Chapter 25 - The Phantom in the Mirror
Ten minutes later, Sarah slipped through the service entrance beneath the terrace, breathless and clutching her tablet. She found me locked inside the estate’s private library, the heavy oak door bolted from within.
"Clara, what happened?" Sarah asked, her eyes darting to my trembling hands. "You look terrified."
Without a word, I pushed the yellowed Geneva certificate and my grandfather’s letter across the mahogany desk. Sarah leaned over, her sharp hazel eyes scanning the lines. By the time she reached the third paragraph, her jaw dropped, and the color drained completely from her cheeks.
"Dear God..." Sarah whispered, covering her mouth. "A twin? But Julian never mentioned a twin. In all the court depositions, all the financial disclosures during the trial, Julian Vance was listed as an only son after his parents perished in the fire."
"Read the rest," I urged, my voice tight as a wire. "My grandfather wrote that Brandon didn't meet me in that boutique hotel by accident three years ago. Someone orchestrated our meeting. Someone paid off Brandon's initial gambling debts so he could play the role of a wealthy, devoted suitor and lure me into marriage."
Sarah gripped the edge of the desk. "Why would anyone do that to you?"
"To keep me away from the Vance Corporation's trust activation," I said, the puzzle pieces clicking together with sickening clarity. "My grandfather’s will stipulated that if I married a man outside the Vance bloodline and had a child, my voting shares would remain dormant until I turned thirty. Brandon was my cage. And Julian was the architect."
"And Daniel?" Sarah asked, looking at me with wide, panicked eyes. "Clara, Daniel is the one who handed us the offshore accounts that destroyed Julian! He gave us the evidence that sent Brandon to prison! Why would he do that if he's Julian's twin?"
"Because in a family of scorpions, the only thing more dangerous than an enemy is a rival brother," I said coldly.
I stood up and walked toward the towering French windows overlooking the ocean. Out on the horizon, dark storm clouds were gathering over the cliffs, blotting out the golden sunset.
"I need to know everything about the fire twenty-five years ago," I said, turning back to Sarah. "And I need to know who in Daniel's inner circle had contact with Brandon. Daniel's closest confidant is Marcus Sterling—his chief legal counsel and godfather. Marcus has managed Daniel's trusts since he was a boy."
"Marcus Sterling?" Sarah's brow furrowed. "Marcus was the one who drafted the prenuptial agreement for you and Daniel yesterday."
My blood ran cold. "Bring up the digital copy of that agreement. Now."
Sarah quickly unlocked her tablet, her fingers flying across the screen. She opened the secure cloud folder and pulled up the PDF of the prenuptial contract Daniel had signed without hesitation just yesterday afternoon. He had told me he didn't care about my billions—he had signed away all rights to my grandfather's inheritance.
Sarah scrolled down to the legal boilerplate on page forty-eight. Suddenly, she stopped.
"Clara..." Sarah’s voice dropped to a terrified hush. "Look at clause twelve, subsection B."
I leaned over her shoulder. Embedded deep within an innocuous indemnity clause regarding foreign assets was a single line of micro-text:
*“In the event of the primary beneficiary’s sudden incapacitation or death, all parental custody of minor heirs and associated trust dividends shall revert entirely to the Sterling Family Trust, managed solely by Marcus Sterling.”*
My breath caught in my throat. If I died, or if I was deemed mentally unfit, Leo wouldn't just lose me—he would become the property of Marcus Sterling. And all of my grandfather's vast empire would be swallowed whole.
"It wasn't just Daniel," I breathed, horror washing over me. "Marcus is the spider."
Just then, the brass handle of the library door rattled.
A sharp, firm knock echoed through the room.
May you like
"Clara?" Daniel’s voice came from the other side, smooth and dangerously close. "Why is the library door locked? Is everything alright in there?"
***