Chapter 13 - Clara’s Sister
The woman dragged me into the dark servants’ corridor.
I struck her wrist, forcing the blade away, but she anticipated the movement. She twisted my arm behind my back and pushed me against the wall.
“Your mother taught you that,” she said.
“Who are you?”
“Her sister.”
My mother had never told me she had a sister.
The woman’s name was Lydia Marlowe.
She was three years younger than Clara and had worked inside the Ashford identity network. While Clara restored artwork, Lydia created false documents and altered hospital databases.
“I sent the invitation,” she said.
“You planted the photograph?”
“Yes.”
“You controlled the cameras?”
“Some of them.”
“Why frame Victoria?”
“To force her to expose Charles.”
“You also let her frame me.”
“I needed the room to believe the lie before I destroyed it.”
“You could have warned me.”
“You would have trusted Adrian.”
Her contempt when she said his name surprised me.
“What is he?”
“The wrong brother.”
“Which brother is he?”
Lydia smiled sadly.
“You are still asking the question Charles designed.”
She led me through the corridor toward the old theater beneath the ballroom.
The black ledger rested on a table.
Beside it sat Lionel Voss, the elderly trustee who had called my mother a thief. His hands were tied.
Lydia had captured him during the blackout.
Voss looked terrified.
“Tell her,” Lydia said.
“I don’t know anything.”
She placed the blade against his hand.
“You signed the transfer records.”
Voss began to sweat.
He confessed that the Ashford Foundation had arranged identities for wealthy clients. Clara discovered the network when she found a hidden room behind the nursery.
She planned to expose it.
Charles threatened me.
Clara agreed to remain silent in exchange for my safety.
“But she broke the agreement,” Lydia said.
“She copied the ledger and hid it.”
Voss nodded.
“Who killed her?” I asked.
He looked toward Lydia.
“She did.”
My mind rejected the words.
Lydia did not deny them.
“The house fire was supposed to destroy documents,” she said. “Clara returned unexpectedly.”
“You burned the house?”
“I started a controlled fire in the basement. She should have had time to escape.”
“She pushed me through a window.”
“I didn’t know you were inside.”
“You killed her.”
“I made a mistake.”
“You spent twenty-two years hiding.”
“I spent twenty-two years dismantling the network.”
“By planting evidence and threatening me?”
“By gathering everyone responsible in one room.”
A crash sounded above us.
The gala guests were attempting to leave, but the estate gates had locked automatically.
Lydia had trapped them.
“What are you planning?”
“At midnight, every file in the ledger will be transmitted to journalists, police agencies, and victims’ families.”
“That sounds like justice.”
“It will also publish the identities of the children.”
I stared at her.
“Innocent people.”
“Living under stolen names.”
“They didn’t choose that.”
“Neither did their real families.”
I understood the danger.
Hundreds of people could have their lives destroyed. Some might be children. Some might never have known the truth.
Lydia believed exposure justified any consequence.
Just as Victoria believed protecting the foundation justified any crime.
Just as Charles believed bloodlines justified manipulation.
They were different versions of the same cruelty.
“Give me the ledger.”
“No.”
I moved toward it.
Lydia raised the blade.
Before she could strike, Daniel emerged from behind the stage curtain.
He aimed his gun at her.
“Step away from Elena.”
Lydia laughed.
“Evelyn’s son.”
Daniel’s expression changed.
“You knew my mother?”
“I knew both of them.”
“Both?”
Lydia looked toward the ceiling, where footsteps approached.
“Daniel Reed was not the child raised in House 17.”
He stared at her.
“You’re lying.”
“The real Daniel died at age six.”
“Then who am I?”
Lydia opened the ledger to a concealed page.
A photograph was attached beneath the binding.
It showed Charles standing beside two boys around ten years old.
One was Adrian.
The other was Daniel.
Behind them stood a third boy.
All three had the same face.
“Victoria gave birth to triplets,” Lydia said.
Daniel lowered the gun slightly.
“No.”
“One was removed before she regained consciousness. One was declared dead. One remained in the mansion.”
“Where is the third brother?”
A voice came from the theater entrance.
“Closer than you think.”
Graham stepped into the room.
May you like
Beside him stood Adrian.
Graham’s gun was pressed against Adrian’s neck.
