\u201cSo, tell me\u2026 how exactly does it feel to be beaten like a dog for three hours?\u201d
\nMaya\u2019s whisper was soft enough that the two maids standing behind her couldn\u2019t hear it.
\nBut I heard every word.
\nAnd for the first time in six years, I saw her clearly.
\nNot as the helpless woman Julian had rescued from a car accident.
\nNot as the delicate guest who supposedly needed protection.
\nNot even as the mistress who had stolen my husband.
\nShe was something far more dangerous.
\nShe was someone who had entered my home with a purpose.
\nI stared at her pale, flawless face and forced my cracked lips into a smile.
\nMaya\u2019s expression flickered.
\nIt lasted less than a second, but I saw it.
\nFear.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re smiling?\u201d she asked.
\nMy breathing rattled inside my chest.
\n\u201cYou\u2019ve spent three years trying to take everything from me,\u201d I whispered. \u201cMy husband. My home. My dignity.\u201d
\nShe tilted her head.
\n\u201cAnd now I have them.\u201d
\n\u201cNo.\u201d
\nThe smile vanished from her face.
\nI slowly curled my bloody fingers against the concrete.
\n\u201cYou only have what I allowed you to touch.\u201d
\nMaya\u2019s eyes hardened.
\nThen she laughed.
\nIt was a quiet, delicate laugh, perfectly designed for the two maids behind her.
\n\u201cOh, Victoria,\u201d she said loudly. \u201cEven now, you\u2019re still confused. I came down here because I was worried about you.\u201d
\nShe reached toward my face.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Her fingers gently brushed a strand of hair away from my cheek.
\nTo anyone watching, the gesture would have appeared compassionate.
\nThen her fingernails dug into the open cut near my temple.
\nWhite-hot pain exploded through my skull.
\nMy body jerked.
\nMaya leaned close again.
\n\u201cYour family is dead,\u201d she whispered. \u201cYour company is gone. Your husband belongs to me. No one is coming to save you.\u201d
\nI looked directly into her eyes.
\n\u201cYou\u2019re wrong.\u201d
\nHer fingers stopped.
\nI tasted blood in my mouth.
\n\u201cSomeone is already on his way.\u201d
\nFor the first time, Maya\u2019s perfect mask completely cracked.
\nShe glanced toward the cloth bag beside me.
\nIt was empty.
\nDavid had taken the jade pendant.
\n\u201cWhat did you do?\u201d she demanded.
\nI said nothing.
\nMaya stood so quickly that one of the maids stepped backward.
\n\u201cWhat was inside that bag?\u201d
\nThe maids exchanged nervous looks.
\nI closed my eyes.
\nMaya grabbed my shoulder and violently rolled me onto my back.
\nAgony tore through my ribs.
\nA strangled gasp escaped my throat.
\n\u201cAnswer me!\u201d
\nThe sweetness had vanished from her voice.
\nOne maid stared at the floor.
\nThe other began trembling.
\nMaya realized they were watching.
\nShe immediately released me and turned toward them with a gentle smile.
\n\u201cPlease go upstairs,\u201d she said. \u201cMrs. Kensington and I need some privacy.\u201d
\nNeither maid moved.
\n\u201cI said go.\u201d
\nThey hurried out.
\nThe iron door slammed shut behind them.
\nMaya waited until their footsteps disappeared.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Then she kicked me directly in the side.
\nSomething cracked.
\nI couldn\u2019t even scream.
\nMy mouth opened, but no sound came out.
\nMaya crouched beside me again.
\n\u201cYou should have died with your family.\u201d
\nThe basement seemed to tilt.
\nFor several seconds, I wondered whether I had heard her correctly.
\nMaya noticed the change in my expression.
\nA slow smile spread across her face.
\n\u201cYes,\u201d she whispered. \u201cI know about the plane.\u201d
\nMy heart stopped.
\n\u201cWhat\u2026 do you know?\u201d
\n\u201cMore than you ever will.\u201d
\nShe pulled a white handkerchief from her sleeve and carefully wiped a drop of my blood from the tip of her shoe.
