Chapter 14 - The Man in the CellarWe found my father beneath the original Marlowe House.
Not dead.
Not gone.
Locked inside a hidden room.
Seventy-two years old.
Weak.
Thin.
Alive.
When he saw me, he cried.
"Sarah."
I ran to him.
"Dad?"
He touched my face.
"You came back."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I tried."
"Why did you let me believe you were dead?"
He closed his eyes.
"Because Odette had someone inside your life."
"Who?"
He looked at Felix.
"Not him."
Felix stepped closer.
"Then who?"
My father whispered:
"Celeste."
Felix froze.
"No."
My father nodded.
"Celeste was working for Odette."
I felt sick.
"She was?"
"She was the one who monitored Sarah after she left."
Felix looked shattered.
"Then why help us?"
"Because she learned Odette planned to kill Lily."
Celeste had not betrayed us.
Not entirely.
She had been trying to escape.
My father continued.
"Odette had one weakness."
"What?"
"She believed everyone could be bought."
"And Celeste?"
"She couldn't."
I looked toward Felix.
He was silent.
My father reached beneath his bed.
He pulled out a small box.
"Inside is the final key."
I opened it.
A USB drive.
"What is this?"
"Everything."
The financial records.
The forged contracts.
The blackmail files.
The medical records.
The evidence against Odette.
And one final recording.
I opened it.
Odette appeared on screen.
She was sitting in the same office where she had been found dead.
"Daniel thinks he has won."
She laughed.
"He doesn't know the last part."
She looked directly into the camera.
"Sarah will choose."
My heart stopped.
"She always does."
Odette continued.
"She will choose Lily over the company."
The screen changed.
A legal document appeared.
HEIR RENUNCIATION AGREEMENT.
Odette smiled.
"And when Sarah signs this, the trust transfers to the next surviving heir."
Felix stared.
"Next heir?"
The final page appeared.
CELeste Arden.
I went cold.
Celeste.
The woman wearing Felix's engagement ring.
The woman who had stayed.
The woman who had supposedly helped us.
My father's voice whispered:
"Celeste is not the heir."
He pointed to the document.
"Look at the legal name."
I stared.
Celeste Marlowe Arden.
Marlowe.
My blood ran cold.
"She's your daughter?"
My father nodded.
"Your sister."
The room went silent.
Felix stepped backward.
"Then Rachel..."
"Is the third heir."
"And Sarah?"
"The first."
I stared at the documents.
Odette had built an empire around a family secret.
Not one heir.
Three.
And every one of us could claim Marlowe House.
A loud crash came from upstairs.
My father looked terrified.
"They found us."
Felix reached for his weapon.
"Who?"
A voice echoed down the hallway.
"Sarah."
My stomach dropped.
Celeste appeared at the cellar entrance.
Her eyes were full of tears.
"I'm sorry."
May you like
She raised a gun.
"You're going to sign."
