Chapter 6 - THE SIBLING’S SHADOW
I stood perfectly still in the dark.
My breathing was shallow. I could hear footsteps—soft, careful—moving down the hallway toward the study. They knew exactly where I was.
I reached slowly into the desk drawer and found the small emergency flashlight Adrian kept there. I clicked it on just enough to see the room, then turned it down to the dimmest setting.
The footsteps stopped outside the door.
I backed quietly toward the French doors that led to the patio. If I could get outside… if I could reach the neighbor’s house with the girls…
The door creaked open.
A figure stood in the doorway. Silhouetted against the faint light from the street. Tall. Broad-shouldered.
“Clara,” a voice said. Soft. Familiar. “Come out. We just need to talk.”
Elias. The lawyer.
I stayed hidden in the shadows. “Where is Adrian?”
“Busy. He won’t be coming back for a while.” He stepped fully into the room. “You’ve caused quite a mess, you know. Everything was going perfectly. Until you showed up.”
“Your sister tried to kill a baby,” I said. “Your brother sent a man to threaten me. You’ve been stealing from Adrian for years. That’s not my mess. That’s yours.”
Elias laughed quietly.
“Smart girl. Yes, we’re siblings. We’ve been working on this for a very long time. Vanessa was planted perfectly. She had him wrapped around her finger. We were six months away from having full control of everything. Then Olivia recorded that video. And you… you kept digging.”
He took another step into the room.
“Where are the files, Clara? The duplicates. The ones Adrian hid.”
“They’re gone,” I said. “Adrian took them. He’s at the police station right now. By morning, all three of you will be in jail.”
Elias went still. Then he smiled—a cold, terrifying smile.
“Adrian isn’t at the police station, Clara. He never made it there. Marcus intercepted him on the highway.”
My heart stopped.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing… yet. It depends on you. Give me the files. Delete every backup. And we let Adrian go. Unharmed. Walk away. And you never hear from any of us again.”
I gripped the flashlight tighter. “And if I don’t?”
“Then something happens to Adrian. And then something happens to the girls. And then… you.”
I believed him. He was the oldest brother. The mastermind. The one who had planned every detail.
“I don’t have the files,” I said. “Adrian took them. There’s nothing I can give you.”
Elias’s expression hardened. He pulled a knife from inside his coat.
“Then I guess we do this the hard way.”
He lunged.
I swung the flashlight hard into his face. He stumbled back, cursing. I ran for the patio doors. I threw the locks open and burst outside into the cool night air.
“Help!” I screamed. “Someone help!”
I ran across the patio, barefoot, toward the side gate. Behind me I heard Elias’s footsteps. Fast. Closing in.
I reached the gate. Locked.
I spun around. Elias stood on the patio steps.
“You can’t run forever,” he said. “And no one is coming. I made sure of that.”
He walked toward me. There was nowhere to go. The pool was behind me. The gate was locked.
“Why are you doing this?” I demanded, backing toward the water. “Adrian trusted you. He considered you family.”
“Exactly,” Elias said. “He considered me family. But he had everything. And we had nothing. So we decided to take what was ours.”
“By trying to kill his children?”
“Collateral damage.” He shrugged. “Vanessa got a little carried away. She was always the emotional one. But the plan was never actually to hurt the baby. Just make it look like an accident. Frame you. Get Adrian out of the way. Then we take over.”
“You’re monsters,” I said.
“We’re survivors.” He stepped closer. “Now give me your phone. And tell me where Adrian keeps the encryption codes.”
I looked at the water behind me. Then at Elias. Then at the phone in my pocket.
“If I give you the codes… will you really let Adrian go?”
Elias hesitated. “Yes.”
I pulled out my phone. I held it out to him. And then—with every ounce of strength I had—I threw it as hard as I could into the dark pool.
Elias stared. “You stupid girl.”
He lunged.
I dove to the side. He missed. He stumbled, his momentum carrying him forward. He caught his balance at the very edge of the pool—but he was off-balance.
I didn’t think. I didn’t hesitate.
I stepped forward and pushed him.
Hard.
Elias fell backward with a loud cry. He hit the water and sank beneath the surface.
I stood there, chest heaving, staring at the dark ripples.
He surfaced, sputtering, clutching the knife.
“You’re going to pay for that!”
He began thrashing toward the edge.
Sirens wailed in the distance. Getting closer.
Elias froze. He looked toward the street. Then back at me.
“This isn’t over!” he shouted. “We’ll find you! All of you!”
He turned and swam silently to the far side of the pool. He pulled himself out, dripping wet, and disappeared into the shadows of the garden just as the police cars came screaming up the driveway.
Two officers jumped out, guns drawn.
“Over here!” I called out.
They ran toward me. I pointed toward the garden.
“Elias Vance. He was here. He just ran away. And Adrian is in danger—his brother-in-law intercepted him on the highway.”
The officers radioed for backup immediately. One stayed with me. The others spread out into the garden.
I stood there shivering in the cool night air. The police had come. Elias had fled. But Adrian was still gone.
My phone was at the bottom of the pool. I couldn’t call him. I couldn’t warn him.
An officer handed me a phone.
“Call him. Tell him not to stop for anyone. Tell him to keep driving straight to the station.”
My hands shook as I dialed. It rang once. Twice. Three times.
“Hello?” Adrian’s voice. Quiet. Tense.
“Adrian—don’t go to the station. Don’t stop. Elias was here. He said Marcus intercepted you.”
“I know,” Adrian said. His voice was low. “I see them behind me right now. Two cars.”
“Keep driving. The police are sending units to intercept you. Just don’t stop.”
“I won’t,” he said. “Clara—are you safe?”
“I’m safe. The police are here. Elias ran away.”
“Good.” He paused. “Clara?”
“Yes?”
“If anything happens—”
The line went dead.
“Adrian?”
Silence.
I handed the phone back to the officer.
“They cut him off,” I said, my voice trembling. “They cut the line.”
The officer spoke urgently into his radio. More sirens wailed in the distance. Every available unit was converging on the highway.
I stood there on the patio, watching the police lights flashing red and blue across the water. Elias was loose. Marcus was chasing Adrian. And Vanessa was sitting in a jail cell, waiting to see if her brothers could save her.
I looked up at the balcony where Olivia had stood yesterday. Where she had recorded everything and saved her sister’s life.
They were still targeting the girls. They were still targeting Adrian. And they were still targeting me.
The officer turned back to me.
“We have units on the highway. But we need you to come with us. We need to place you and the children in protective custody until this is resolved.”
I looked toward the gate. Toward the neighbor’s house where Olivia and Emma were sleeping.
“Will they be safe there?”
“Safer than here. We have no idea when Elias might come back.”
I nodded. “Take me to them. Please.”
As we walked to the car, I looked back one last time at the dark house. At the pool where everything had started.
May you like
Elias was still out there. Marcus was still chasing Adrian. And I had the terrible feeling that this was only the beginning. That there was more to their plan. Something they hadn’t told us yet.
Something even worse.
