Chapter 5 - The BetrayalAt 2:13 a.m., Marcus Hale discovered the breach.
Someone had accessed three files.
Only three.
Clara's travel records.
The Bennett Trust structure.
And the murder archive.
Marcus called Daniel immediately.
"She's been compromised."
Daniel was already awake.
"How bad?"
"Bad enough."
They entered Clara's private office.
She was sitting behind the desk.
Calm.
Waiting.
"I know," she said.
Marcus stopped.
"You knew?"
"Not who."
Marcus looked at her.
"How?"
Clara pointed to the security camera.
"Because whoever accessed the system wanted us to notice."
Daniel understood.
"It was bait."
"Exactly."
Clara opened the third file.
The murder archive.
"It wasn't the archive they wanted."
"Then what?"
"The decoy inside it."
Marcus stared.
"You planted it?"
"Three days ago."
Daniel's expression changed.
Clara had deliberately inserted false evidence.
Now someone had stolen it.
"Meaning," she continued, "we have a leak."
Silence.
Three people remained in the room.
Daniel.
Marcus.
Clara.
Trust suddenly became expensive.
Then the lights went out.
A gunshot cracked through the darkness.
Marcus screamed.
Daniel reached for his weapon.
Another shot.
Then emergency lights flickered on.
Clara was gone.
Daniel ran toward the hallway.
A security door swung open.
A figure escaped through the back entrance.
Daniel chased him.
By the time he reached the alley, there was nothing.
Only a black glove lying on the pavement.
He picked it up.
Inside was a silver monogram.
V.S.
Victoria Sterling.
Daniel returned upstairs.
Marcus was holding his shoulder.
Blood had soaked his shirt.
"Where's Clara?"
Daniel looked around.
"She disappeared."
Marcus stared at him.
"Did they take her?"
Daniel didn't answer.
Across town, Clara sat inside another black vehicle.
The man driving wore a dark suit.
"That was close," he said.
Clara looked out the window.
"They were supposed to think you tried to kill Marcus."
He smiled.
"And did he believe it?"
"Not yet."
The man glanced at her.
"You're really doing this."
Clara's voice was cold.
"I'm not here to survive."
She opened a folder.
Inside were photographs.
Adrian.
Victoria.
Evelyn.
Daniel.
Marcus.
And one unfamiliar man.
Clara stopped on the final photograph.
"Who is he?"
The driver looked at it.
"Nobody."
Clara shook her head.
"No."
She tapped the photograph.
"He was inside my father's house the night he died."
The driver remained silent.
Clara looked at him.
"You've seen him before."
He finally spoke.
"Yes."
"Where?"
He swallowed.
"At the Sterling estate."
Clara's eyes narrowed.
"Who is he?"
The man hesitated.
"Adrian's older brother."
Clara stared.
"Adrian doesn't have a brother."
The driver looked at her.
"That's what everyone believes."
Clara slowly closed the folder.
For the first time in three years, genuine fear entered her eyes.
Because if Adrian's brother was alive...
May you like
then everything Clara believed about the Sterling family was wrong.
And someone had been lying about him for twenty years.