\n\u201cYour father was warned. He could have surrendered Vance Enterprises quietly, but powerful men always believe they are untouchable.\u201d
\n\u201cWho warned him?\u201d
\nMaya smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat information would be wasted on a dying woman.\u201d<\/p>\n
I tried to lift my head.<\/p>\n
My body refused to obey.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were involved.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was useful.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo Julian?\u201d<\/p>\n
Her smile deepened.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo people much more powerful than Julian.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those words frightened me more than the beating had.<\/p>\n
For six years, I had believed Julian Kensington was the center of everything\u2014the betrayal, the financial collapse, the plane crash.<\/p>\n
But Maya had just revealed the truth.<\/p>\n
Julian wasn\u2019t the mastermind.<\/p>\n
He was merely a piece on someone else\u2019s board.<\/p>\n
Maya stood and straightened her sweater.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, I can\u2019t let you die yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
She reached into her pocket and removed a small glass vial.<\/p>\n
Clear liquid moved inside it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSomething that will make your death look natural.\u201d<\/p>\n
She pulled a syringe from the other pocket.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Julian finds you in the morning, he\u2019ll believe your injuries were simply too severe. He may even cry.\u201d<\/p>\n
She filled the syringe.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut first, you\u2019re going to tell me what was inside that suitcase.\u201d<\/p>\n
I watched the needle glisten beneath the basement light.<\/p>\n
Maya grabbed my arm.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t struggle.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t have the strength.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere did David go?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n
I remained silent.<\/p>\n
She pressed the needle against my skin.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere did you send him?\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked past her shoulder.<\/p>\n
At the heavy iron door.<\/p>\n
Then I smiled again.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re too late.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maya spun around.<\/p>\n
Nothing was there.<\/p>\n
When she looked back at me, pure fury burned across her face.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou pathetic\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
A phone began ringing.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t hers.<\/p>\n
The sound came from the cloth bag beside me.<\/p>\n
Maya froze.<\/p>\n
The old burner phone.<\/p>\n
David had left it behind.<\/p>\n
The ringing continued.<\/p>\n
Once.<\/p>\n
Twice.<\/p>\n
Three times.<\/p>\n
Maya reached for it.<\/p>\n
I gathered the final trace of strength inside my body and closed my hand around her wrist.<\/p>\n
Her eyes widened.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t,\u201d I whispered.<\/p>\n
She easily tore herself free.<\/p>\n
Then she grabbed the phone and answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho is this?\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
Maya\u2019s confidence slowly faded.<\/p>\n
A man\u2019s voice came through the speaker.<\/p>\n
It was deep, calm, and frighteningly controlled.<\/p>\n
\u201cPut Victoria on the phone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maya stared at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho are you?\u201d<\/p>\n
The man did not answer her question.<\/p>\n
Instead, he said, \u201cYou have ten seconds.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maya laughed nervously.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you have any idea whose house you\u2019re calling?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her face tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re making a serious mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEight.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the Kensington estate.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSeven.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maya\u2019s fingers began trembling.<\/p>\n
She switched the phone to speaker.<\/p>\n
\u201cJulian Kensington will destroy you.\u201d<\/p>\n
The man paused.<\/p>\n
Then he laughed.<\/p>\n
It was not a loud laugh.<\/p>\n
But the sound drained all the color from Maya\u2019s face.<\/p>\n
\u201cJulian Kensington,\u201d he said, \u201cwill not survive the night unless Victoria tells me he may.\u201d<\/p>\n
My heart slammed against my fractured ribs.<\/p>\n
I knew that voice.<\/p>\n
Time had made it rougher.<\/p>\n
Colder.<\/p>\n
But I still recognized it.<\/p>\n
\u201cUncle Gabriel,\u201d I breathed.<\/p>\n
Silence filled the basement.<\/p>\n
Then the man on the phone spoke again.<\/p>\n
\u201cLittle Sparrow.\u201d<\/p>\n
My eyes burned.<\/p>\n
No one had called me that in almost thirty years.<\/p>\n
My father\u2019s younger brother, Gabriel Vance, had disappeared when I was eight years old.<\/p>\n
According to my parents, he had betrayed the family, stolen millions, and fled the country.<\/p>\n
His name was forbidden inside our home.<\/p>\n
His photographs had been removed.<\/p>\n
My father had never spoken of him again.<\/p>\n
Yet on my eighteenth birthday, the jade pendant had come with a single instruction.<\/p>\n
