Chapter 4 - THE BROTHER-IN-LAW WHO NEVER EXISTED
:
The key opened a hidden office beneath Richard's country club.
The room contained no weapons.
No drugs.
No cash.
Only documents.
Records.
Photographs.
And one name.
Daniel Thorne.
I recognized the name.
Richard's father.
He had supposedly died thirty years ago.
But the file contained current financial transactions.
Payments made last month.
Phone records.
A passport.
A photograph.
Daniel was alive.
He was the missing patriarch.
The man above Richard.
The man who controlled the family's deepest secrets.
And he had been working with someone from my family.
I found a list of meetings.
Daniel Thorne.
Arthur Sterling.
Victor Hale.
Victor Hale was my father's oldest business partner.
And my current chief legal adviser.
My stomach dropped.
I called him.
No answer.
Then I received a message.
Do not come home.
A second message followed.
They know you're looking.
I looked around the office.
A red light blinked on a surveillance camera.
Someone was watching me.
I turned.
The door locked.
A voice came from the speaker.
“Mr. Sterling.”
Victor.
“Let me explain.”
“You drugged Elena?”
“No.”
“You knew about the assault.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To protect the trust.”
I laughed.
“You call beating a pregnant woman protection?”
“I never ordered that.”
“Then who did?”
Silence.
“Victor.”
“The person who ordered it was Daniel.”
“Where is he?”
“Already moving.”
“Where?”
“Chicago.”
I frowned.
“Why?”
“Because your wife isn't the only target.”
“Who else?”
“Your child.”
I felt cold.
Victor continued.
“Daniel believes if the baby is born, the trust becomes impossible to break.”
“So he wants the child dead.”
“Yes.”
I closed my eyes.
“Where is Daniel now?”
“On his way to Chicago.”
I called the hospital.
Security doubled.
Federal agents surrounded Elena's floor.
Then Dr. Harrison called.
“Mr. Sterling?”
“Yes.”
“You need to get here.”
I froze.
“Why?”
“Elena woke up.”
I rushed back.
She looked exhausted.
But conscious.
I took her hand.
“I'm here.”
She looked at me.
“Did you find it?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
“The truth.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“My father?”
“Your father is alive.”
She stared.
“My mother?”
“Your biological mother was Clara.”
She began shaking.
“And my baby?”
“Protected.”
She closed her eyes.
“What did they want?”
“Control.”
She whispered:
“I knew it.”
“What?”
“Before they attacked me…”
She swallowed.
“Richard told me someone else had given the order.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
She looked at me.
“But he said one name.”
“Which one?”
Her hand tightened around mine.
“Victor.”
I froze.
“Victor Hale?”
She nodded.
My own legal adviser.
The man who had been beside my family for twenty years.
The man who had sent the code ZERO into motion earlier that night.
I suddenly understood.
ZERO hadn't been enough.
I had frozen the accounts.
But Victor had designed a system where he could survive the collapse.
He wasn't protecting me.
He was protecting himself.
I called him.
He answered.
“You found out.”
“Yes.”
“You were always smart.”
“Where are you?”
He laughed.
“Near enough.”
My phone screen showed an unknown video.
Victor standing inside my own home.
Behind him—
Elena's hospital room blueprint.
He had access to everything.
I felt ice in my veins.
“What do you want?”
“The baby.”
“No.”
“The trust.”
“No.”
“Then your wife dies.”
The video ended.
I looked at Elena.
She whispered:
“Don't give him anything.”
I kissed her forehead.
“I won't.”
Then I turned to Marcus.
“Lock down the hospital.”
He nodded.
“And find Victor.”
Marcus looked at me.
“Dead or alive?”
I answered:
“Alive.”
I needed him to talk.
I needed the truth.
And I knew exactly where he would go.
May you like
The old Sterling family chapel.
The place where my father had buried his secrets.
