Chapter 5 - Willa stared at the broken pendant.Someone had taken it.
Not Barrett.
Someone else.
Kendrick ordered every door sealed.
“No one leaves.”
His men searched the tunnels.
Nothing.
Then one guard found blood on the stairs.
A trail.
They followed it.
It led to a hidden medical room.
Inside, Barrett was lying unconscious.
A knife wound cut across his side.
Kendrick rushed in.
“Who did this?”
Barrett opened his eyes.
“You.”
Kendrick frowned.
“What?”
Barrett coughed.
“Someone wants you to think I'm the traitor.”
Willa stepped closer.
“Who?”
Barrett looked directly at her.
“The man who raised you.”
Willa froze.
“I was raised by no one.”
“You don't remember.”
“What are you talking about?”
Barrett forced himself upright.
“Six years ago, after the fire, you were found unconscious near the river.”
“That was me?”
“No.”
The answer hit harder than expected.
“You weren't Willa.”
Willa shook her head.
“Then who was I?”
Barrett pulled out a tiny photograph.
A young woman.
Same face.
Same eyes.
Same silver star pendant.
But she looked older.
“That's Willa Hart.”
Willa stared.
“You knew her?”
“She was your twin.”
The room seemed to tilt.
Kendrick looked stunned.
“You had a twin?”
“I didn't.”
Barrett shook his head.
“You were raised separately.”
Willa touched the photograph.
“Where is she?”
Barrett looked away.
“Dead.”
Willa couldn't speak.
“You took her identity.”
“Who made me?”
“Your mother.”
“Why?”
Barrett's eyes darkened.
“Because your sister was the one who survived the fire.”
Kendrick suddenly understood.
The person everyone had searched for wasn't Willa.
It was her sister.
Willa had been given her sister's identity to protect her.
But why?
Then Kendrick remembered Elena's final words.
Don't trust even me.
The truth was beginning to form.
Kendrick walked toward Willa.
“Your mother wasn't trying to destroy the ledger.”
Willa stared at him.
“She was trying to hide you from whoever wanted it.”
“But why use my sister's identity?”
“Because your sister had already been marked for death.”
Willa's eyes filled.
“She died because of me?”
“No.”
Kendrick's voice softened.
“She died protecting you.”
The room went silent.
Then Penny walked in.
She held something in her hand.
A tiny red ribbon.
She gave it to Willa.
“This was hers.”
Willa stared.
“How did you get it?”
“Mommy gave it to me.”
Kendrick turned sharply.
“When?”
Penny looked confused.
“Last night.”
Kendrick stared.
“Penny, Mommy died three years ago.”
The child looked at him.
“No.”
Kendrick froze.
“She came last night.”
Willa felt a chill move down her spine.
“Where?”
Penny pointed toward the ceiling.
“The secret room.”
Kendrick's mansion had a hidden room.
A room no one was allowed to enter.
His wife had kept it locked since her death.
He had never opened it.
Now he did.
The room was untouched.
Dust covered everything.
But on the desk was a fresh cup of tea.
Still warm.
Kendrick raised his weapon.
Willa followed.
On the wall were dozens of photographs.
Kendrick.
Penny.
Willa.
Barrett.
And a woman Willa had never seen.
A woman who looked exactly like her.
Kendrick stared at the photograph.
“That's your sister.”
Then Willa noticed something else.
A red circle had been drawn around one face.
Not her sister.
Kendrick.
Under his photograph were five words.
HE IS THE LAST TARGET.
Suddenly a phone rang.
Everyone jumped.
Kendrick answered.
A distorted voice spoke.
“You've finally opened the room.”
“Who are you?”
“Ask your waitress.”
Willa's heart raced.
The voice continued.
“She knows why your wife really died.”
Kendrick stared at Willa.
“Why?”
The caller laughed.
“Because Elena discovered that the man she loved was the one who ordered her murder.”
The call ended.
Kendrick looked at Willa.
May you like
For the first time, suspicion wasn't aimed at her.
It was aimed at himself.
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