Chapter 8 - The Enemy Who Knew Marin Best
Celia Ward finally appeared after months of searching.
She sent a letter.
Not to August.
To Marin.
Meet me where you lost Dela.
The burned house.
Marin returned there.
The building stood abandoned.
Charred beams had been replaced by weeds.
She walked through the ruins using her cane.
Every sound brought back memories.
Smoke.
Glass.
Dela shouting.
Footsteps.
Then Celia spoke.
“You've become harder to fool.”
Marin turned.
“Who are you?”
“Someone who knows what happened.”
“Then talk.”
Celia stepped closer.
She revealed that the fire was part of a much larger plan.
Dela had started it to hide Adrian's evidence.
But Celia had been the person who told Adrian where to find the records.
She had been working undercover against August's father.
The person manipulating everyone had been August's father's political partner.
A man who had never been suspected because he presented himself as a respectable philanthropist.
Henry Vale.
Henry had used the Rail family to move money.
He had ordered the attacks.
He had arranged the forged medical records.
He had even arranged the false report of Dela's death.
But there was one final revelation.
Henry had ordered the fire to kill both sisters.
Dela had unknowingly saved Marin by starting it earlier than planned.
Marin stood motionless.
The person she had blamed for three years had accidentally saved her life.
The truth did not erase the pain.
But it changed its shape.
Celia gave her a final file.
“Henry is coming for August.”
“Why?”
“He believes August has the original ledger.”
Marin realized the truth.
They had never recovered the complete evidence.
Someone had one final piece.
Her sister.
Dela.
Dela knew where Adrian had hidden it.
Marin rushed home.
The house was empty.
August was gone.
His phone lay on the table.
A message appeared.
BRING THE LEDGER TO THE OLD THEATER.
Marin’s hands shook.
Henry had him.
She went anyway.
Dela tried to stop her.
“No.”
“I can't leave him.”
“You'll walk into the same trap.”
Marin looked at her sister.
“Three years ago, I lost you.”
Dela cried.
“I can't lose you again.”
“You won't.”
“How do you know?”
Marin touched Dela's cheek.
“Because this time, I can hear the danger coming.”
At the old theater, Henry waited.
August was tied to a chair.
His heart was racing.
Marin heard it from across the room.
“August.”
“Don't come closer.”
Henry smiled.
“You've always been useful, Marin.”
She turned toward him.
“You wanted me to find the ledger.”
“Yes.”
“You wanted August to think his father was responsible for everything.”
“Yes.”
“And you wanted Dela to believe she was guilty.”
Henry's smile faded.
Marin stepped forward.
“You built our fear.”
“Yes.”
“You assumed fear would make us predictable.”
Henry frowned.
“But you forgot something.”
“What?”
“I lost my sight.”
She smiled.
“So I learned to listen.”
Marin heard Henry's men shifting.
She counted.
Seven.
Eight.
Then she heard another sound.
Police sirens.
Henry froze.
Celia had called them.
August smiled for the first time.
“You should have left.”
Henry reached for a gun.
Marin shouted.
The police stormed the building.
Henry was captured.
August was freed.
But the final battle was not over.
Because in Henry's pocket was a photograph.
It showed the fire.
And behind the flames stood a child.
Marin.
A small version of herself.
Someone had taken the photograph before the fire.
Henry had been watching her family for years.
The mystery was finally complete.
But Marin had one question.
“Why me?”
Henry looked at her.
“Because your mother had something I wanted.”
“What?”
“Her music.”
Marin frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Henry smiled bitterly.
“She left something inside the piano.”
The Bösendorfer.
Again.
May you like
The instrument that had brought them together.
The instrument that had carried a secret for decades.
