Chapter 4 - Clara
Adrian refused to explain.
Instead, he ran.
The brothers chased him through the mansion, but Adrian disappeared through a hidden passage.
Thomas found the mechanism.
A wall opened.
Beyond it was a narrow corridor leading outside.
By the time they reached the garden, Adrian was gone.
But he had left something behind.
A phone.
Daniel picked it up.
There were dozens of messages.
Most were from an unknown number.
One said:
THE GIRL MUST NEVER MEET THE CARTER BOYS.
Another:
IF EVIE OPENS THE SAFE, MOVE TO PHASE TWO.
And the final message was sent only ten minutes earlier.
CLARA IS READY.
Evie stared at the screen.
“Who is Clara?”
Samuel looked away.
Daniel grabbed his shoulder.
“You know.”
Samuel sighed.
“Yes.”
“Tell us.”
Samuel finally revealed the truth.
Eleanor had discovered that Charles Whitmore wasn't the only person behind the financial scheme.
Their father had also been investigating an adoption network connected to wealthy families.
Children had been moved between families under false identities.
Clara was one of them.
Eleanor had discovered her identity.
She tried to protect her.
That was why she disappeared.
Daniel felt sick.
“Where is Clara now?”
Samuel gave him an address.
A small house in Pasadena.
The brothers went there immediately.
A young woman opened the door.
She was twenty-seven.
Dark hair.
Green eyes.
And the same small dimple Eleanor had.
She looked at the five brothers.
Then at Evie.
Her face changed.
“You came.”
Evie whispered:
“Clara?”
The woman nodded.
“I've been waiting.”
Clara told them she had spent years being told her biological family wanted nothing to do with her.
But recently, someone had contacted her.
They told her the truth.
She was Eleanor's daughter.
And she possessed something the Whitmores desperately wanted.
A journal.
Their mother's journal.
Clara brought it out.
Inside were names.
Dates.
Bank accounts.
Photographs.
And one shocking entry.
CHARLES WAS NOT THE MASTER.
Daniel looked up.
“Then who was?”
Clara turned the page.
There was one name.
Victor Kane.
Samuel went pale.
Michael recognized it.
“Victor Kane died fifteen years ago.”
Clara shook her head.
“No.”
She pointed to a recent photograph.
Victor Kane was standing beside Charles.
The photograph had been taken three months earlier.
Daniel stared.
“That's impossible.”
Clara whispered:
“He's alive.”
Then Evie's phone rang.
She answered.
No one spoke.
A distorted voice came through.
“Bring the journal to the mansion.”
Evie said nothing.
The voice continued.
“Or Daniel's brothers won't be the only people you lose.”
The call ended.
Daniel looked at his brothers.
“We're not going back.”
Clara shook her head.
“We have to.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because the mansion isn't the real target.”
She pointed toward Evie.
“They want her to sign something.”
Evie felt her stomach drop.
“What?”
May you like
Clara opened the journal.
“The transfer of the Whitmore family trust.”
