Chapter 3 - THE WOMAN WHO NEVER DIED
Clara could barely breathe.
“My mother put this here?”
Arthur nodded.
“She knew they would come looking for it.”
“Who?”
“The people who killed everyone else.”
The commander took the microchip carefully.
“Thirty years ago, we thought this evidence was destroyed.”
Julian suddenly stopped struggling.
His eyes were fixed on the chip.
“You have no idea what that is.”
Clara turned toward him.
“You do.”
Julian's silence answered her.
The woman Clara had almost married suddenly looked like a stranger.
“You knew about this?”
Julian stared at her.
“I knew your father had something.”
“What did you think I had?”
He didn't answer.
“You married me because of this?”
His jaw tightened.
“I was supposed to find it.”
Clara felt tears burn her eyes.
“So the wedding…”
“Was never about you.”
Those words hurt more than the humiliation at the altar.
But before Clara could respond, Arthur stepped between them.
“You're finished.”
Julian laughed bitterly.
“You think arresting me changes anything?”
Arthur stared at him.
“You're not the one I'm worried about.”
Julian looked toward Victoria.
His mother had gone completely white.
“Mom?”
Victoria didn't answer.
Arthur turned to her.
“You should have left the country thirty years ago.”
Victoria's voice trembled.
“I didn't know.”
“You knew enough.”
The commander suddenly received an alert through his earpiece.
His expression changed.
“Sir.”
Arthur looked at him.
“What?”
“There's been a breach.”
“Where?”
“Your old safe house.”
Arthur's eyes widened.
“My house?”
“No.”
The commander looked at Clara.
“Your house.”
Clara felt cold spread through her body.
“My house?”
“The security system was accessed twenty minutes ago.”
Arthur grabbed her hand.
“Did you leave anything there?”
“No.”
“Think.”
Clara shook her head.
“Nothing.”
Then she remembered.
Her mother's old boxes.
The ones Arthur had kept in the basement.
She had never opened them.
Because he had always said they contained painful memories.
Arthur's face changed.
“Someone has been searching those boxes.”
Military vehicles were already moving outside.
The commander gave orders.
Two agents escorted Clara toward the exit.
Julian suddenly shouted.
“Wait!”
Everyone turned.
His face was pale.
“You don't understand.”
Clara looked at him.
“What?”
Julian stared at her.
“They're not coming for the chip.”
Arthur's expression hardened.
“Then what are they coming for?”
Julian looked directly at Clara.
“You.”
The hall went silent.
“Why me?”
Julian swallowed.
“Because your mother didn't leave you the evidence.”
He pointed at Clara.
“She left you the access key.”
Arthur's face went blank.
The commander slowly asked:
“Access to what?”
Julian whispered:
“The Nightglass archive.”
Arthur closed his eyes.
For thirty years, he had believed the archive was gone.
But if Julian was telling the truth...
May you like
everything his wife had died protecting still existed.
And Clara was the only person alive who could unlock it.
