Chapter 7 - THE HOUSE ON THE EDGE OF TOWN
“Then we make her tell us,” the man said.
His voice was flat. Cold. Without a single shred of mercy.
I pressed myself deeper into the shadow of the oak tree, heart hammering so hard I thought they might hear it through the glass. Sarah gripped my arm, fingers tight, warning me to stay still.
Vanessa crossed her arms, her face hardening. “Daniel is bringing Mia to me tomorrow evening. He thinks I’m miles away. He thinks he’s dropping her at his own apartment while he drives out to see me. He doesn’t suspect a thing.”
My blood turned to ice.
“Once we have Mia,” the man said, “Claire will give us whatever we want. Mothers always do.”
“Be careful with the girl,” Vanessa said. “She looks like him. She has his eyes. Every time I look at her, I remember why we’re here. And I remember what Leo did.”
“Leo is dead,” the man said. “And his little girl is the only thing left that matters. Claire hid the package somewhere. She doesn’t even know what it is. She thinks it’s just a memory. But we know better. We take Mia, Claire gives us the package… and then we disappear. Just like we planned.”
“And the girl?” Vanessa asked. “What do we do with her after?”
Silence stretched across the room. Long and terrible.
“Leo took everything from us,” the man said slowly. “Everything. So we take everything from him. Starting with his daughter.”
I couldn’t breathe. The air felt too thick, too heavy, like water filling my lungs. They weren’t just after money. They weren’t just after some secret. They wanted Mia. To hurt Leo. To punish a man who was already dead.
I gripped the rough bark of the tree until my nails cracked.
“Tomorrow evening,” Vanessa said. “Six o’clock. Daniel will be gone by seven. We’ll have hours before anyone suspects anything. Everything is in place.”
“Good,” the man said. “And Claire?”
“Claire will be too busy worrying about her precious reputation to notice anything is wrong. I’ve made sure of that. By the time she figures out what happened… it will be far too late.”
The man walked toward the window. I saw his face clearly for the first time.
My knees nearly gave way.
It was him. Not Leo—but the resemblance was unmistakable. Same jawline. Same eyes. Same dark hair falling over his forehead. He could have been Leo’s brother. His twin.
Leo had a brother. He had mentioned him once, in passing, years ago. A brother who was angry. Dangerous. A brother who had hated me before we ever met.
His name was Julian.
Julian. Leo’s brother. The man who had sworn to destroy everything Leo ever loved.
And now he was here. With Vanessa. Planning to take my daughter.
“Come inside,” Julian said, pulling the curtain shut. “Night is falling. And we have work to do.”
The room went dark.
I stood frozen long after the lights had gone out. Sarah pulled at my arm, gently but urgently, and we backed away into the trees, moving slowly, silently, until we reached the car.
Only when the doors were shut and we were driving away did I finally let myself breathe. My hands shook so badly I could barely hold the steering wheel.
“Claire,” Sarah said softly. “Who was that man?”
“Leo’s brother,” I whispered. “Julian. He swore he’d make Leo pay for everything. And now… he’s come for Mia. Because Leo is dead… and Mia is all he has left.”
“And Vanessa?”
“I don’t know. Maybe she’s working with him for money. Maybe she hates me too. Or maybe… she has her own reasons. But Sarah… they’re taking Mia tomorrow. Daniel is bringing her there. He thinks he’s dropping her at his apartment. He thinks Vanessa is miles away.”
“Claire… you have to stop him.”
“I will,” I said. A quiet, terrible resolve settled over me. “I will stop him. And I will expose every single lie they have told. But first… I need to know why Daniel is doing this. Why would he take Mia to a place where Vanessa is hiding? Why would he lie to me?”
“Maybe he doesn’t know,” Sarah said. “Maybe she told him one address… and gave you another.”
May you like
“Maybe,” I said. “Or maybe… he knows exactly what he’s doing.”
The thought terrified me more than anything else.
