Chapter 7 - CLARANobody moved.
The hallway seemed to shrink around them.
Sarah stared at the locked maintenance door.
“Clara?”
Silence.
Then:
“Yes.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“No.”
The voice answered:
“You've spent twenty years saying that.”
Arthur looked at Daniel.
“Open it.”
Daniel hesitated.
“What if it's a trap?”
Arthur pointed at the door.
“Then we find out.”
Security guards arrived.
The lock was cut.
The door opened.
A woman stood inside.
Thin.
Pale.
Dark hair.
Her eyes looked strangely familiar.
Daniel staggered backward.
“Clara.”
The woman smiled weakly.
“Hello, little brother.”
Daniel's eyes filled with tears.
“I thought you were dead.”
“I almost was.”
Sarah stared.
“You were in the mansion.”
Clara nodded.
“For weeks.”
“Why?”
“Because I needed proof.”
Arthur asked:
“Proof of what?”
Clara looked toward Daniel.
“That Eleanor murdered our father.”
Daniel froze.
“What?”
Clara reached into her coat.
Pulled out a file.
“He discovered the trust.”
She handed it to Arthur.
“Then he discovered she was using shell companies to control the inheritance.”
Arthur opened the file.
Bank records.
Transfers.
Witness statements.
Photos.
Daniel read quickly.
“Where did you get this?”
“From the room beneath the chapel.”
Arthur’s expression changed.
“You found it.”
Clara nodded.
“But Eleanor found me too.”
Sarah stepped closer.
“What happened?”
Clara looked at her.
“She tried to make me disappear.”
“Why didn't you go to the police?”
“Because the first officer I trusted worked for her.”
Daniel went silent.
Clara continued.
“She spent years building a world where everyone who challenged her looked guilty.”
Sarah looked at the pendant in her hand.
“You left this.”
Clara nodded.
“My mother gave it to me.”
Daniel frowned.
“Our mother?”
Clara smiled sadly.
“You know what Eleanor told you.”
“She said my mother died.”
“She did.”
Daniel looked confused.
Clara's voice softened.
“She died giving birth to me.”
Silence.
Daniel stared.
“She wasn't your mother?”
“No.”
Clara shook her head.
“Eleanor was our father's second wife.”
Sarah suddenly understood.
“Then Daniel…”
Clara looked at him.
“You were born into this family.”
“You were adopted?”
Clara nodded.
“But Eleanor never wanted anyone to know.”
Arthur looked down at the documents.
“So the trust was never Eleanor's.”
“Correct.”
Clara pointed to a page.
“It belonged to Father's descendants.”
Arthur looked toward Sarah.
“And Sarah's baby…”
“Is the first blood heir.”
Daniel looked sick.
“So that's why she wanted the baby.”
Clara nodded.
“Yes.”
Suddenly a loud crash echoed from the end of the corridor.
Security guards turned.
A fire alarm began screaming.
Smoke filled the hallway.
“Move!” Arthur shouted.
The hospital doors locked automatically.
Sarah coughed.
Daniel pulled her toward the stairwell.
Clara followed.
Then an explosion rocked the floor.
The lights shattered.
Sarah fell.
Daniel caught her.
“Are you okay?”
She nodded weakly.
Then she felt something warm.
Blood.
Not hers.
Daniel looked down.
A bullet had grazed his side.
Clara stared down the corridor.
“She found us.”
A silhouette emerged through the smoke.
Eleanor.
Calm.
Holding a handgun.
“You children always were dramatic.”
Daniel stepped in front of Sarah.
“Stay away from her.”
Eleanor smiled.
“I don't want Sarah.”
Sarah froze.
Eleanor raised the gun slightly.
“I want what's inside her.”
Clara whispered:
“The baby.”
Eleanor nodded.
“Exactly.”
Arthur stepped forward.
“You won't take another life.”
Eleanor laughed.
“You still don't understand, Arthur.”
She lowered the gun.
“I don't need to.”
She pressed a button on her phone.
The hospital floor doors opened.
A team of men in dark uniforms entered.
Eleanor smiled.
“You're all coming home.”
Then she looked at Sarah.
“Tonight, my granddaughter is going to be born.”
Sarah stared.
“I'm only eight months.”
May you like
Eleanor's eyes were empty.
“I know.”
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