When the most critical moment of your life arrives, use it.<\/p>\n
My father had known Gabriel was alive.<\/p>\n
And now Gabriel had answered.<\/p>\n
Maya gripped the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gabriel\u2019s voice turned cold.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe jade pendant has been delivered. That means my brother\u2019s final order is active.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat order?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Vance Reckoning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maya dropped the phone.<\/p>\n
It struck the concrete but did not break.<\/p>\n
She stumbled backward.<\/p>\n
I had never seen her truly afraid before.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaya,\u201d I whispered.<\/p>\n
Her gaze snapped toward me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said no one was coming.\u201d<\/p>\n
Outside the basement, an alarm suddenly began screaming.<\/p>\n
Red emergency lights flashed through the narrow window in the iron door.<\/p>\n
Men shouted upstairs.<\/p>\n
Heavy footsteps thundered across the estate.<\/p>\n
Maya rushed toward the door and pulled it open.<\/p>\n
One of Julian\u2019s security guards was running down the corridor.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s happening?\u201d she demanded.<\/p>\n
The guard stopped, breathless.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe front gate has been breached.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBy who?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t know. Every camera went down at the same time. The phone lines are dead, the security system is locked, and all the vehicles in the garage have been disabled.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maya\u2019s face went white.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is Mr. Kensington?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn his study.\u201d<\/p>\n
A deafening explosion shook the mansion.<\/p>\n
Dust fell from the basement ceiling.<\/p>\n
Maya screamed.<\/p>\n
The guard grabbed his weapon and ran upstairs.<\/p>\n
She turned back toward me.<\/p>\n
For one moment, we stared at each other.<\/p>\n
Then she lunged for the syringe.<\/p>\n
But before she could reach it, another figure appeared in the doorway.<\/p>\n
David.<\/p>\n
Blood ran from a cut above his eyebrow.<\/p>\n
He held a pistol in both hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cStep away from her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maya slowly raised her hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou?\u201d she whispered. \u201cYou betrayed Julian?\u201d<\/p>\n
David\u2019s weapon remained steady.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI finally stopped betraying Mrs. Kensington.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maya\u2019s expression twisted.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou think these people will spare you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not asking them to.\u201d<\/p>\n
David stepped inside and kicked the syringe away.<\/p>\n
Then he knelt beside me.<\/p>\n
\u201cMa\u2019am, help is here.\u201d<\/p>\n
My vision was beginning to fade again.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho came?\u201d<\/p>\n
David swallowed hard.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone.\u201d<\/p>\n
He gently lifted me from the floor.<\/p>\n
Pain tore through my body, but I held on to consciousness.<\/p>\n
As he carried me into the corridor, I heard gunfire echoing from the upper floors.<\/p>\n
Maya followed us.<\/p>\n
Her fear had quickly transformed into calculation.<\/p>\n
She was already thinking of escape.<\/p>\n
David reached the foot of the basement stairs.<\/p>\n
Then the mansion became completely silent.<\/p>\n
No alarms.<\/p>\n
No gunfire.<\/p>\n
No shouting.<\/p>\n
Nothing.<\/p>\n
A man slowly descended the stairs.<\/p>\n
He appeared to be in his late sixties, with silver hair, a black overcoat, and a thin scar running from his left temple to his jaw.<\/p>\n
Behind him stood six men dressed in dark suits.<\/p>\n
Each wore a small green-jade pin.<\/p>\n
Gabriel Vance stopped three steps above us.<\/p>\n
For a long moment, he looked at me without speaking.<\/p>\n
His cold expression broke.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy God,\u201d he whispered.<\/p>\n
I had imagined this moment many times as a child.<\/p>\n
I had imagined screaming at him for abandoning us.<\/p>\n
I had imagined demanding to know why he had betrayed my father.<\/p>\n
But lying broken in David\u2019s arms, I could ask only one question.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you save them?\u201d<\/p>\n
Gabriel\u2019s eyes filled with something I had never expected.<\/p>\n
Shame.<\/p>\n
\u201cI tried.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father\u2026 my mother\u2026 Thomas\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI tried to warn them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gabriel slowly descended the remaining steps.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, Victoria.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at him.<\/p>\n
He removed a sealed envelope from inside his coat.<\/p>\n
The handwriting on the front belonged to my father.<\/p>\n
My breath caught.<\/p>\n
Gabriel held it out to me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour parents are dead,\u201d he said. \u201cBut Thomas wasn\u2019t on that plane.\u201d<\/p>\n
