Chapter 8 - WHAT AGNES HAD BEEN HIDING“Put the knife down.”
Rory's voice was steady.
Clara smiled.
“You always were predictable.”
Agnes moved in front of the girls.
“Don't hurt them.”
Clara's eyes hardened.
“I never wanted to hurt them.”
“Then let them go,” Rory said.
“You don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
Clara looked at the necklace in Rory's hand.
“That belongs to Evelyn.”
Rory stared.
“You're Evelyn's daughter.”
“Yes.”
“Why are you doing this?”
Clara laughed softly.
“Because your family destroyed mine.”
Rory didn't move.
“What did my family do?”
“My mother was erased.”
She stepped closer.
“Your grandfather gave her away. Your father refused to acknowledge her. Elena discovered the truth and promised to help her.”
Rory's expression changed.
“And David?”
“He tried to expose the foundation scheme.”
“Then why did you continue it?”
“Because by the time I understood what they had done, David was dead.”
Her voice cracked.
“I spent years believing Elena had betrayed my mother.”
Agnes shook her head.
“She didn't.”
Clara looked at her.
“You lied to me.”
“I protected you.”
“You manipulated me.”
“I kept you alive.”
Rory looked between them.
“Why the girls?”
Clara lowered the knife.
“Because Elena left proof.”
“What proof?”
Clara reached into her coat.
A small memory card.
“She recorded everything.”
Rory's eyes narrowed.
“Where?”
“In the necklace.”
He looked down.
The silver pendant.
Clara smiled.
“You thought the pictures were decoration.”
Rory opened the pendant.
One side contained Lily's photograph.
The other contained Rose's.
Behind them was a tiny slot.
He removed the memory card.
Clara's expression changed.
“That belongs to me.”
“No.”
Rory stepped back.
“It belongs to my daughters.”
Clara raised the knife again.
Agnes moved suddenly.
She knocked Clara's arm aside.
The knife flew across the floor.
Rory lunged.
Clara fought back.
The struggle knocked over a cabinet.
The old wooden rocking horse fell.
Its base struck the floor.
A hidden compartment opened.
Inside was a letter.
Rory picked it up.
Elena's handwriting.
He read it aloud.
“Clara, if you're reading this, I failed.”
Clara froze.
Rory continued.
“I was wrong to hide Evelyn from Rory. I believed secrecy would protect the children.”
Clara's eyes filled.
Elena's letter continued.
“The foundation money was not stolen by David. He was moving it to protect the girls.”
Rory looked at Frank.
“What does that mean?”
Frank whispered,
“The money funded a trust.”
“For whom?”
“For Lily and Rose.”
Rory stared at the letter.
Elena had created a secret trust for the girls.
But why?
The letter answered.
“Someone will eventually try to use the girls' inheritance to control Rory.”
Rory's face hardened.
“Who?”
The final sentence was written beneath a tear stain.
“Your father's former partner.”
Frank went pale.
“Marcus.”
Rory turned.
“Marcus Hale?”
Frank nodded.
The name carried weight.
Marcus had been Rory's father's closest business partner.
He had disappeared after the foundation scandal.
Rory looked at Clara.
“Where is Marcus?”
Clara shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Agnes suddenly spoke.
“I do.”
Everyone turned.
“He's been inside this mansion all night.”
Rory stared at her.
“Who?”
Agnes pointed toward the door.
“Your head of security.”
Rory's face changed.
The man who had controlled the mansion's security system.
The man who had locked the exits.
The man who had been able to watch the nursery cameras.
The man who had known every movement in the house.
Rory grabbed the radio.
“Find Harris.”
Static.
Then a voice answered.
“Too late.”
The attic door slammed shut.
Smoke began pouring beneath it.
The girls coughed.
Rory wrapped his coat around them.
“Everybody move!”
The smoke thickened.
Marianne found the old window.
“It's jammed.”
Rory kicked it.
Once.
Twice.
The frame broke.
Cold night air rushed in.
He lifted Lily.
Celeste took Rose.
Agnes followed.
Clara stayed behind.
Rory grabbed her arm.
“You're coming.”
She looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because whatever happened to your family, my daughters aren't paying for it.”
For the first time, Clara cried.
They climbed through the window onto the roof.
Below them, the mansion burned with red emergency lights.
Then Rory's phone rang.
He answered.
A man's voice said,
“Bring the memory card to the foundation office.”
Rory's eyes narrowed.
“Marcus.”
“You have thirty minutes.”
“And if I don't?”
A pause.
“You'll lose the one person you haven't noticed is missing.”
Rory looked around.
His daughters were there.
Celeste.
Marianne.
Agnes.
Clara.
Everyone.
Then his eyes widened.
“Where is Frank?”
No one answered.
May you like
And from Rory's phone came Marcus's final words.
“Your accountant should have stayed dead.”
