No wonder Grace had asked Rose to come.
Rose had been one of the people directly involved. Someone had tried to frame her for the crash, and Grace wanted her in the room when everyone laid their cards on the table.
The accusation landed exactly as Rose expected.
Victoria went pale.
Almost instinctively, she reached for Derick’s arm.
She’d known this was coming.
Derick frowned.
"That’s a serious accusation, Daisy. Be careful."
Daisy glanced at Victoria clinging to him before turning back.
"I’m telling the truth."
Her voice was calm, almost cold.
"Think about it. Samantha was finally being welcomed back into the Taylor family, and suddenly someone tries to kill her. Who benefits from stopping that?"
Samantha looked at Victoria, tears shimmering in her eyes.
"I know you hate me."
Her voice barely rose above a whisper.
"My mother told me what happened all those years ago. It was because my biological mother took me away, and everything fell apart after that. You were never truly accepted into this family... and you lost your baby."
Victoria’s face tightened.
Samantha lowered her gaze.
"You hated my mother."
She looked up again.
"And you’ve hated me ever since."
The room fell silent.
Old wounds had a way of making everyone forget to breathe.
Rose stayed quiet.
She wasn’t about to interrupt.
Not yet.
Samantha continued.
"After the miscarriage, the doctors said you’d never have another child."
She met Victoria’s eyes.
"So tell me... who here has a stronger reason to want me gone?"
No one answered.
The story wasn’t exactly a secret.
Years ago, when Derick’s affair came to light, Victoria had shown up pregnant.
Sophia—still recovering after giving birth herself—had confronted them.
The argument spiraled out of control.
Sophia demanded a divorce.
Derick refused.
Somewhere in the chaos, Victoria was injured.
She lost the baby.
The damage was permanent.
Whether anyone remembered every detail hardly mattered.
Everyone remembered how it ended.
From the outside, Victoria had a motive.
Rose understood exactly what Samantha was doing.
She wasn’t proving anything.
She was building a narrative.
Piece by piece.
Samantha turned toward Rose.
"Everyone knows Rose and I don’t exactly get along."
A bitter smile crossed her face.
"So you used a G.S. company car. If someone wanted a suspect, Rose would’ve been the obvious choice."
Then she faced Victoria again.
"You know how my mother died. If I came back into this family, your life would’ve become a lot more complicated."
She held Victoria’s gaze.
"You were afraid I’d take your place... weren’t you?"
"I would never do that!"
Victoria’s voice cracked.
Tears spilled down her cheeks as she looked desperately at Grace.
"Please... you have to believe me."
Grace remained expressionless.
She didn’t say a word.
Derick looked trapped.
His newly found daughter stood on one side.
The woman who had spent more than twenty years beside him stood on the other.
Finally, he broke the silence.
"Maybe we’re getting ahead of ourselves."
He looked at Victoria.
"She’s not capable of something like this."
His voice softened.
"She’s always been kind. And considering her health..."
He shook his head.
"We shouldn’t assume the worst."
He looked around the room.
"Ryan’s already investigating what happened. Soon we’ll know whether someone tampered with the car or whether this was nothing more than a tragic accident."
After a pause, he added quietly, "I hoped we could settle this privately... for the family’s sake."
Samantha let out a short, humorless laugh.
Daisy immediately pushed back her chair.
"If this ends up with the police, there won’t be anything private about it."
She turned toward Rose.
"G.S. isn’t going to ignore someone sabotaging one of its vehicles."
Her eyes shifted back to Victoria.

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