Chapter 12 - CHLOEChloe had never been unconscious.
The photograph had been staged.
She had entered Sterling through a hidden tunnel while the police surrounded the property.
Mason looked furious.
“I should have known.”
I shook my head.
“She fooled all of us.”
We reached the shipyard just before midnight.
Every light was on.
The warehouse doors stood open.
Inside, dozens of armed men stood around the central control room.
And Chloe stood among them.
No tears.
No fear.
No pregnancy.
She looked directly at me.
“Hello, sister.”
Mason stepped forward.
“You used me.”
“Yes.”
“The baby?”
She looked at him.
“The baby is safe.”
“Where?”
She smiled.
“Somewhere Julian can’t reach.”
I stared at her.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Because I’m tired of being the woman everyone underestimates.”
She explained everything.
She had known Julian since childhood.
She knew about the shipyard.
She knew about the ledger.
She knew about our parents.
But the greatest secret was not Julian.
It was our mother.
Elaine had ordered the first cover-up.
She had not been a helpless victim.
She had been part of the organization before she betrayed them.
My throat tightened.
“You helped them.”
“I helped your father.”
“To kill people?”
“To save you.”
Chloe stepped closer.
“You were born into a war you never understood.”
She pointed toward the control room.
“There is someone waiting for you.”
The doors opened.
Dr. Mercer walked out.
Beside him stood Julian.
His wrists were no longer cuffed.
He looked at me.
“I told you the choice mattered.”
I stared at Chloe.
“You're working with them.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“They're working for me.”
Mason looked stunned.
“What?”
Chloe smiled.
Then she pulled off her coat.
Her stomach was flat.
The pregnancy had been false.
My mind reeled.
“The baby was never real.”
“No.”
“Then whose genetic material did you steal?”
Chloe looked at Mason.
“We needed his DNA to convince the organization he was the second heir.”
“Why?”
“Because the first heir is you.”
She turned toward me.
“You are not just the heir to the company.”
She lowered her voice.
“You are the legal owner of the Black Compass trust.”
“Who made me the owner?”
Chloe smiled.
“Your father.”
Then Julian stepped forward.
“And now there’s only one final problem.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
He raised a gun.
“Mason knows where the evidence is.”
Mason froze.
Julian smiled.
“And he’s the only person here I still need alive.”
May you like
A gunshot exploded.
Mason fell.
