Chapter 4 - The Ghost in the Shadows
The news of their release shattered my fragile sense of security. Mara immediately upgraded her home security system, but the fear was a constant weight on my chest. Every car that slowed down on our street made me grip my inhaler until my knuckles turned white.
"How could they get bail?" I paced the living room of Mara’s cottage. "They tried to poison me! It's on tape!"
"Sterling is a slippery snake," Mara said, her face grim as she poured over legal documents. "He argued that the audio was ambiguous and that the substance found in the kitchen could have belonged to anyone. Since you didn't actually ingest the cake, he’s pushing for the charges to be dropped to reckless endangerment. And someone with deep pockets is backing them."
"Who?"
"I don't know yet," Mara admitted. "But Diana had enemies in the corporate world before she died. She was planning to expose a major chemical dumping scandal involving her family’s old shipping company—the very company Eleanor and Arthur sold off to fund their lifestyle after taking you."
That night, I couldn't sleep. The air in the cottage felt thick. I stepped out onto the back porch to get some fresh air, staring into the dark woods that bordered Mara's property.
A twig snapped.
I froze. The shadows near the tree line shifted. A tall figure stood there, completely still, watching the house. For a terrifying second, I thought it was my father, holding that steak knife, coming to finish what he started.
"Who's there?" I called out, my voice trembling but determined. "I have the police on speed dial!"
The figure stepped forward, entering the dim light cast by the porch lamp. It wasn't my father. It was a young man, roughly my age, wearing a dark jacket. His face was pale, his expression a mix of urgency and regret.
"Avery, don't scream," he said, holding his hands up. "My name is Julian. Julian Sterling."
"Sterling?" I stepped back, my hand hitting the doorknob. "The lawyer’s son?"
"Yes, but I'm not on his side," Julian said quickly, taking another step closer but keeping a respectful distance. "My father has been covering up your parents' crimes for two decades. I didn't know the extent of it until I found a hidden file in his home office tonight. Your mother's hit-and-run? The accident that killed Diana Sinclair? It wasn't an accident."
My breath hitched. "What are you talking about?"
"Arthur was driving the car," Julian revealed, his voice dropping to a harsh whisper. "My father has the police report they suppressed twenty-six years ago. They killed your mother to get to you and the money. And right now, they are planning to flee the country. They’re going to empty the trust fund using a forged power of attorney my father prepared. You have less than forty-eight hours before they disappear forever with your life."
May you like
Before I could ask another question, a car engine roared in the distance. Julian looked back over his shoulder, panicked. "I have to go. If my father knows I’m here, he’ll destroy me too. Meet me at the city registry tomorrow at noon. I'll get you the real files."
He vanished into the shadows of the woods just as quickly as he had appeared, leaving me alone in the dark with a truth so horrifying it threatened to rip my world apart.
