CHAPTER 6 — The Island of Secrets
The coordinates led to an abandoned private island off the coast of Maine.
A mansion stood alone above the cliffs.
No electricity.
No neighbors.
No witnesses.
Sophia carried only one backpack.
Inside...
The evidence Jonathan had hidden.
As she entered the mansion...
A slow clap echoed through the darkness.
A man stepped into the light.
Sophia froze.
She recognized him instantly.
Richard Kane.
Jonathan's oldest business partner.
The man who had cried at the funeral.
The man everyone believed had been Jonathan's closest friend.
Richard smiled.
"Your father trusted me more than anyone."
Sophia whispered,
"You betrayed him."
Richard laughed.
"No."
"I created him."
He revealed the shocking truth.
Forty years earlier...
Ashford Global had never belonged to Jonathan alone.
Richard had secretly financed the company from the beginning.
But Jonathan refused to help launder money for powerful criminals.
So Richard spent decades building a network to destroy him.
Victor had merely been a pawn.
The real mastermind...
Had always been Richard.
Emma was dragged into the room.
Alive.
Bound to a chair.
She looked at Sophia in confusion.
"I don't even know you..."
Tears filled Sophia's eyes.
"I'm your sister."
Emma stared.
"What?"
Before another word could be spoken...
Richard placed a gun on the table.
"There are only two ways this ends."
"You give me Jonathan's evidence..."
"...or only one Ashford daughter leaves this island alive."
Outside...
A violent storm crashed against the cliffs.
Lightning lit the mansion windows.
And hidden somewhere in the darkness...
A red laser sight slowly settled onto Richard's chest.
Someone else had arrived.
Someone Richard never expected.
Jonathan Ashford.
May you like
Alive...
And armed.
