CHAPTER 13 The Abandoned Estate and the Final Recording
The old Sterling estate had been abandoned for fifteen years.
Nobody went there anymore.
Not after my father died.
Not after the legal battles.
Not after the property became a painful reminder of everything our family had lost.
But now…
my daughter was there.
And I didn’t care what waited inside.
I was going.
The drive felt endless.
Rain hit the windshield.
The road became darker with every mile.
Daniel sat beside me, checking every possible route.
Vanessa was in the back seat.
Silent.
Broken.
She looked like someone carrying the weight of a secret too heavy to hold.
I glanced at her through the mirror.
“You said Thomas wanted the family destroyed.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
She looked down.
“I don’t know everything.”
“But you know something.”
She hesitated.
Then said:
“Thomas believed your father stole something from his family.”
My eyes narrowed.
“What?”
“Something that changed his entire life.”
“What?”
“A child.”
The word made me uncomfortable.
“A child?”
Vanessa nodded.
“Thomas believed your father abandoned his first family.”
I looked at Daniel.
The same story.
Another piece.
Another hidden branch of the Sterling family tree.
“How does that connect to Maya?”
“Because Thomas believes the Sterling bloodline should belong to someone else.”
My hands tightened around the steering wheel.
“Lucas.”
Vanessa looked surprised.
“You know about him.”
“Yes.”
She became quiet.
Then whispered:
“Lucas is the reason this started.”
When we reached the old estate, the gates were already open.
That was worse.
A trap doesn’t need to hide if it knows you will walk into it.
The house stood in darkness.
Broken windows.
Overgrown gardens.
A forgotten monument to my family’s past.
Daniel checked his weapon.
“Stay behind me.”
I nodded.
But my eyes were already searching.
For Maya.
The front door opened before we touched it.
A voice came from inside.
“Richard.”
Thomas.
Waiting.
I walked in.
The smell hit me immediately.
Dust.
Old wood.
Memories.
This was where I spent my childhood.
Where my father taught me business.
Where Alexander and I played as children.
Where I thought my family was perfect.
I was wrong.
“Where is my daughter?”
Thomas stepped into the light.
Older than I remembered.
Calmer than he should have been.
“She’s safe.”
“If you hurt her—”
“You’ll do what?”
He smiled.
“Exactly what I expected.”
I stared at him.
“What do you want?”
“The truth.”
“You kidnapped my daughter for the truth?”
“No.”
He looked around the room.
“I brought you here because you never wanted to see it.”
“See what?”
“The truth about your family.”
A door opened behind him.
Maya appeared.
My heart almost stopped.
She wasn’t hurt.
She was scared.
“Daddy!”
I moved forward.
Thomas raised his hand.
I stopped.
“Don’t.”
My anger nearly exploded.
But Maya was watching.
So I stayed calm.
“Maya, look at me.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I’m okay.”
“I know.”
“I didn’t tell him anything.”
“I know.”
Thomas watched us.
Almost fascinated.
“That’s what makes her different.”
I looked at him.
“She’s just a child.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“She is the last piece.”
“The last piece of what?”
“Your father’s legacy.”
Thomas walked toward an old wooden cabinet.
He opened it.
Inside were dozens of files.
More files.
More secrets.
“I spent years proving what your family did.”
I looked at the papers.
“What did my father do?”
Thomas laughed quietly.
“You still think your father was a good man.”
I said nothing.
“He built Sterling Holdings by destroying people.”
“That’s a lie.”
“Is it?”
He pulled out a file.
“Your father had a secret.”
He placed it on the table.
Inside was an old birth certificate.
My eyes moved across the page.
Then stopped.
A name.
Lucas Sterling.
Mother:
Amelia Vale.
I froze.
Vale.
Thomas’s family.
“He was your father’s son.”
My stomach dropped.
“My half-brother?”
Thomas nodded.
“The child your grandfather erased.”
Maya looked confused.
I ignored the shock.
“What happened to him?”
Thomas’s expression hardened.
“He grew up believing the Sterling family stole his life.”
“And you helped him.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because someone needed to make your family answer for what they did.”
I stared at him.
“So you destroyed innocent people?”
“I exposed the truth.”
“You terrorized my daughter.”
His expression changed slightly.
“You think I wanted that?”
I laughed bitterly.
“You locked her away.”
Thomas looked uncomfortable.
For the first time.
A crack.
“I never ordered that.”
I froze.
“What?”
He looked at me.
“Eleanor went further than I expected.”
The room became silent.
“You’re blaming Eleanor?”
“I’m telling you she stopped following the plan.”
“What plan?”
Thomas looked toward the files.
“The plan was never to hurt Maya.”
“Then what was it?”
“To remove you.”
Before I could answer, a sound came from upstairs.
Footsteps.
Someone else was inside.
Thomas looked surprised.
“Impossible.”
The person appeared at the top of the stairs.
And my blood ran cold.
Because I recognized her.
Eleanor.
But she wasn’t alone.
Her hand was holding a file.
And she looked terrified.
“Richard…”
I stared.
“What are you doing here?”
She looked at Thomas.
Then at me.
“I came to tell you the truth.”
Thomas’s expression changed.
“You shouldn’t have come.”
Eleanor stepped down slowly.
“I’m done protecting you.”
The room went silent.
“Protecting who?”
She looked at me.
Then whispered:
“The person who really caused Sarah’s death.”
Nobody moved.
Not Thomas.
Not me.
Not even Maya.
Because Eleanor’s next words changed everything.
She pointed at the man standing beside me.
At Thomas.
And said:
“He didn’t act alone.”
She looked toward the entrance.
“The person who planned everything…”
The door behind us slowly opened.
A shadow appeared.
A familiar voice spoke.
“Eleanor.”
My blood turned cold.
May you like
Because that voice belonged to someone who should have been impossible.
Someone who had already been buried.
