CHAPTER 3 THE WOMAN HOLDING HARPER
“Dominic…”
Claire's voice came through every speaker in the estate.
Soft.
Shaking.
Almost desperate.
“Your daughter is with me.”
Dominic stopped halfway up the stairs.
His entire body went rigid.
Behind him, Nathan cursed under his breath.
Elias emerged from the darkness.
“What did she say?”
Dominic didn't answer.
He was already moving.
He sprinted up the stairs.
Nathan followed.
Elias came behind them.
But when Dominic reached the main corridor, he stopped.
The mansion was completely dark.
Emergency lights flickered along the walls.
Security alarms screamed in distant rooms.
Glass shattered somewhere upstairs.
Then silence.
“Harper!”
No answer.
Dominic pulled out his phone.
No signal.
He tried Marcus.
Nothing.
He tried the security system.
Dead.
Someone had disabled the estate's entire communication network.
Nathan looked around.
“They cut the external power.”
Dominic's eyes hardened.
“Then restore it.”
“I need access to the control room.”
“Go.”
Nathan turned.
Dominic grabbed his shoulder.
“If you know anything about this…”
Nathan looked at him.
“You won't get a second chance.”
Nathan nodded.
Then disappeared into the western corridor.
Dominic continued toward the main hall.
“Claire!”
Her voice came again.
This time from the speakers directly above him.
“She's safe.”
Dominic looked up.
“Where is she?”
A quiet laugh.
“You always were impatient.”
Dominic's jaw tightened.
“Put Harper on.”
Silence.
Then a tiny voice came through the speaker.
“Mr. Vale?”
Dominic's heart dropped.
“Harper.”
“I'm here.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Where are you?”
The little girl hesitated.
Then whispered:
“Mommy said not to tell.”
Dominic closed his eyes for half a second.
“Harper, listen to me.”
Claire interrupted.
“She doesn't trust you anymore.”
Dominic's expression changed.
“Claire.”
“Yes?”
“You have five minutes.”
“For what?”
“To put Harper down and walk away.”
Claire laughed.
“You still think you're in control.”
Dominic looked toward the staircase.
“I am.”
“No.”
Her voice became colder.
“You've never been in control, Dominic.”
A door slammed somewhere in the mansion.
Dominic immediately turned.
He recognized the sound.
The east wing.
He ran.
The hallway was empty.
Portraits hung crooked on the walls.
A vase lay shattered across the floor.
Then he noticed something.
Blood.
A thin trail of blood led toward the library.
Dominic followed it.
The library door stood open.
Inside, one of the security guards lay unconscious beside the fireplace.
Dominic checked his pulse.
Alive.
Barely.
He looked at the man's weapon.
Missing.
Someone had disarmed him.
Dominic heard footsteps behind him.
He turned.
Elias stood in the doorway.
“They're inside the house.”
Dominic nodded.
“How many?”
“Six that I saw.”
“You saw them?”
“I've been watching this place longer than you've owned it.”
Dominic ignored the comment.
“Where's Harper?”
Elias looked at the blood.
“Not here.”
Dominic's phone suddenly vibrated.
A message.
One photograph.
Harper was sitting on a chair.
Her hands were not tied.
She looked frightened.
Standing behind her was Claire.
And beside Claire…
Mia.
Dominic stared at the photograph.
His breathing stopped.
Mia was supposed to be with the doctor.
He zoomed in.
Her face was pale.
She was standing.
But something was wrong.
Her wrists were still bruised.
Dominic looked at Elias.
“They took Mia.”
Elias nodded.
“Of course they did.”
“Why?”
“Because she knows something.”
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“What?”
Elias looked at the photograph.
“She knows where your father hid the evidence.”
Dominic's mind raced.
“What evidence?”
Elias didn't answer.
Dominic grabbed him by the collar.
“Stop speaking in riddles.”
Elias didn't resist.
Instead, he looked directly into Dominic's eyes.
“Your father didn't build this estate to protect his family.”
A pause.
“He built it to hide something.”
Dominic released him.
“What?”
Before Elias could answer, the lights suddenly came back on.
The mansion erupted into chaos.
Gunfire thundered from the west wing.
Dominic immediately drew his weapon.
Elias grabbed a fallen pistol.
“Stay behind me.”
Dominic almost laughed.
“You've been hiding under my house for seventeen years and now you want to protect me?”
Elias checked the magazine.
“No.”
He looked toward the gunfire.
“I want to protect Harper.”
Dominic followed his gaze.
Another gunshot.
Then another.
Someone screamed.
Dominic ran.
The west corridor was filled with smoke.
Two security guards were fighting three armed men.
Dominic fired twice.
One attacker dropped.
Elias fired once.
Another fell.
The third ran.
Dominic chased him.
They tore through the hallway and into the dining room.
The attacker jumped through a window.
Dominic reached it seconds later.
