Chapter 14 - The Bloodline's TollClaire gasped, closing her eyes tightly, waiting for the cold sting of death.

But it wasn't Claire who fell.

Eleanor’s eyes went wide with shock. The gun slipped from her fingers, clattering onto the asphalt. She slowly dropped to her knees, clutching her abdomen where blood was rapidly pooling through her rain jacket.

Behind her stood Martha, the house maid, holding an old, rusting revolver with trembling, rain-soaked hands.

"Martha...?" Eleanor gasped, coughing up blood as she collapsed onto her side.

Martha dropped the gun, sobbing hysterically as she ran over to Claire. "Miss Claire! Miss Claire, are you hurt?! Are you okay?!"

Claire stumbled back against her car, staring in absolute shock at the maid and her sister writhing on the ground. "Martha... how did you get here?!"

"I followed Detective Vance from the precinct," Martha wept, her hands shaking. "I knew Miss Eleanor would come after you. She threatened my family, she forced me to poison your tea... I couldn't let her hurt you again!"

Eleanor lay on the cold ground, her breathing shallow, looking up at the dark storm clouds above. Claire slowly walked over and knelt beside her dying sister.

"Why, Eleanor?" Claire whispered, tears finally leaking from her eyes. "Why did it have to end like this? We could have had everything."

Eleanor looked up at Claire, blood trickling from the corner of her lips. She let out a weak, raspy laugh.

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Arthur Sterling tapped his leather-wrapped fingers against the steering...

The sound hung in the air, rhythmic and deliberate—tap, tap, tap—reverbe...

The wind on the balcony was sharp, carrying the bitter, fish-heavy tang...

"Because... in this family, Claire..." Eleanor choked out, her vision fading into darkness, "...there can only ever be... one survivor."

CHAPTER 14 HOOK: Eleanor’s hand fell limp against the wet pavement. Her eyes rolled back, glassy and lifeless. But as Claire reached into Eleanor’s coat pocket to find her phone, her fingers brushed against an old, sealed envelope marked with their mother’s wax seal.