Chapter 152 Finding out the truth

Chapter 152 Finding out the truth
A DAY AGO

Mr. Roger forced his eyes back to look at his daughter, his expression filled with rage.

"Victoria, this is none of your business." He warned, trying to get her to drop the topic.

That wasn't the reason he wanted to talk to her.

He was angry because he had to find out from a third party through dirty means that his daughter had almost gotten hurt.

No.

He was angry because his daughter had gotten involved.

"Just do as I say and you wouldn't get hurt." He said, his tone calming down.

But Victoria wasn't letting her father walk out of the conversation, especially not with the suspicion she had.

She knew her father could be cruel and heartless, but he wasn't a murderer. Right?

"No, this is my business father because I already got hurt." Victoria stood her ground, shaking her head while looking her father in the eyes.

Her brain was working overtime, looking for reasons why her suspicion could be wrong, but it wasn't working. The more she tried to find an explanation that made sense, the more everything pointed in the same direction. There were too many things she had ignored before, too many little details she had brushed aside because she never thought there could be anything sinister behind them.

A scoff left her lips, Victoria crossed her hands over her chest. "You know, I keep wondering, why does my father want me to date Nelson Clark so bad?" She asked with a smile on her lips, one which didn't reach her eyes.

Mr. Roger's expression changed slightly, but Victoria noticed.

It was only for a second, but it was enough to make her suspicion grow.

Her father was never easy to read. He could sit across from someone and lie without even blinking, and Victoria had grown up watching him do exactly that. But she was his daughter. She knew the small changes in his expression, the way his jaw tightened whenever he was annoyed and the way his eyes shifted whenever a conversation touched something he didn't want to discuss.

Then she glanced at her mother... stepmother, who held her father's arm, acting like the arm candy she had always been.

The woman remained unusually quiet, her eyes moving between Victoria and her husband as though she was waiting to see where the conversation would go. She didn't look surprised by Victoria's accusation either, and that was another thing that didn't escape her notice.

After staying silent for over thirty seconds, she returned her gaze to her father.

"At first I thought that you just wanted me to date someone wealthy, in the line of wealth, but that's not it." Tori shook her head, she inhaled. "Especially not when you have a deep grudge towards that person."

Grudge was an understatement.

"You hate the Clarks." She spat, her face turning ugly. "Nelson father is like your nemesis, but who do you want me to date his son so bad?" Tori asked hypothetically, of course not expecting her ever tight-lipped father to respond.

She had asked the question, but she already knew she wouldn't get an answer.

Her father hated explaining himself, especially when he knew he had been caught doing something he shouldn't have. Instead, he would usually turn the situation around, make her feel like she was the one being unreasonable, and somehow make her regret asking in the first place.

But Victoria wasn't going to let that happen this time.

She waited a few seconds before speaking again.

"And then I think." Victoria released her crossed hands, bringing one over her jaw, imitating a thinking expression. "Ever since I started dating Nelson, you've gotten off my back. All you do is ask where I'm headed, and when I mention that it was to Nelson's place, that was it."

Her eyes flickered to her father.

She remembered all those times now.

The questions he used to ask whenever she left the house. The sudden lack of questions whenever she mentioned Nelson. The way he seemed perfectly satisfied as long as he knew she was going to see him. Back then, she had thought it was strange, but she hadn't thought too deeply about it.

Why would she?

She was just too happy about the little taste od freedom she had.

Now, looking at him, she realized how stupid that assumption had been.

"It almost felt like you were using me to watch him."

The words hung in the air between them.

Victoria watched her father's face carefully, waiting for even the smallest reaction. She didn't know what she wanted him to say anymore. A part of her wanted him to deny everything. She wanted him to look at her like she had completely lost her mind and tell her there was no way he would ever use his own daughter for something like that.

But another part of her already knew.

"So father, I'm going to ask you again and I want the truth from you." Victoria inhaled, dropping both her hands while looking her father straight in the eyes, her heart beating loudly in her chest at the possibility of her being right. "Did you have a hand in what happened two weeks ago?"

Her father's expression hardened immediately.

Before he could speak her mother attacked her.
"You nasty brat!" She yelled, giving Victoria a death glare. "Do you think your father would want to kill you? You..."

Victoria's heart jumped when her mother moved, looking like she wanted to hit her. But she didn't budge.

Then the words that followed made everything inside her go still.

"He was only meant to watch Nelson."

Mr. Rogers voice flowed into her ears. It had no an ounce of guilt, just a statement of fact.

Victoria stared at her father, her lips parting slightly.

For a moment, she didn't understand what he meant.

Then she did.

The suspicion she had been trying to push away suddenly became the truth standing directly in front of her.

"You began lying about your whereabouts Victoria. You weren't trustworthy anymore, so I needed someone else to watch that Clark boy."

Victoria felt something twist inside her.

So she had been right.

All those times her father asked where she was going, all those times he seemed strangely interested in Nelson, all those times he had stopped questioning her once she mentioned Nelson's name...

It had never been about trusting her.

He had been using her.

"So you did use me to stalk him." She almost stumbled backwards.

Her father... her father was the one responsible for everything. "B... But why? What has Nelson ever done to you?"

"That boy, of course he hadn't done anything to me." Mr. Rogers answered, his tone stiff. "But his family, his father..."

Victoria remained silent.

She had always known there was bad blood between their families, but she had never known the reason behind it. Her father had never given her a proper explanation. Whenever Jonathan Clark was mentioned, the atmosphere would change, and Victoria had learned not to ask questions.

But now, for the first time, it seemed like she was finally going to hear the truth.

Mr. Rogers unhooked his wife hands from his taking a step closer to his daughter. "Do you remember how your mother died?" He asked. Before Victoria could answer, he spoke again, answering for her. "You were so little when it happened."

Tori blinked.

What did her mother's death have to do with any of this?

"Years ago, well over a decade, we fell. Our business, our companies, your mother."