The basement seemed to disappear around me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour brother survived.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stopped breathing.<\/p>\n
Gabriel\u2019s next words shattered everything I believed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThomas has been alive for three years.\u201d<\/p>\n
My eyes filled with tears.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is he?\u201d<\/p>\n
Gabriel looked toward the top of the stairs.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was investigating the people who destroyed your family.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is he now?\u201d<\/p>\n
Gabriel\u2019s jaw tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cInside this house.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maya suddenly turned and ran.<\/p>\n
One of Gabriel\u2019s men caught her before she reached the corridor.<\/p>\n
She screamed and fought wildly.<\/p>\n
Gabriel didn\u2019t even look at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy is Thomas here?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause he discovered the final piece of the conspiracy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJulian?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gabriel\u2019s eyes moved toward Maya.<\/p>\n
\u201cHer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maya stopped struggling.<\/p>\n
David stared at her.<\/p>\n
I could barely process the words.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe caused the crash?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe helped arrange it,\u201d Gabriel said. \u201cBut that isn\u2019t the worst thing she has done.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maya began shaking her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s lying!\u201d<\/p>\n
Gabriel continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cThomas came to this estate two days ago. He planned to take you out and expose everyone involved.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen where is he?\u201d<\/p>\n
Gabriel looked at David.<\/p>\n
\u201cSearch the east wing.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the men behind him spoke into his radio.<\/p>\n
A voice immediately answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cEast wing is clear.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCheck the tunnels beneath the old wine cellar.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maya\u2019s face changed.<\/p>\n
It was subtle.<\/p>\n
But Gabriel noticed.<\/p>\n
He walked toward her.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you do to Thomas?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know who you\u2019re talking about.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gabriel pulled a photograph from his pocket.<\/p>\n
It showed my brother standing outside the Kensington estate three days earlier.<\/p>\n
He looked thinner.<\/p>\n
Older.<\/p>\n
But he was alive.<\/p>\n
A sob rose in my throat.<\/p>\n
Maya glanced at the photograph.<\/p>\n
Then she smiled.<\/p>\n
It was the same cruel smile she had worn when she entered the basement.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re all too late.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gabriel grabbed her by the throat.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is he?\u201d<\/p>\n
Maya struggled to breathe.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe came looking for Victoria,\u201d she gasped. \u201cBut Julian found him first.\u201d<\/p>\n
My blood turned cold.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did Julian do?\u201d<\/p>\n
Maya looked directly at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe locked your brother inside the old underground vault.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gabriel released her.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is the key?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJulian has it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Suddenly, one of Gabriel\u2019s men shouted from the top of the stairs.<\/p>\n
\u201cSir!\u201d<\/p>\n
Gabriel turned.<\/p>\n
The man held a phone displaying a live security feed.<\/p>\n
On the screen, Julian stood inside a stone chamber.<\/p>\n
My brother was chained to a chair behind him.<\/p>\n
Thomas was bleeding, but alive.<\/p>\n
Julian held a gun against his head.<\/p>\n
Then Julian looked directly into the security camera.<\/p>\n
He knew we were watching.<\/p>\n
His voice came through the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cVictoria.\u201d<\/p>\n
My body trembled.<\/p>\n
Julian smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you want your brother alive, come to the vault alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gabriel immediately shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re not going anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
Julian pressed the gun harder against Thomas\u2019s temple.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have five minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJulian!\u201d I screamed.<\/p>\n
He ignored me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s something your brother has been desperate to tell you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas lifted his head.<\/p>\n
Our eyes met through the screen.<\/p>\n
He shouted one sentence before Julian struck him across the face.<\/p>\n
\u201cVictoria, Julian isn\u2019t your husband\u2019s real name!\u201d<\/p>\n
The video suddenly went black.<\/p>\n
And somewhere beneath the mansion, a clock began counting down\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026..<\/p>\n