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The silver picture frame shattered into a hundred jagged pieces across the hardwood floor, but no one in the room moved to pick up the glass. Little Sophie’s trembling body pressed so hard against Mark’s chest that he could feel the frantic, rabbit-fast thumping of her tiny heart through his suit jacket. Her small fingernails dug into his collar, white-knuckled, tears streaking through the light dust on her cheeks. / Chapter 14 / 20

Chapter 14 - ARTHUR VANCE'S FIRST WORDS

"NO!" Mark screamed, slamming his fist into the wooden wall of the old studio. "Vance, call the tactical unit! They’re inside my house!"

"They won't harm her if they want the ledger," Vance yelled, pulling his weapon and running down the staircase toward the front doors. "We have twenty-eight minutes! Move!"

As they sped through the blinding rain back toward the coast, Mark’s dashboard phone rang. It was an encrypted call from the specialized care unit at the university hospital—the facility holding Arthur Vance, the paralyzed ex-husband of Evelyn.

"Mr. Sterling!" the head doctor shouted over the line, sounding breathless. "You need to hear this! Patient Arthur Vance... he just experienced a massive neurological breakthrough! He's speaking!"

"Put him on speaker! Fast!" Mark barked, pressing his foot harder against the accelerator.

A weak, raspy, gravelly voice echoed through the car speakers—a man who hadn't spoken a single word in eight long years.

"Mark..." Arthur gasped, fighting for every breath. "Listen to me... Evelyn was not... the leader... She was... the youngest... of three sisters..."

Mark’s blood ran cold. "Three sisters?"

"They... were trained... by their mother... The Matriarch," Arthur rasped, coughing violently. "Evelyn was sent... for you. Victoria... was sent... for your corporate assets. And the eldest... the deadliest one... took Clara’s place years ago..."

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The audio file on Marina’s phone was timestamped three minutes ago. Igna...

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The hangover hit Mateo like a freight train at sunrise. Sunlight filtered through the velvet curtains of the luxury hotel suite, burning his eyes. Beside him, Valeria was still asleep, smelling of cheap neon cocktails and expensive perfume. Mateo groaned, reaching for his phone on the nightstand.

The hangover hit Mateo like a freight train at sunrise. Sunlight filtere...

Mark nearly swerved off the slippery highway. "What did you say?! Clara died four years ago!"

"Clara didn't die..." Arthur whispered, his voice trembling with sheer terror. "The woman buried in Clara’s grave... was a body double. The real eldest sister... is named Sophia... She stole Clara’s identity... Clara’s face through plastic surgery... She is the one... holding your child right now!"

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