Chapter 5 - The Family Dinner That Became a Trap
Elena invited them to Christmas dinner.
It was a trap.
Everyone knew it.
They went anyway.
The Valente dining room had enough candles to make the walls glow.
Elena sat at the head of the table.
She was seventy, elegant, composed, and seemingly incapable of losing control.
Beside her sat several board members.
Marco was absent.
Anthony Rizzo was missing.
Victor Valente, Adrien's uncle, had come.
Daniel sat beside Adrien.
Elena's eyes landed on him.
She smiled.
“Daniel.”
Daniel said nothing.
“I had hoped you were dead.”
Adrien's hand tightened beneath the table.
Elena laughed softly.
“You always were sensitive.”
“You killed my mother,” Daniel said.
Elena looked at Clara.
“No.”
“Then tell her who did.”
Elena took a sip of wine.
“Your mother's death was unfortunate.”
Adrien stood.
“You will speak respectfully.”
Elena smiled.
“There he is.”
She pointed at him.
“The boy your father chose.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“He didn't choose him. He protected him.”
Elena's expression hardened.
“You know nothing.”
“Oh, I know everything.”
Daniel placed a folder on the table.
Elena stopped smiling.
Inside were copies of the old bank transfers.
Anthony Rizzo's records.
Marco's communications.
And one signed order.
Elena's signature.
Adrien looked at it.
“You ordered the hit.”
Elena said nothing.
Clara stepped closer.
“Why frame me?”
Elena finally looked at her.
“Because you were your mother's daughter.”
“That isn't an answer.”
“No.”
Elena leaned back.
“You were the only person who still had the courage to ask questions.”
Clara stared.
Elena continued.
“Do you know what happened after Rebecca died?”
“Tell me.”
“She hid the documents.”
“Where?”
Elena smiled.
“In the silver angel.”
Clara understood.
The angel wasn't just a key.
It contained proof.
But why had Elena wanted Clara blamed?
Because Clara had been brought into the estate specifically to create suspicion.
Her ruined finances made her easy to discredit.
A desperate woman.
A stranger.
An outsider.
Someone with a motive.
Except Elena hadn't expected Adrien to refuse the obvious answer.
She hadn't expected him to investigate.
She hadn't expected Daniel to return.
And she hadn't expected Clara to win Adrien's trust.
Elena slammed her hand against the table.
“You should have fired her.”
Adrien's voice was cold.
“I almost did.”
“And yet you didn't.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Adrien looked at Clara.
“Because she was honest.”
Elena laughed.
“Honesty will get you killed.”
Adrien stood.
“Maybe.”
He stepped closer.
“But fear already took eleven years from my family.”
Elena's face changed.
For the first time, she looked uncertain.
The lights suddenly went out.
Gunshots exploded.
People screamed.
Adrien pulled Clara down.
Daniel tackled Elena away from the table.
Security rushed inside.
The shooting ended in seconds.
When the lights returned, Victor was gone.
One board member lay injured.
Luca searched the room.
“Boss.”
Adrien looked up.
“What?”
“Clara is missing.”
Everything inside him stopped.
He turned.
She was gone.
A window stood open.
Snow blew into the dining room.
Adrien ran.
Outside, tire tracks cut across the fresh snow.
A vehicle disappeared through the estate gates.
Adrien's face became something terrifying.
“Lock every road.”
Luca grabbed the radio.
Adrien stopped him.
“No.”
Luca stared.
Adrien looked at the road.
“They expect us to chase them.”
Daniel nodded.
“So what do we do?”
Adrien's voice was calm.
“We let them think they've won.”
Clara woke in darkness.
Her hands were tied.
She recognized the room.
An old greenhouse.
She had seen it once during the gala preparations.
A voice came from behind her.
“Your mother was clever.”
Elena.
Clara looked at her.
“Why am I here?”
“You're leverage.”
“Against Adrien?”
“Yes.”
“He'll come.”
Elena smiled.
“I know.”
Clara looked around.
There were no guards.
No obvious escape.
Then she noticed something.
A Christmas lantern hanging near the door.
Its wire had been cut.
She remembered her mother's words.
Never trust the obvious exit.
Trust the thing nobody notices.
Clara quietly shifted her chair.
The leg scraped against the floor.
Elena turned.
Clara stopped.
“Why did you come back here?” Clara asked.
Elena paused.
“This house belonged to your grandfather.”
“My grandfather?”
Elena's expression darkened.
“Your mother never told you.”
“Tell me.”
“Your father worked for my brother.”
“Edward Whitmore?”
“Yes.”
Clara's heart jumped.
Her father had supposedly died when she was eleven.
Elena smiled.
“He knew where the money went.”
“Where?”
“Your mother took it.”
Clara shook her head.
“You're lying.”
“Am I?”
Elena walked closer.
“She took the original trust documents and hid them.”
“Why would she?”
“To protect you.”
Clara stared.
“What are you talking about?”
Elena's smile disappeared.
“Because your mother knew someday you would become the person standing between me and everything I wanted.”
The greenhouse door exploded inward.
Adrien.
He moved fast.
Guards rushed behind him.
Elena stepped backward.
Clara kicked her chair sideways.
Adrien caught her before she hit the ground.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
He cut the ropes.
“I'm sorry.”
“You don't have to apologize.”
“I should have protected you.”
“You did.”
He touched her face.
Then Daniel shouted.
“Elena!”
She had reached a hidden doorway.
Daniel chased her.
Elena escaped into the snow.
But she left something behind.
A key.
A Valente family seal.
Adrien picked it up.
Daniel looked at it.
“That's the key to the old chapel.”
Clara's heart raced.
Her mother had once mentioned a chapel.
The place where she had met Margaret on the last Christmas Eve of her life.
May you like
Adrien looked at Clara.
“We go tonight.”
