Chapter 7 - THE WOMAN BEHIND THE MIRRORJulian was gone.
His apartment was empty.
His office was empty.
His private plane had left the country at 4:12 a.m.
Marcus called the authorities.
Nobody could stop him.
Not yet.
The board was divided.
Some directors wanted Julian removed.
Others claimed the evidence was manipulated.
The media had turned the story into a circus.
DEAD CEO'S WIFE RETURNS.
VANGUARD DYNASTY SHAKEN BY SECRET HEIR.
WHO IS THE MYSTERY WOMAN?
I ignored every headline.
I had one objective.
Find the woman in the photograph.
The airport footage gave us a partial name.
Lena Vale.
Not Isabella's daughter.
Not Elena.
Just Lena.
The trail led to a private residence outside the city.
The house was modest.
Too modest for someone carrying the bloodline of the man who built Vanguard.
I knocked.
Nothing.
I knocked again.
The door opened.
The woman from the photograph stood there.
She looked at me.
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then her eyes filled with tears.
"You look like him."
I stared.
"My father?"
She nodded.
"Unfortunately."
Marcus stepped forward.
"Are you Lena Vale?"
She smiled sadly.
"No."
She stepped aside.
"My real name is Anna Vale."
My stomach tightened.
"Your father called you Evelyn."
She froze.
"Who told you that name?"
"My mother."
Anna stared at me.
"Your mother knows?"
"She knows more than she ever told me."
Anna looked away.
"Come inside."
The living room contained almost nothing.
A table.
Two chairs.
A bookshelf.
And an old television.
On the wall hung one photograph.
My father.
I walked toward it.
He was younger.
Happy.
His arm was around Anna's mother.
I touched the frame.
"Why did he hide you?"
"Because he believed someone would kill me."
"Did he know who?"
Anna laughed bitterly.
"He thought he knew."
"Who?"
"My mother."
I closed my eyes.
"Everyone keeps saying that."
"Because it's true."
Anna sat down.
"My mother confronted him after discovering he had another child."
"Me."
She nodded.
"He was terrified she would reveal everything."
"What everything?"
Anna looked at Marcus.
"Your father had been laundering money."
Marcus stiffened.
"What?"
Anna smiled.
"Not for himself."
"For whom?"
She leaned forward.
"For the people who built Vanguard with him."
My father had always told me Vanguard began with a tiny office and a loan.
Maybe that story wasn't true.
Anna continued.
"Your father inherited a network of illegal assets."
"What kind?"
"I don't know all of it."
She opened a drawer.
"Only enough to know that Vanguard was never simply a corporation."
Inside was another black envelope.
My father's handwriting.
I took it.
"Why do you have this?"
"He gave it to me before he died."
I opened it.
A note.
IF CLARA EVER FINDS YOU, SHE IS READY.
I stared.
"What does that mean?"
Anna's eyes filled with tears.
"He knew you'd eventually uncover the truth."
"Why didn't he tell me?"
"Because he thought ignorance would keep you alive."
Marcus looked disturbed.
"Then why reveal it now?"
"Because Julian forced his hand."
Anna reached for another document.
"This is what Julian was really after."
A list of offshore accounts.
Names.
Dates.
Payments.
One account stood out.
THE HELIX FOUNDATION.
"What is Helix?"
Anna shook her head.
"An organization your father shut down."
"Why?"
"Because they were experimenting with genetic inheritance."
My stomach tightened.
"On whom?"
Anna looked at my stomach.
"Families."
The room went silent.
"The baby?"
"Possibly."
She pulled another paper toward me.
A biological profile.
My name.
Julian's name.
Elena's name.
Then a fourth name.
SUBJECT: C.V.
I stared.
"That's me."
Anna nodded.
"Your father wasn't protecting the company from Julian."
"He was protecting me."
"No."
She hesitated.
"He was protecting your child."
A noise came from outside.
A car door slammed.
Marcus stood.
"We're leaving."
Anna shook her head.
"Too late."
The lights went out.
Glass shattered.
Someone fired through the window.
I dropped behind the table.
Anna grabbed my arm.
Marcus pulled a weapon from beneath his coat.
Two shots.
Then silence.
We waited.
A voice came from outside.
"Clara."
Julian.
My blood froze.
He spoke through the darkness.
"You've been looking for your sister."
I stared toward the broken window.
"You found her."
Then he laughed.
"Now I'm going to take her away."
Anna looked at me.
Her face went white.
Because she knew something I didn't.
Julian didn't come for me.
May you like
He came for Anna.
And whatever was inside her blood was more valuable to him than my entire inheritance.
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