Chapter 7 - Clara Discovered Her Father Had Been Kidnapped Because the Real Enemy Was Someone Nobody Had SuspectedMatteo had been taken from a guarded hospital.
There were no broken cameras.
No missing guards.
No signs of forced entry.
Whoever took him had walked through the front door.
Dominic knew immediately.
Someone inside the system.
Clara suspected someone else.
“Check the trust's legal team.”
Dominic looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because whoever did this knew exactly what documents we had.”
They investigated.
One lawyer disappeared.
Then another.
Then the foundation's financial officer.
Clara noticed a pattern.
Every person who vanished had attended the same meeting.
A meeting chaired by a woman named Helena Ward.
Dominic knew the name.
“She's my father's former attorney.”
Clara's eyes narrowed.
“That's not all.”
“What?”
“She represented my mother's company.”
Dominic froze.
“She was there twenty-three years ago.”
“Yes.”
“Then she knows everything.”
They found Helena at an old country estate.
She didn't fight.
She invited them inside.
“I wondered when you would come.”
Dominic raised his weapon.
“Where is Matteo?”
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“Nearby.”
Clara stepped forward.
“What do you want?”
Helena smiled.
“To finish what your mother started.”
“My mother?”
“She wanted the empire gone.”
Clara stared.
“And you?”
“I wanted it controlled.”
“Why?”
“Because someone needs to keep dangerous men from destroying cities.”
Dominic laughed bitterly.
“You think you're saving people.”
“I know I am.”
“You kidnapped my father.”
“He agreed to come.”
Clara froze.
“What?”
Helena opened a door.
Matteo sat inside.
Alive.
Calm.
He looked at Clara.
“I came willingly.”
“Why?”
“Because Helena had the final ledger.”
“The final ledger?”
Matteo nodded.
“The one your mother hid.”
Clara stared.
The ledger proved who had ordered the fire.
Not Victor.
Not Richard.
Not even her grandfather.
Someone else.
Someone who had been behind all of them.
Matteo looked at Dominic.
“Your mother.”
Dominic froze.
“My mother?”
“Yes.”
Clara stared.
“She survived.”
Dominic shook his head.
“She died.”
“Not that night.”
“What?”
Matteo explained.
His mother had orchestrated the entire family war.
She wanted control.
She had used Victor.
Used Richard.
Used Dominic's father.
Used Matteo.
She had manipulated Elena.
The fire had been part of a larger plan.
She wanted Clara because Clara was the legal heir.
Dominic had been kept ignorant because he was easier to control when grieving.
Clara whispered:
“Where is she?”
Helena pointed toward a photograph.
A woman.
Older now.
Living under another name.
Dominic stared.
His mother was alive.
He had buried an empty coffin.
His entire childhood had been constructed around a lie.
He looked at Clara.
“I am sorry.”
She took his hand.
“This isn't your fault.”
He closed his eyes.
“I spent my life trying to become nothing like her.”
“You succeeded.”
He looked at her.
“How do you know?”
“Because you had the power to become her.”
“And you chose not to.”
He smiled sadly.
“Only because of you.”
Clara squeezed his hand.
Then Helena spoke.
“She wants to meet you.”
Dominic went still.
May you like
“Where?”
“Tomorrow.”
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