Chapter 6 - THE SISTER NO ONE KNEW
The house erupted into motion.
Luca's security team moved through the corridors.
Hana locked every door.
Ethan pulled Ivy into a hidden room.
Claire followed.
“What does that photograph mean?”
Ethan shook his head.
“I don't know.”
“You said you knew everything.”
“I said I knew why they wanted you.”
Claire held up the photograph.
“Then explain this.”
Ethan stared at it.
The girl beside twelve-year-old Claire looked about ten.
Dark hair.
Hazel eyes.
The same narrow chin.
Claire felt dizzy.
“I don't remember her.”
“That was the point.”
Ethan's voice became quiet.
“Your adoption wasn't the whole story.”
Claire stared.
“What did they do?”
“They separated you.”
“Who?”
“Your biological father.”
Claire froze.
“My father?”
“He believed separating you would keep one child from being targeted.”
“What happened to the other girl?”
“I don't know.”
The glass window shattered.
Luca fired.
Someone outside screamed.
Claire pulled Ivy down.
“Stay behind me!”
Ethan grabbed a rifle.
“Take the tunnel.”
Luca looked at him.
“You know about the tunnel?”
“Yes.”
“Where does it lead?”
“The harbor.”
Luca nodded.
“Move.”
They ran.
The hidden passage was narrow.
Ivy held Claire's hand.
Ethan followed.
Luca brought up the rear.
Halfway through, the lights went out.
Ivy whispered.
“They're coming.”
“How do you know?”
“I can hear them.”
Then she looked into the darkness.
“No.”
Claire crouched.
“What?”
“They're not following us.”
Luca frowned.
“Then where are they?”
Ivy pointed backward.
“They split.”
Luca immediately understood.
“They're after Ethan.”
A gunshot echoed.
Ethan stumbled.
Blood appeared on his shoulder.
Claire screamed.
Luca fired into the darkness.
“Keep moving!”
They reached the harbor.
A boat waited.
They climbed aboard.
The engine started.
As they pulled away, Ethan looked back at the house.
One man stood on the pier.
He wasn't chasing them.
He was watching.
Ethan whispered:
“Marcus.”
Luca's expression hardened.
“Marcus Vale?”
Ethan nodded.
“He's alive.”
Claire stared.
“Who is he?”
“The man who arranged my disappearance.”
Luca's grip tightened around the railing.
“He was supposed to be dead.”
Ethan shook his head.
“That's what everyone believed.”
The boat crossed the water.
Ivy sat beside Claire.
She looked exhausted.
“Mommy?”
“Yes?”
“Do I have a sister?”
Claire swallowed.
“I don't know.”
Ivy looked at Ethan.
“Daddy?”
“I don't know either.”
Luca looked toward the horizon.
“We're going to find out.”
They returned to Tokyo before dawn.
A secure apartment had been prepared.
There, Ethan finally told them everything.
Seven years earlier, he had discovered that someone was selling confidential information involving wealthy families and organized crime.
The information included medical records.
Adoption records.
Financial accounts.
Travel schedules.
And private intelligence reports.
Claire's biological family had been among the people targeted.
Her mother had developed an unusual ability to identify languages through lip movement.
The ability had been studied.
Then exploited.
When Claire was born, the same trait appeared.
But no one realized how strong it was.
Then Ivy was born.
And the ability became extraordinary.
“That is why they watched her,” Ethan said.
Claire stared at him.
“But why kill me?”
“They weren't trying to kill you.”
“Then what?”
“They wanted Ivy.”
Claire immediately stood.
“No.”
“They wanted to train her.”
Luca's voice became dangerous.
“Not anymore.”
Ethan nodded.
“That is why I disappeared.”
“You could have told me.”
“If I told you, they would have found you.”
Claire's eyes filled.
“You still should have tried.”
“I know.”
A knock came.
Luca's security chief entered.
“We found the girl.”
Claire froze.
“What girl?”
“The one in the photograph.”
The room went silent.
“She is alive.”
“Where?”
“Seattle.”
Claire's heart stopped.
“Who is she?”
The officer placed a file on the table.
“Her name is Nora Vale.”
Ethan looked stunned.
“Vale?”
“Yes.”
Luca opened the file.
Inside was a photograph.
The girl was now seventeen.
She had grown into a striking young woman.
Same eyes.
Same expression.
Same copper-brown hair.
Claire touched the photograph.
“She looks like me.”
Ethan nodded.
“She is your sister.”
Ivy leaned over the table.
“Does she know about us?”
The officer hesitated.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because she was raised by Marcus Vale.”
Claire stared.
Marcus.
The man who had orchestrated Ethan's disappearance.
The man who had watched their family.
The man who had somehow kept Claire's sister hidden for seventeen years.
Luca closed the file.
“We go to Seattle.”
Claire nodded.
But Ethan stopped them.
“There is one problem.”
“What?”
“Marcus doesn't just want Ivy.”
Claire turned.
“What does he want?”
Ethan looked at Luca.
“He wants Luca dead.”
Luca didn't react.
Ethan continued.
“Because Luca knows what happened seven years ago.”
Claire looked at Luca.
“You know?”
Luca's jaw tightened.
“I know pieces.”
“What pieces?”
“My father.”
Claire frowned.
“Your father?”
“He knew Marcus.”
The room fell silent.
Luca looked at the photograph of Nora.
“My father wasn't just a businessman.”
Claire understood.
“He was involved.”
“Yes.”
“And you?”
“I spent years trying to dismantle what he built.”
Ethan nodded.
“That's why Marcus hates him.”
“No,” Luca said.
He looked at Claire.
“Marcus hates me because I was the one who found the evidence.”
“What evidence?”
Luca reached into a locked case.
He removed a small black ledger.
“Names.”
Claire opened it.
Her eyes widened.
There were hundreds.
Politicians.
Executives.
Police officers.
Judges.
Doctors.
And one name circled in red.
Marcus Vale.
Below it was another.
ELEANOR DOYLE.
Claire stared.
“My mother.”
Luca nodded.
“She wasn't a victim.”
May you like
Claire looked at him.
“She was the person who started everything.”
