Chapter 7 - The Sister Everyone Thought Was Dead
I couldn't speak.
Dominic stared at the photograph.
His sister.
Alive.
It was impossible.
Silas explained that Elena had survived the attack eight years ago.
Her death had been staged.
“She saw too much,” he said.
“So you hid her.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because you would have gone looking for her.”
Dominic's eyes filled with anger.
“That was my sister.”
“I was trying to save her.”
“You let me mourn her.”
Silas lowered his eyes.
“I know.”
Then another voice came from behind us.
“Dominic?”
He turned.
Elena stood in the doorway.
Same eyes.
Older face.
Scar along her jaw.
Alive.
Dominic froze.
Then crossed the room.
She cried when he hugged her.
I stepped away.
This wasn't my moment.
But something unexpected happened.
Elena looked at me.
“You're Emma.”
“Yes.”
She smiled through tears.
“Mother talked about you constantly.”
I swallowed.
“She did?”
“She loved you.”
Elena told us the full story.
My mother had helped stage her death.
Silas had moved Elena between safe houses.
Marcus had been assigned as protector.
But Marcus betrayed them.
He had been sending information to Arthur Kane.
That explained the photographs.
Dominic's face hardened.
“Where is Marcus now?”
Elena looked at him.
“He works for Silas.”
Silas stiffened.
“No.”
Elena nodded.
“He has been playing both sides.”
Silas's face turned pale.
“He knows about the trust.”
“And the key,” I whispered.
Elena looked at me.
“Yes.”
That was why everyone wanted me.
The final access code was hidden in my memory.
A phrase my mother had repeated during childhood.
Bluebird.
Dominic looked at me.
“What did your mother tell you about that word?”
I remembered.
“You'll know when you're ready.”
I had always thought she meant adulthood.
Now I understood.
The code was not a word.
It was a song.
The song I had been singing in the mansion.
The one Dominic had caught me performing.
My mother had taught it to me as a child.
The melody was the password to the trust's encrypted account.
Dominic stared.
“So your singing…”
“Was the key.”
He laughed softly.
“All that time, you were carrying the secret.”
I smiled.
“Apparently.”
Then the lights went out.
Silas cursed.
Elena drew a weapon.
A voice echoed through the dark.
“Thank you.”
Marcus.
He stepped into the room.
Gun raised.
“I knew one of you would remember.”
Dominic stood in front of me.
“You betrayed everyone.”
Marcus shook his head.
“I survived.”
“You used Emma.”
“No.”
Marcus looked at me.
“I protected her.”
“You tracked her.”
“Because Kane wanted her dead.”
Dominic frowned.
“What are you talking about?”
Marcus lowered his weapon.
“Kane isn't the real enemy.”
He pointed toward Silas.
“Silas is.”
Silas stared.
Elena stepped forward.
“That's a lie.”
Marcus laughed.
“Ask him why your mother had no choice but to make the trust.”
Silas looked exhausted.
He finally admitted the truth.
He had once been part of the same criminal organization as Dominic's father.
He had helped build it.
Then he tried to leave.
The trust was his way of protecting the legal businesses from the organization.
But his father wanted more.
Silas had been responsible for many deaths.
Including some people connected to Emma's family.
My stomach turned.
“You knew my mother before she worked for your brother.”
“Yes.”
“You used her.”
“I loved her.”
I shook my head.
“Love doesn't excuse what you did.”
He lowered his eyes.
“No.”
Dominic looked at him.
“You created the system that killed Elena.”
Silas nodded.
“And I've spent years trying to destroy it.”
Marcus raised his gun again.
“Enough.”
The gunshot came before anyone moved.
Silas fell.
Elena screamed.
Dominic pulled me behind the table.
Marcus ran.
But he left one thing behind.
A phone.
I picked it up.
On the screen was a live call.
A man's voice whispered.
“Tell Dominic his father is waiting.”
The screen displayed a location.
The old Vale estate.
May you like
Dominic looked at me.
“It's time.”
