Chapter 4 - SECRETS BURIED IN THE SOIL
By midnight, Vance Manor was completely empty. The thousands of white roses that had decorated the ballroom were collected and thrown into the incinerator. The sound of pop music was replaced by the low, haunting hum of the wind blowing through the sprawling estate.
Thomas sat alone in a massive leather armchair in the estate's private library. A single fire crackled in the hearth, casting long, dancing shadows across walls lined with thousands of rare books.
Harrison entered quietly, carrying a glass of 30-year-old scotch. He placed it on the small table beside Thomas.
"The press is having a field day, sir," Harrison reported. "The headlines are calling it 'The Gardener’s Revenge.' Stock in Sterling Global has actually risen by fifteen percent since the news broke."
"I don't care about the stock, Arthur," Thomas sighed, looking into the flames. He looked tired now—much older than he had hours earlier when confronting Julian. "Is the vault secured?"
Harrison hesitated for a moment. "Yes. The security team swept the lower catacombs. Julian never found it. He was too busy spending money he didn't have to notice the hidden entrance behind the old wine cellar."
Thomas took a slow sip of the scotch. "Good. If he had found what was inside, he wouldn't just be going to prison for fraud. He would have destroyed this entire city."
Suddenly, the library door burst open. A young woman, soaked from the pouring rain outside, stood in the doorway. She was breathing heavily, her dark hair plastered to her forehead, her leather jacket dripping onto the Persian rug.
Her eyes were fixed on Thomas with a mixture of shock, betrayal, and fury.
"You're alive," she whispered.
Thomas closed his eyes for a second, taking a deep breath. "Hello, Evelyn."
Evelyn Sterling—Thomas’s estranged granddaughter, who had vanished six years ago after a bitter falling out—stepped into the room. She didn't look like the heiress to a billion-dollar empire. She wore combat boots, worn jeans, and carried a scuffed duffel bag over her shoulder.
"I spent six years thinking you were rotting in some remote sanatorium!" Evelyn shouted, stepping closer to the fire. "I spent six years hiding from the people who hunted our family! And you were here?! Playing dress-up as a damn gardener?!"
"It was the only way to keep you safe, Evelyn," Thomas said gently.
"Safe?!" Evelyn laughed bitterly. "Julian just tried to sell the Sterling codes on the dark web, grandfather! He didn't just steal money—he gave the syndicate access to Project Alpha!"
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Thomas froze, the glass slipping slightly in his fingers. "What did you say?"
"Julian wasn't acting alone," Evelyn said, leaning over his chair, her eyes burning with intensity. "He didn't shove you today because he was arrogant. He shoved you to steal the biometric key from your pocket. And right now... his handlers are opening the vault."
