everyone saw it that way. Whatever you say now is simply your word against mine.”

Daisy’s breathing was ragged.

“You wanted Sophia dead!”

“I never touched her.”

Victoria’s voice remained calm. ℴ

“You know how this looks. Everything points to you. If you accuse me now, what do you think people will believe?”

Daisy cursed her.

Victoria gave a soft laugh.

“Besides, Derick believes me when it comes to Sophia.”

There was something chilling in the way she said it.

“What exactly are you to him compared with me?”

The recording continued.

“You’d be better off keeping quiet.”

Victoria’s tone remained almost conversational.

“Because if you come forward with an accusation of premeditated murder, you’ll be putting yourself in serious legal trouble.”

Daisy’s breathing became erratic.

“Instead of worrying about exposing me, we should both leave this alone.”

A pause.

“Sophia is dead.”

Victoria’s voice was almost gentle.

“The authorities ruled it a suicide. Why ruin both our lives over something that’s already over?”

The recording ended.

Silence.

Absolute silence.

No one in the hospital room moved.

Victoria’s voice had been soft.

Controlled.

Almost kind.

And yet every word had been poisonous.

Derick stood frozen.

The recording played again in his mind.

Over and over.

Sophia had tried to tell him.

She had stood in front of him and asked whether he believed her.

And he’d chosen Victoria.

He’d called Sophia irrational.

He’d accused her of jealousy.

He’d believed the woman who had been lying to him.

And now he was finally hearing the truth.

The truth he’d spent more than twenty years refusing to face.

It cut through him with brutal precision.

He had lost Sophia.

And he’d lost her believing she was the one who had been wrong.