Chapter 2 - The Cipher of the Dead
🚨 MUST-READ DRAMA: "The Fire Wasn't An Accident—It Was An Execution!" The Brutal Truth Behind the Sterling Millions Exposed!"Call the authorities," Julian said, his voice terrifyingly calm as he pulled out his phone.
"Do it," Victoria challenged, her voice dropping into a sinister murmur. "Call them, Julian. Tell the police that the great Victoria Sterling burnt down her family home twenty years ago. But before you press dial, ask yourself: who owns the chief of police? Who signed the charter for the district attorney’s campaign? Who holds the deeds to every judge’s vacation home in this province?"
She took a step closer to Julian, tapping her manicured fingernail against his chest, right over his beating heart. "You press that button, and by tomorrow morning, this little girl will disappear into a psychiatric facility for impersonating an heir. And you... you will be declared mentally unfit to run Sterling Enterprises."
Elena stepped between them, pulling a heavy, worn leather journal from beneath her apron. The cover was scorched at the edges, stained with soot that had dried two decades ago.
"You forgot one thing, Victoria," Elena said, holding the journal high. "Our father wasn't just a dreamer. He was a paranoid auditor."
Victoria’s eyes widened, the color draining completely from her face. For the first time, genuine terror flashed across her features. "Where did you get that?"
"From the cellar of the burnt estate," Elena said with a cold, triumphant smile. "The night of the fire, Father knew you were coming. He recorded every shell company, every offshore account, every bribe you used to syphon funds out of Sterling Logistics before setting the blaze to cover your paper trail."
Julian took the journal from Elena’s hands. He flipped through the soot-stained pages. His father’s distinct, precise handwriting filled the sheets—detailed ledger entries, dates, and names. And on the final page, written in frantic, hurried red ink, was a single sentence: If we die tonight, look to Victoria. She has bought the accelerant.
"You monster," Julian breathed, staring at Victoria as if looking at a demon wrapped in silk. "You locked the doors from the outside, didn't you?"
"They were going to ruin us!" Victoria screamed, her aristocratic composure completely breaking into frantic rage. "Your father was going to surrender our assets to the federal government! He was a coward! He wanted to live a simple, humble life! I saved the Sterling name! I sacrificed two useless people so that YOU could inherit a kingdom!"
"You didn't save a kingdom," Julian roared, grabbing Victoria by her lapels and shaking her violently before flinging her backward onto the velvet couch. "You built a cemetery and forced me to rule over it!"
Before Victoria could recover, the heavy double doors of the library burst open. Three armed estate security guards rushed into the room, their weapons drawn.
"Madam Sterling!" the lead guard yelled. "We heard screaming. Is there a problem?"
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Victoria slowly sat up, smoothing her jacket. A dark, twisted smile spread across her face as she looked at Julian and Elena.
"Yes, security," Victoria said, her voice instantly returning to its chilling, authoritative tone. "We have two intruders. Detain them. And make sure they don't leave the grounds alive."
