Chapter 11 - The Twelve-Hour Deadline
The first thing I did was call my brother.
He answered on the third ring.
"Mara?"
I nearly cried.
"Ethan! Where are you?"
"At therapy. Why?"
"Are you with your physical therapist?"
"Yeah."
"Stay there. Don't go anywhere alone."
He became serious.
"What happened?"
I closed my eyes.
"Just promise me."
"Mara, you're scaring me."
"I know. I'm sorry."
Adrian took the phone gently.
"Ethan, this is Adrian."
A pause.
"Hey."
"We're arranging additional protection with the police. Your sister's safe with me."
Ethan hesitated.
Then said something that made my heart ache.
"Please take care of her. She always takes care of everybody else."
Adrian looked directly at me.
"I will."
He ended the call.
For several seconds, I couldn't speak.
Then I looked toward Marcus.
"Tell me where Sterling wants me."
Adrian immediately shook his head.
"No."
"Adrian—"
"No. You are not being handed over to Charles Sterling."
I crossed my arms.
"Then how do we save Bella and your mother?"
"We find another way."
"What if there isn't one?"
"There is."
He sounded so certain.
But I could see the fear behind his eyes.
Marcus spoke quietly.
"Sterling owns an old private medical research facility outside Chicago. The photograph appears to have been taken there."
Adrian turned.
"How do you know?"
"The window design. I remember it from old security plans."
"Send everything to Detective Harris."
I looked at him.
"Who?"
"A federal investigator I've been cooperating with regarding the Sterling financial network."
That surprised me.
"You're working with federal investigators?"
Adrian nodded.
"Isabella convinced me the legitimate companies had been used to conceal things I should never have allowed. I've been trying to undo years of damage."
I studied him.
For the first time, I saw a future beyond the frightening reputation he carried.
A man trying to become someone different.
Not because it was easy.
Because it mattered.
Over the next two hours, investigators coordinated a response.
Marcus provided access records.
Evelyn traced financial transfers.
Adrian handed over documents that could implicate people within his own organization.
I watched him sign the final statement.
"That could hurt you," I whispered.
He looked up.
"I know."
"Then why do it?"
He studied me for a moment.
"Because my sister deserves the truth. And because I don't want to spend the rest of my life being the man everyone fears."
My heart tightened.
Before I could answer, Marcus returned.
"Boss, we found another recording."
Adrian stood.
"From where?"
"Benjamin Bellamy's old investigation archive."
I froze.
"My father's?"
Marcus nodded.
"Sterling thought he'd destroyed everything. But Benjamin left a backup with Adrian's mother."
The recording began.
My father's voice filled the room.
I hadn't heard it in fourteen years.
I covered my mouth.
"If anyone finds this, Charles Sterling must be stopped. But there's something nobody knows about the Moretti family."
A pause.
Then my father continued.
"Adrian's father wasn't Sterling's business partner."
Adrian went still.
"He was being blackmailed."
My heart pounded.
Then came the final sentence.
"And the person Sterling has been hiding all these years isn't the woman everyone thinks she is."
The recording crackled.
My father's voice dropped.
"Isabella is not being held because of what she discovered."
May you like
Another pause.
"She's being held because she knows who really owns Sterling's empire."
