Chapter 4 - The next morning, Maeve was forbidden to leave the mansion.Not because Elias wanted to imprison her.
Because someone had tried to kill her.
That distinction did not make her feel safer.
She stood in the breakfast room staring at the untouched coffee in front of her.
“What happens to my brother?”
Elias sat across from her.
“He's safe.”
“You said that yesterday.”
“He is.”
“You expect me to believe you?”
“Yes.”
Maeve almost laughed.
“You don't even trust me.”
“No.”
“Then why should I trust you?”
Elias lifted his cup.
“You shouldn't.”
That answer silenced her.
Maeve looked at him.
“You're strange.”
“I've heard worse.”
“Do you always answer questions like that?”
“When the truth is unpleasant.”
She pushed her coffee away.
“Tell me who is after me.”
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
“Because if you know, you'll behave differently.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means fear changes people.”
Maeve leaned forward.
“You've spent your life studying fear.”
“Yes.”
“Then why are you afraid?”
Elias stopped moving.
Maeve regretted the question immediately.
But his face had already changed.
“I'm not.”
“You are.”
A long silence.
Finally, Elias said:
“My father was murdered when I was nineteen.”
Maeve listened.
“Everyone blamed the Capellos. Everyone was wrong.”
“Who killed him?”
“I never found out.”
“And you think it's connected to this?”
“I know it is.”
Maeve slowly sat back.
“Why?”
“Because the same symbol was found near my father's body.”
“What symbol?”
Elias touched the onyx ring.
“A black circle.”
Maeve frowned.
Then remembered something.
The old Ashford house.
A painting in the upstairs hallway.
A small black circle carved into the frame.
“You're sure?”
Elias looked at her.
“Why?”
“I've seen it.”
His expression sharpened.
“Where?”
“At the Ashford house.”
Silence.
“Show me.”
Maeve took out her phone.
She had photographed the painting months earlier because the frame had looked strange.
She opened the image.
Elias stared at it.
His face went pale.
“Who owns this painting?”
“Margaret.”
“When did she buy it?”
“I don't know.”
Elias took the phone.
Zoomed in.
There, carved beneath the frame, was the black circle.
His fingers tightened around the device.
“Gabriel.”
The security chief entered immediately.
“Yes?”
“Bring me every transaction Margaret Ashford made involving artwork during the last twenty years.”
Gabriel nodded.
Then Elias looked at Maeve.
“You are going back.”
Maeve's eyes widened.
“To the Ashford house?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Tonight.”
“You're insane.”
“Probably.”
“You just told me someone tried to kill me.”
“I know.”
“And now you're sending me back?”
“No.”
He stood.
“You're not going alone.”
That evening, Maeve returned to the Ashford mansion.
This time, she arrived in a black car surrounded by armed escorts.
Margaret was waiting.
So was Sienna.
The moment Sienna saw Maeve, her expression changed.
“What is she doing here?”
Margaret looked at Elias.
“She is family.”
Sienna laughed.
“She's a housekeeper.”
Maeve felt the insult like a slap.
Elias stepped beside her.
“She was.”
Sienna stared at him.
“You brought her here?”
“Yes.”
“To replace me?”
“No.”
Elias's eyes moved toward her.
“You replaced yourself.”
Sienna's face went white.
Margaret stepped between them.
“This is unnecessary.”
Elias looked at her.
“No. This is overdue.”
Maeve noticed something.
Margaret's right hand was shaking.
Just slightly.
Why?
Then Sienna looked at Maeve.
“You really think pretending to be my sister will save you?”
Maeve remained silent.
Sienna stepped closer.
“You don't belong here.”
Maeve looked at her.
“Neither do you.”
Sienna's eyes widened.
Elias almost smiled.
Margaret interrupted.
“Enough.”
But Maeve had already noticed something else.
A small scar on Sienna's wrist.
Three thin lines.
Maeve had seen the same mark somewhere before.
On the man who attacked Elias.
Her breath caught.
Elias noticed.
“What?”
Maeve whispered.
“That mark.”
Sienna immediately covered her wrist.
“It's nothing.”
Elias stepped forward.
“Show me.”
“No.”
“Sienna.”
She backed away.
Margaret's face suddenly looked terrified.
Elias grabbed Sienna's wrist.
The scar was visible.
Three parallel lines.
Gabriel touched the radio at his ear.
“Sir.”
Elias turned.
“What?”
“We have a problem.”
“What kind?”
“Someone entered the estate through the north gate.”
“Who?”
Gabriel's face hardened.
“We have a face.”
He handed Elias a tablet.
The security footage showed a man entering the Ashford grounds.
Maeve stared.
She knew him.
He had worked for Margaret.
He had delivered groceries.
He had driven her brother to school once.
But there was something else.
A tattoo visible on his neck.
The black circle.
Elias slowly looked toward Margaret.
“Who is he?”
She said nothing.
“Margaret.”
Still nothing.
Elias's voice dropped.
“Who is he?”
Margaret finally whispered.
“My husband.”
Maeve froze.
“That is impossible.”
Margaret's husband had died fifteen years earlier.
Everyone in Chicago knew that.
Margaret looked at Elias.
“He didn't die.”
The room fell silent.
Sienna began crying.
And then the man on the security feed turned toward the camera.
May you like
He smiled.
As if he knew they were watching.
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