Chapter 12 - Charlotte lowered the gun.Eleanor couldn't move.
“Why?”
Charlotte's eyes filled with tears.
“Because I was told I had to.”
“You shot him.”
“I didn't know it would hit him.”
Luca raised his weapon.
“Drop it.”
Charlotte obeyed.
She sank to her knees.
“I didn't want this.”
Eleanor stared.
“Who threatened you?”
“Everyone.”
“What does that mean?”
Charlotte looked toward Charles.
“Dad knew.”
Charles closed his eyes.
Charlotte continued.
“They took Victoria.”
Eleanor froze.
“Where is she?”
“I don't know.”
“Who took her?”
Charlotte shook.
“Richard.”
Luca frowned.
“He took her months ago.”
Eleanor's blood went cold.
Months.
While everyone believed Victoria was simply traveling.
Charlotte looked at Eleanor.
“He told me that if I didn't cooperate, Victoria would die.”
“Cooperate with what?”
“Watching you.”
Eleanor stared.
“Everything I did.”
Charlotte nodded.
“Where you went. Who you met. What you bought. What you knew.”
Eleanor felt betrayed.
Her own sister.
Charlotte began crying.
“I tried to warn you.”
“When?”
“The night you first met Luca.”
Eleanor remembered.
Charlotte had called her.
Then hung up.
“You said someone was watching.”
“I couldn't tell you.”
“Why?”
“Because Richard was listening.”
Suddenly Adrian coughed.
Everyone turned.
The bullet had missed his heart.
He was alive.
Luca helped him sit upright.
Adrian looked at Charlotte.
“Where is your sister?”
Charlotte whispered:
“Blackwell Tower.”
Eleanor looked at Luca.
“Then we go there.”
“No,” Adrian said.
“You're injured.”
“That's not why.”
He grabbed Eleanor's wrist.
“Blackwell Tower is where Richard wants you.”
“Then we'll surprise him.”
Adrian shook his head.
“Richard expects courage.”
Eleanor looked at him.
“He expects you to underestimate him.”
Adrian smiled faintly.
“You sound like your mother.”
They planned the assault.
Not with an army.
With a single objective.
Recover Victoria.
Find the original ledger.
And force Richard into the open.
Blackwell Tower stood in downtown Chicago.
Forty-eight floors of black glass.
Publicly, it belonged to an investment firm.
Privately, it controlled shipping contracts across three continents.
Luca's team entered through the service tunnels.
Eleanor used her controlling ownership rights to trigger a temporary corporate freeze.
All accounts connected to Blackwell stopped processing.
Phones started ringing.
Banks panicked.
News outlets began reporting a massive financial disruption.
Richard finally appeared on the building's top floor.
“Eleanor.”
She stepped through the doors.
Victoria was tied to a chair.
Richard stood beside her.
“Let her go.”
“You know I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because you haven't signed.”
He placed a document on the table.
“Transfer your controlling interest.”
Eleanor stared at it.
“Then my sister walks free?”
Richard smiled.
“Yes.”
Eleanor approached.
Luca whispered:
“Don't.”
Richard looked at him.
“You always were difficult.”
Luca stared.
“You know who I am.”
Richard laughed.
“I know exactly who you are.”
He turned to Eleanor.
“Your father's second son.”
Luca stiffened.
“What?”
Richard shook his head.
“You think Elena's bloodline makes you special.”
He pointed to the document.
“But the real heir isn't Eleanor.”
The elevator doors opened.
Marco Moretti stepped inside.
Luca's face changed.
Richard smiled.
“Ask your father.”
Marco looked at Eleanor.
Then Luca.
And finally Victoria.
“The truth is,” Marco said,
“Eleanor isn't my niece.”
Luca stared.
Marco continued.
May you like
“She is my daughter.”
Eleanor's world stopped.
