“Since everyone wants the whole truth… then Alexandre deserves to hear the final piece.”
She glared at Béatrice.
“Something even you don’t know.”
Béatrice narrowed her eyes.
“What are you talking about?”
Inès smiled weakly.
She tossed the envelope onto the table.
“The reason your son was targeted from day one…”
She paused.
“Was never your money.”
Silence.
“It was his identity.”
Alexandre caught his breath,
Because inside that envelope…
Lay a document revealing an even deeper secret:
A secret surrounding his birth—
And this time,
Even Béatrice was completely unprepared for what was to come.
To be continued…
Chapter 6 — A Mother’s Justice and a New Family
The envelope resting on the table seemed to carry far more weight than a mere stack of paper.
Nobody spoke.
Even the guests who had been murmuring moments earlier were now entirely struck dumb.
Everyone waited,
Waiting to discover what Inès Valmont had been concealing all along.
Alexandre stared at the envelope, hesitant to touch it.
He had already confronted too many revelations in a single evening:
The woman he loved had deceived him;
His wedding had been reduced to a strategic acquisition;
His family history was nothing like he had imagined.
Now, he was forced to weather yet another shockwave.
“Open it,” Inès whispered.
Her voice had lost every trace of warmth;
It was no longer the voice of a bride-to-be,
It was the tone of someone looking to detonate one last explosive.
Alexandre slowly picked up the envelope.
He looked toward his mother.
Béatrice said nothing;
She knew she could no longer shield her son from the truth.
Sometimes, truly loving someone means allowing them to confront reality firsthand.
Alexandre pulled out the document.
His eyes skimmed the opening lines,
And his face fell.
“No…”
Béatrice stepped closer.
“What is it?”
Alexandre did not answer right away.
He reread the document several times, searching for an error,
Yet there was none.
“It’s a deed of succession.”
Thomas Leroux took the document.
After a few seconds, his expression turned grave.
“This document pertains to your biological father.”
Every eye shifted toward Antoine.
The older man remained silent,
As though he had known this reckoning was inevitable.
Alexandre looked up.
“Why is my name appearing on Marc Valmont’s legal filings?”
The question sent a shiver through Béatrice,
Because she understood immediately:
Inès had not just uncovered a secret;
She had unearthed a chapter of the story that even Béatrice had never known.
“Explain this, Inès.”
The young woman remained silent for a beat,
Then offered a faint smirk.
“Finally, you’re asking the right questions.”
She looked at Béatrice.
“Did you honestly believe your son was merely the heir to your family’s estate?”
Béatrice frowned.
“What are you talking about?”
Inès replied,
“Alexandre is not merely your son.”
She paused deliberately.
“He is tied to one of the largest family fortunes in France.”
A low murmur rolled through the room.
Alexandre shook his head.
“That makes no sense.”
Inès pressed on,
“Marc Valmont knew it all along. That is why he targeted you.”
In that moment, everything clicked for Béatrice.
She realized why Inès had been so persistent in infiltrating their lives,
Why she had been so patient,
Why she had waited two full years before ever bringing up marriage:
She was not merely targeting Béatrice;
She was securing a gateway into an ancestral trust.
Antoine, however, cut in.
For the first time since arriving, his voice was steely.
“You are lying.”
Everyone turned toward him.
Inès scoffed.
“You’re hardly in a position to lecture anyone on honesty.”
Antoine clenched his fists.
“You don’t know the entire story.”
He turned to Alexandre.
“The father who raised you did so out of pure love. Yet before he passed away, he tracked me down.”
Alexandre stood transfixed.
“Why?”
Antoine answered gently,
“Because he wanted to right an injustice.”
Antoine then explained what he had uncovered:
Years ago, Marc Valmont had attempted to seize legal deeds belonging to Alexandre’s biological lineage—
An estate that had once encompassed extensive real estate holdings and major capital investments.
When Antoine’s parents passed away, however, that inheritance became locked in probate.
Marc discovered the existence of those deeds,
And he realized that Alexandre was the sole legal beneficiary capable of claiming them.
Yet he could never access them,
Because Alexandre was protected
By Béatrice.
Alexandre turned to his mother.
“Did you know about this?”
Béatrice shook her head.
“No.”
She took a slow, steady breath.
“I only knew there were unresolved affairs regarding your biological father. Yet I never attempted to pursue any of it.”
She looked at her son.
“I never wanted your identity to be defined by wealth or power.”
Those words struck Alexandre to his core,
Because he finally understood:
His mother had never withheld a privilege;
She had spared him a lifelong burden.
Inès stepped back slightly,
Sensing control slipping entirely out of her hands.
“You can keep playing the picture-perfect family all you want,”
She grabbed her handbag.
“It doesn’t change anything.”
Alexandre looked at her squarely.
“You only intended to marry me to get your hands on that estate.”
It was not a question;
It was a verdict.
Inès’s eyes flashed with anger.
“At the start, yes.”
A sudden hush fell over the room.
She had admitted it outright.
Even Béatrice was taken aback.
Inès continued,
“Only at the beginning.”
Alexandre stood motionless.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
For the first time, Inès hesitated.
Her expression softened slightly;
A fraction of her cold exterior fell away.
“Because after playing a part for so long… I started to feel something real.”
No one had anticipated that confession.
Even Alexandre was at a loss for words.
Béatrice, however, remained guarded,
Knowing an essential truth:
A belated feeling cannot erase decisions that shattered trust.
Just then, judicial police officers entered the hall.
Several guests murmured in surprise.
Monsieur Vaneau explained quietly,
“Madame Delorme requested a formal legal audit prior to the ceremony.”
An investigator stepped forward.
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