Chapter 5 - The Heir's Confession
The living room was silent save for the rhythmic tapping of rain against the windowpanes.
“My mother, Eleanor, died eight years ago,” Julian began, his voice laced with profound sadness. “Everyone thought it was an illness. But last month, while going through the archives of her estate, I found a set of encrypted physical ledgers. She had hidden them in a bank vault in London.”
“What was in them?” Emma asked, leaning against the doorframe, the hunting rifle leaning safely near her hand.
“Proof that Vance Global didn't build its fortune on legal logistics,” Julian revealed. “Thirty years ago, my father partnered with human traffickers and illegal arms syndicates to clear shipping lanes in Eastern Europe and Africa. My mother discovered it right before she died. She was preparing to turn the evidence over to federal prosecutors.”
Lily gasped. “Did your father... kill her?”
“I don't know,” Julian confessed, his hands trembling against the warm mug. “But when I confronted him with the ledgers three days ago at his estate, he didn't deny it. He smiled at me. He said I was too soft, too much like my mother. He told me that power required sacrifices.”
“He tricked you into coming to Hillrest Manor,” Sarah realized.
“He told me there were more of my mother’s private papers stored in the manor’s safe,” Julian nodded. “When I went inside, his head of security, Marcus Vance—my cousin—struck me down. They took my phone, destroyed my car’s GPS tracker, and shoved me into that attic room. They were going to leave me there to starve, declare me missing, and eventually have me declared legally dead so my father could reclaim my shares of the company.”
“That’s demonic,” Sarah said, her voice shaking with rage.
“It’s efficient,” Julian corrected grimly. “And without those physical ledgers, it’s just my word against his. And Arthur Vance is a man who dines with senators.”
“Where are the ledgers now?” Lily asked, her eyes lighting up with an investigative spark.
“In the trunk of my Bentley,” Julian said. “I had them in a locked leather briefcase when I was attacked. They took the keys, but the car is still parked in the dense brush near Hillrest Manor.”
Emma looked at Lily. The identical twins exchanged a look that required no words.
“The Bentley is still there,” Emma said. “Arthur’s man, Marcus, was ordered to clear the security footage, but he might not have towed the car yet.”
“No, girls, absolutely not,” Sarah interjected, stepping between her daughters. “You are not going back to that death trap!”
“Mom, if Arthur’s men find that briefcase, they’ll destroy the evidence,” Lily argued. “Without it, Julian can never go back, and we’ll be in danger for the rest of our lives for helping him. We have to get that briefcase before sunrise.”
“We know the estate’s layout better than anyone now,” Emma added, holding up her smartphone. “And we have something Arthur Vance doesn't expect.”
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“What’s that?” Julian asked.
Emma pulled up the architecture blueprints of Hillrest Manor on her screen, courtesy of her school research files. “We know where the blind spots in the security system are.”
