Chapter 4 - The Woman Who Knew Her MotherThe fire alarm grew louder.
Security officers rushed into the hallway.
“Mrs. Blackwood, move!”
Smoke crawled across the ceiling.
Isabella covered her mouth.
“Where's the exit?”
Marcus grabbed her arm.
“This way.”
They ran through the service corridor.
Behind them, someone screamed.
Then came a crash.
A door slammed.
Marcus stopped.
“Stay here.”
“No.”
“Isabella.”
“You said nobody was coming near me.”
Marcus looked at her.
“I said I'd protect you.”
“Then don't leave me alone.”
They continued together.
They reached the basement.
The fire was small.
Too small to trigger the entire system.
Marcus realized immediately.
“It's a distraction.”
Isabella's stomach tightened.
“From what?”
The basement lights went out.
A figure appeared at the end of the corridor.
Female.
Old.
She stepped into the emergency light.
Isabella recognized her.
Mrs. Eleanor Shaw.
Her mother's former secretary.
Isabella hadn't seen her since she was sixteen.
“Mrs. Shaw?”
The woman rushed toward her.
“Your mother told me you'd be here one day.”
Isabella froze.
“My mother is dead.”
“I know.”
“Then what are you talking about?”
Mrs. Shaw looked behind her.
“We don't have time.”
Marcus stepped between them.
“Who are you?”
Eleanor stared at him.
“Someone who has been hiding from the Blackwoods for twelve years.”
Isabella's voice trembled.
“You knew my mother?”
“She hired me.”
“What did she hire you to do?”
Eleanor looked at Isabella's stomach.
“To protect her child.”
Isabella's heart stopped.
“Me?”
“No.”
Eleanor's eyes lowered.
“Your baby.”
A cold silence settled over them.
Isabella whispered,
“What did my mother know?”
Eleanor reached inside her coat.
She pulled out a small envelope.
The paper was old.
Yellowed.
Sealed with a black wax emblem.
The same Eclipse symbol from the flash drive.
Isabella stared.
“Where did you get that?”
“Your mother gave it to me the night she died.”
“She died seven years ago.”
“She was murdered.”
Isabella nearly collapsed.
Marcus caught her.
“Who killed her?”
Eleanor answered,
“People inside the Blackwood organization.”
Victoria?
Nathan?
Eleanor shook her head.
“Not Victoria.”
“Nathan?”
Eleanor hesitated.
Then she said,
“Your husband wasn't the first man they sent.”
Isabella stiffened.
“What does that mean?”
“Before Nathan, there was another.”
“Who?”
Eleanor handed her the envelope.
“Open it.”
Inside was a photograph.
Isabella's mother.
Her father.
And a third person.
A man Isabella didn't recognize.
But Eleanor did.
“That is the founder of Eclipse.”
“What's his name?”
Eleanor whispered,
“Julian Voss.”
Marcus's expression changed.
He knew the name.
“Impossible.”
Isabella turned.
“What?”
“Julian Voss died fifteen years ago.”
Eleanor shook her head.
“No.”
“He faked his death.”
Isabella stared at the photograph.
“Why?”
“Because your father discovered what he was doing.”
Eleanor revealed the story.
Eclipse was not simply a criminal organization.
It was a network of executives, bankers, lawyers and politicians who controlled companies through hidden ownership.
Isabella's father had been one of them.
Until he tried to leave.
That's when they threatened his family.
He created the Hartwell Trust.
He hid a fortune.
And he created a system that could expose Eclipse if anything happened to him.
The key was his first grandchild.
Isabella's unborn child.
“Why my baby?”
“Because your father designed the trust that way.”
Eleanor looked at her.
“The fortune cannot be accessed until the child is born.”
Isabella's throat tightened.
“And after?”
“The child becomes the legal owner.”
Nathan had been trying to control the trust.
Victoria wanted it.
But someone else wanted something far bigger.
Eleanor leaned closer.
“The trust doesn't only contain money.”
“What else?”
“Evidence.”
“What kind?”
“Enough to destroy Eclipse.”
A sound came from the corridor.
Footsteps.
Marcus raised his weapon.
“Someone's coming.”
Eleanor turned pale.
“They found us.”
The basement door opened.
A man entered.
Tall.
Gray-haired.
Wearing a dark suit.
He smiled.
Isabella had never met him.
But Eleanor immediately whispered:
“Julian Voss.”
The man looked directly at Isabella.
Then his eyes dropped to her stomach.
“Hello, little Hart heir.”
Marcus raised his gun.
Voss laughed.
“Careful.”
He pointed behind them.
Five armed men appeared.
“Your security system belongs to us.”
Isabella stepped backward.
Voss smiled.
“You've spent your entire life thinking your father left you a fortune.”
He paused.
“He left you a target.”
Then he looked at Eleanor.
“You should have stayed buried.”
Eleanor stepped forward.
“Tell her the truth.”
Voss smiled.
“Oh, I will.”
His eyes returned to Isabella.
“Because your husband wasn't ordered to steal your money.”
He stepped closer.
“He was ordered to find something your father hid inside you.”
Isabella's blood ran cold.
“What?”
May you like
Voss smiled.
“The location of the final key.”
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