Chapter 4 - THE BROTHER IN THE SHADOWS
Nicholas had not attended the family dinner.
Adrian claimed he was in London.
Margaret claimed he had not visited the mansion in months.
Both statements were lies.
Nicholas stood above the staircase wearing dark clothes and leather gloves.
He kept the rifle aimed at Rosa.
“Close the doors.”
Adrian stared at him.
“What are you doing?”
“Protecting the family.”
Police shouted from the front hall.
Nicholas fired into the ceiling.
Plaster fell across the stairs.
“Anyone enters, I fire again.”
Claire knelt beside Rosa.
The bullet had struck her shoulder.
She was conscious.
Her breathing was shallow.
Arthur moved toward the front entrance.
Nicholas shifted the rifle.
“Father.”
“Do not make me do this.”
Arthur stopped.
Margaret looked up at her younger son.
“Take Claire’s phone.”
Nicholas descended three steps.
Adrian turned toward his mother.
“You knew he was here.”
Margaret ignored him.
“Do as I said.”
For the first time, Adrian understood that he was not controlling the room.
He had thrown a plate because Claire challenged him.
He had believed fear belonged to him.
Now his own mother and brother were treating him like another object inside the house.
Claire whispered into the phone.
“Second floor.”
“Male with a rifle.”
Agent Ruiz answered quietly.
“Officers are entering through the kitchen.”
Nicholas saw Claire’s lips move.
He aimed at her.
Adrian stepped in front of the gun.
“Do not point that at my wife.”
Claire almost laughed at the absurdity.
Minutes earlier, he had thrown a plate at her face.
Now he wanted the title of protector.
Nicholas’s expression hardened.
“Move.”
“No.”
Margaret’s voice cut across the room.
“Adrian, stop pretending this is about Claire.”
“It is about the company.”
“If she proves her mother’s ownership claim, all of us lose everything.”
Adrian looked at Claire.
The divorce papers he had secretly prepared.
The trust documents he had urged her to sign.
The accounts Margaret insisted remain separate.
Every decision suddenly made sense.
“You knew who Claire was before I married her,” he said.
Margaret did not deny it.
“You encouraged the marriage.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To keep the Bennett claim inside the family.”
Claire stood slowly.
“You wanted me married to Adrian so anything I inherited could be controlled through him.”
Margaret smiled without warmth.
“You finally understand.”
Adrian looked sick.
He had believed his mother approved of Claire because she respected his choice.
There had never been a choice.
Nicholas continued descending.
“Give me the phone.”
Claire held it tighter.
Rosa caught her wrist.
“The greenhouse,” she whispered.
“What?”
“Your mother left proof beneath the greenhouse.”
Margaret heard her.
“Kill the connection.”
Nicholas moved toward Claire.
The kitchen doors opened behind him.
Three officers entered with weapons raised.
Nicholas turned.
Arthur rushed forward and pulled the rifle barrel downward.
A shot exploded.
The chandelier shattered.
Glass rained across the dining table.
Nicholas fell against the railing.
Adrian seized the rifle.
Police forced Nicholas to the floor.
Margaret ran toward the side exit.
Claire followed.
Margaret reached the greenhouse corridor first.
Then she stopped.
A woman stood beyond the glass doors.
She wore a hospital bracelet.
Her face was thin.
Her hair was white.
May you like
Claire recognized her from the hidden photographs.
Evelyn Bennett was alive.
