The mansion slept under a blanket of silence, but Carolina's heart thundered like a war drum. Her heels had been swapped for silent flats, her diamond earrings replaced with the cold weight of purpose.
She wasn't just breaking into a vault.
She was breaking into the truth.
She had studied his patterns—Alexander's late meetings, his hidden keys, the way he always checked that one panel in the study when he thought no one was watching. She wasn't just beautiful—she was brilliant. And tonight, that brilliance would lead her to the truth he tried to bury.
The study door creaked open. Darkness greeted her.
She stepped in.
Moved to the painting behind the desk.
Lifted it.
Just like she'd seen before, the small fingerprint scanner gleamed under dim light. Her hands didn't shake as she reached into her pocket, pulled out a duplicate fingertip she'd molded from the glass he drank from days ago.
She pressed it.
Click.
The panel slid open, revealing the vault. Sleek. Steel. Cold.
She typed the code—his mother's birthday. One of the few things Alexander ever said with emotion.
9-2-6
Another click.
The door opened.
Inside were files. Neat. Organized. Deadly.
And there it was.
The red file.
She pulled it out, her fingers numb with dread. Opened it.
Photos. Burned documents. Hospital reports.
And then… the picture of a boy.
Theo.
Her older brother.
Her dead brother.
Except… according to the report, he didn't die in the fire.
He was taken.
By The Malvern Foundation.
Alexander's family.
There it was—in black ink and betrayal. Her engagement wasn't coincidence. It was control. She was tied to them long before she said "yes."
A tear slipped down her cheek, but she didn't wipe it.
She turned the last page.
A note. Handwritten.
> "Keep her close. If she remembers, we lose everything."
Signed with Alexander's initials.
Carolina staggered back, the file trembling in her hands. Her world wasn't crumbling—it had already crumbled. She just never knew.
Now, she did.
And she would make them pay.
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