CHAPTER SEVENTY-TWO
The toxin cloud thickened in the narrow tunnel, stinging eyes and throats as the vents released their full payload. The console screen still displayed Victoria’s younger face, her smile one of calm maternal satisfaction.
The second recording…Elena’s voice from only two weeks ago…continued to echo in the sisters’ minds: recommending acceleration of the mineral rights transfer, using the Eighth decoy to create doubt, and planning to test their loyalty through persuasion.
The words painted Elena not as a victim of subtle manipulation, but as an active participant who had helped shape the very betrayal she claimed to sense.
Elena stood at the center of the group, Lila’s hand slipping from her arm as her twin stepped back. The mirror she had shared with Lila since birth