Outside, black SUVs were parked across the lawn.
Men in dark clothing surrounded the estate.
At least twenty.
Dominic's security team was pinned down.
Then he saw something else.
A woman stepped out of the lead SUV.
Claire.
She wore a long black dress.
Her hair was perfectly arranged.
She held Harper's hand.
Harper looked unharmed.
But Dominic noticed the little girl's eyes.
She was terrified.
Beside them stood Mia.
And behind Mia was Nathan.
Dominic froze.
Nathan raised his weapon.
It was pointed directly at Mia.
“Don't come any closer.”
Dominic's expression became murderous.
“Nathan.”
Nathan's face was blank.
“I tried to warn you.”
“You took Harper.”
“No.”
Nathan shook his head.
“She came with Claire.”
Dominic stared at Claire.
“You have three seconds to let them go.”
Claire smiled.
“You still don't understand.”
She stepped forward.
“You think this is about money.”
“No.”
“You think it's about power.”
“No.”
“You think Nathan betrayed you.”
Dominic's eyes moved toward Nathan.
“Did he?”
Claire smiled.
“He did.”
Nathan looked at her.
“Stop.”
Claire ignored him.
“Tell him, Nathan.”
Nathan said nothing.
“Tell Dominic what happened the night Victor Vale disappeared.”
Dominic's blood ran cold.
“Victor.”
Claire nodded.
“Your father.”
Dominic stepped forward.
“What happened?”
Claire looked at Nathan.
Then back at Dominic.
“Ask your brother.”
Dominic turned toward Elias.
Elias had stopped behind him.
His face had gone pale.
Claire smiled.
“Yes, Elias.”
Elias stared at her.
Claire's smile disappeared.
“Tell your little brother who actually killed Victor Vale.”
Silence.
Dominic looked between them.
“Elias?”
Elias lowered his weapon.
“I didn't kill him.”
Claire's eyes narrowed.
“Of course you didn't.”
Then she looked at Dominic.
“Because I did.”
Everything stopped.
Dominic stared at her.
Claire continued.
“And your father wasn't the only person I killed.”
She squeezed Harper's hand.
Harper winced.
Dominic's eyes instantly hardened.
“Let her go.”
Claire shook her head.
“Not until you give me what I came for.”
“What?”
“The key.”
Dominic frowned.
“What key?”
Claire smiled.
“The one your father hid inside your mother's grave.”
Dominic's face changed.
“My mother died twenty years ago.”
“I know.”
Claire's voice became almost a whisper.
“That's why nobody ever thought to look there.”
Elias suddenly stepped forward.
“Claire, don't.”
She pointed a gun at Harper's head.
“Stay where you are.”
Elias stopped.
Dominic looked at Claire.
“You knew about the grave.”
“I know everything.”
“Then you know the key doesn't exist.”
Claire laughed.
“Oh, Dominic.”
She slowly raised a small metal object.
A key.
“You're wrong.”
Dominic stared at it.
He recognized the engraving.
A small crown.
The same symbol he had seen on the attacking vehicles.
Claire held it between two fingers.
“Your father left this for you.”
Dominic's voice became cold.
“Where is the lock?”
Claire smiled.
“Under the chapel.”
A pause.
“Where your mother was buried.”
Dominic felt something cold move through his chest.
Then Harper suddenly looked at him.
Her eyes widened.
“Mr. Vale…”
Dominic stared at her.
“What?”
Harper whispered:
“Mommy told me something before they took her.”
“What did she say?”
Harper looked toward Claire.
Then quietly said:
“She said Claire wasn't the person who locked her in the basement.”
Claire's smile vanished.
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“Who was it?”
Harper pointed toward Nathan.
“Nathan.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
Dominic slowly turned toward his oldest friend.
Nathan lowered his weapon.
And then he whispered words that shattered the last piece of Dominic's trust.
“Yes.”
A pause.
“I locked Mia in the cellar.”
Dominic's face became terrifyingly calm.
“But Claire didn't order me to do it.”
He looked at Dominic.
“She saved Mia.”
Dominic stared.
“Then why?”
Nathan swallowed.
“Because three days ago, Mia discovered something in the kitchen.”
“What?”
Nathan looked toward the floor.
“The truth about Harper.”
Dominic's heart stopped.
Claire suddenly shouted:
“Enough!”
But it was already too late.
Dominic looked at Harper.
Then at Mia.
Then at Nathan.
His voice dropped to a whisper.
“What truth?”
Mia began crying.
Claire raised her weapon.
Nathan looked at Dominic.
And Elias said the words nobody was prepared to hear:
“Harper isn't Mia's daughter.”
The mansion fell silent.
Dominic stared at the four-year-old girl.
Harper stared back.
Then she whispered:
“Mr. Vale…”
“I think…”
May you like
She swallowed.
“…I'm your daughter.”
