Chapter 12 - THE NIGHT THE MANSION BECAME A PRISON
Victor Hale stood in the grand dining room holding a pistol.
Richard Veller stood beside him.
But the two men looked nothing alike.
Victor was calm.
Almost amused.
Richard was pale, sweating, and visibly frightened.
Three security guards lay restrained near the entrance.
Another guard had escaped through the kitchen and was attempting to contact police.
Victor seemed unconcerned.
He had planned the intrusion carefully.
A former employee still loyal to him had provided access codes to an old maintenance entrance.
The new security system had protected the main doors.
But not the forgotten tunnel beneath the eastern garden.
The same tunnel Isabelle had used to escape fifteen years earlier.
Armand entered the dining room first.
“Victor.”
Victor smiled.
“Mr. Veller.”
“Put the gun down.”
“Not yet.”
Richard looked toward his brother.
“Armand, I'm sorry.”
Armand stared at him.
“Richard?”
His brother lowered his eyes.
“I didn't know he was going to do this.”
Victor laughed.
“That's becoming your favorite sentence.”
Armand looked at Victor.
“What do you want?”
Victor gestured toward the table.
“Sit.”
“No.”
Victor raised the gun slightly.
Armand slowly pulled out a chair.
Lina entered behind him, followed by Evelyn and Margaret.
Catherine remained upstairs with her nurse, who had locked the bedroom door.
Victor noticed Evelyn immediately.
“Well, well.”
Evelyn stopped.
“Hello, Isabelle.”
She looked him directly in the eyes.
“My name is Evelyn.”
Victor smiled.
“Still playing that game?”
“No.”
Her voice steadied.
“I'm telling you who I am.”
For a moment, Victor seemed irritated.
Then he shrugged.
“Names don't matter.”
Evelyn looked at him.
“They matter to the people who survive you.”
Richard flinched.
Victor's smile disappeared.
Lina stood near the doorway.
Her phone was hidden inside her apron pocket.
Before leaving the kitchen, she had managed to activate an emergency call.
She did not know whether the dispatcher could hear anything.
But she kept the line open.
Victor pointed toward the chairs.
“Everyone sit down.”
Margaret obeyed.
Lina sat beside Evelyn.
Armand remained standing.
“Leave them out of this.”
Victor laughed.
“They've always been part of this.”
He turned toward Richard.
“Tell him.”
Richard shook his head.
“Victor—”
“Tell him!”
Richard looked at Armand.
His face crumpled.
“I stole from the company.”
Armand said nothing.
“I moved money through the foundation.”
“I know.”
Richard swallowed.
“Catherine found out.”
Armand's hands tightened.
“And?”
Richard began to cry.
“I tried to convince her not to expose us.”
“Us?”
Richard looked toward Victor.
Victor smiled.
“Your brother was very ambitious.”
Armand stared at Richard.
“Did you arrange Catherine's accident?”
Richard shook his head desperately.
“No.”
Victor laughed.
“Not directly.”
Richard turned.
“Shut up!”
Victor raised the gun.
“Careful.”
Richard fell silent.
Victor looked at Armand.
“Your brother wanted Catherine frightened. He wanted her to stop asking questions.”
Armand felt sick.
“So you tried to kill her?”
Victor shrugged.
“The accident was supposed to be convincing.”
Evelyn gasped.
Armand stepped forward.
Victor pointed the gun at him.
“Sit down.”
Armand obeyed.
Victor continued.
“Unfortunately, Catherine survived.”
Margaret covered her mouth.
Richard stared at the floor.
Victor smiled coldly.
“She suffered a serious head injury. We moved her to a private facility and kept her hidden.”
Armand's voice broke.
“Why?”
“Because Catherine had hidden evidence.”
“The chapel.”
Victor nodded.
“Exactly.”
Lina felt her heart hammer.
Victor looked at Evelyn.
“And your daughter knew something too.”
Evelyn froze.
“What?”
Victor leaned closer.
“You saw Clara that night.”
Evelyn nodded.
“Yes.”
“And you heard us arguing.”
“Yes.”
Victor smiled.
“That's why you had to disappear.”
Armand looked at Richard.
“You knew?”
Richard began to cry harder.
“I thought Victor was only going to hide her until things calmed down.”
Armand stared at him in disbelief.
“You let him take my child?”
Richard covered his face.
“I was afraid.”
Armand's voice shook with rage.
“She was nine years old!”
Richard sobbed.
“I know.”
Armand leaned forward.
“Fifteen years, Richard.”
His voice cracked.
“Fifteen years.”
Victor interrupted.
“Enough.”
He turned toward Evelyn.
“Now tell me where the journal is.”
Evelyn stared.
“What journal?”
“Your mother's red journal.”
Her heart stopped.
Victor smiled.
“Don't pretend you don't remember.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“I haven't seen it in fifteen years.”
Victor studied her.
Then looked at Lina.
“Perhaps your friend knows.”
Lina remained silent.
Victor stepped closer.
“You found the portrait.”
“Yes.”
“You helped Isabelle contact the police.”
“Yes.”
“You've caused quite a bit of trouble.”
Lina looked him in the eyes.
“I helped someone who was afraid.”
Victor laughed.
“And now you're afraid too.”
Lina's voice remained steady.
“Yes.”
The answer surprised him.
She continued.
“But being afraid doesn't mean I'm going to help you hurt her.”
Victor stared.
For the first time, his smile vanished completely.
Upstairs, Catherine heard the voices.
She sat beside the window, trembling.
Her nurse, Angela Price, had called the police.
But Catherine knew they might not arrive in time.
She remembered Victor.
The accident.
The hospital.
The years of confusion.
And the journal.
Suddenly, something clicked inside her memory.
The red journal had not disappeared.
Clara had hidden it.
Not in Isabelle's bedroom.
Not in the chapel.
But somewhere Catherine had once shown her daughter.
Catherine turned toward Angela.
“The stars.”
Angela frowned.
“What?”
“The stars.”
Catherine gripped her arm.
“Tell Isabelle to look where the stars sleep.”
Downstairs, Victor paced beside the dining table.
Richard looked increasingly desperate.
“Victor, please. Let them go.”
Victor turned.
“After everything you've done, you want to play the hero?”
Richard lowered his head.
“I never wanted anyone dead.”
Victor laughed.
“You wanted the money. You wanted the power. You wanted your brother's company.”
Richard began to shake.
Victor leaned closer.
“And you were willing to sacrifice his family to get it.”
Armand stared at his brother.
Richard could not meet his eyes.
Then Victor's phone vibrated.
He checked the screen.
His expression changed.
Police vehicles had entered the estate.
Someone had called for help.
Victor looked around.
“Who did it?”
Nobody answered.
He turned toward Lina.
Her apron pocket glowed faintly.
Victor's eyes narrowed.
He seized her phone.
The emergency call was still connected.
Victor smiled coldly.
“Well done.”
He threw the phone across the room.
Then grabbed Lina by the arm.
Evelyn sprang up.
“LET HER GO!”
Victor pressed the gun against Lina's side.
Armand rose.
“Victor, don't!”
Victor backed toward the doorway.
His expression had transformed.
No more smiles.
No more games.
Only desperation.
“If I go down,” he hissed, “someone is coming with me.”
Outside, police sirens approached.
Then Victor looked directly at Evelyn.
May you like
“YOU HAVE TEN SECONDS TO TELL ME WHERE THE JOURNAL IS, OR LINA DIES FIRST.”
END OF CHAPTER 12
