CHAPTER 13: THE GILDED DISTRACTION
916 Words
The Anderson Manor had never felt so cold. Before, the silence was merely suffocating; now, it was a profound, aching betrayal. Noel walked through the vast, immaculate halls, unable to shake the image of his daughters’ faces, yet forced to live in the space that celebrated the very lie that separated them.
He still drove the familiar route to the office, but the ritual of stopping at the Empty Twin headstone was abruptly abandoned. That granite marker, once a source of bitter, righteous grief, now represented the sickening depth of Henry’s manipulation. Noel couldn't look at it without a cold, murderous hatred for his father settling in his chest.
In the company headquarters, the distraction came wearing tailored suits and an air of quiet efficiency: Victoria Hayes.
She was everywhere. She sat opposite him in board meetings, her voice steady and logical. She joined him for obligatory political dinners, her poise flawless as she discussed global finance. She was, as Henry had ordained, the perfect corporate partner—a gilded distraction that offered stability where Ariel had, by cruel necessity, offered chaos.
Noel could not afford to dismiss her. He knew from Sarah’s cryptic note and Finch’s initial findings that Victoria was deeply embedded in Operation Lighthouse. She was Henry’s key lieutenant. He needed her close to expose the conspiracy, but her calculated closeness grated on him, a constant, sharp reminder of the woman Henry had forced him to accept as a substitute.
One evening, at a small, formal dinner Henry insisted upon, the mask Noel wore threatened to crack.
Henry, discussing a minor merger that had recently failed due to internal disputes, sighed dramatically. “It always comes down to the individual’s constitution, doesn't it? The weak link always breaks under pressure. It reminds me of… Ariel, sadly.”
Noel clenched his jaw, gripping the stem of his wine glass with white knuckles. “Father, I think we are past that discussion.”
“Nonsense, Noel. We must learn from failures,” Henry pressed, enjoying his son's discomfort. “Her final note was quite clear. She lacked the mettle. That kind of fragility is corrosive to a family of this size. Victoria, however,” Henry said, turning to her with a genuine smile, “Victoria understands the relentless demands of excellence. She is built for this world.”
Victoria offered a modest, elegant deflection: “Thank you, Henry. I merely value clarity above sentiment.”
Noel looked at Victoria. She was beautiful, intelligent, and utterly devoid of the chaotic, passionate life force that had characterized Ariel. He saw her now not as a replacement, but as a mechanism—a cold, functional tool used to stabilize a criminal operation.
He endured the rest of the dinner in a white-hot, silent rage, understanding that Henry’s narrative was the true weapon keeping his family apart.
That same night, the opportunity for espionage he had set up in the previous chapter arrived. The "external engineering team" he had arranged was simply a hired technician from Finch's network, let in by a security guard on Noel's payroll.
Noel met the technician in the dim light of the deserted IT server room, handing over the access codes. He directed the man to bypass the security surrounding Henry’s study terminal and the associated remote file storage.
His goal was simple and dangerous: retrieve the files Finch needed—Ariel's medical records and her final email communications—to confirm the scope of Henry's manipulation and finalize the twins' identification.
Noel worked in the silence of his own office, accessing the retrieved files directly. Reading Ariel's private emails was a profound, agonizing invasion of privacy. He saw her frantic, coded messages to Betty, full of terror and love for the unborn children. He saw the desperation as she researched aliases and travel routes.
The final email, an unsent draft to a doctor she had intended to consult, mentioned the twins explicitly and detailed the threats Henry had made in the hospital room—threats that perfectly matched Henry's narrative to Noel.
She wasn't running from me, Noel thought, the realization hitting him anew, a physical pain in his chest. She was running for them.
Next, he opened the hospital file Henry and Dr. Chen had created. The medical records were meticulously altered. The accident trauma was exaggerated, and any reference to pregnancy or twins was surgically removed, replaced by vague diagnoses of "stress-induced neurological instability." The dates of the scans were subtly shifted to suggest she was experiencing symptoms before the accident, framing her final note as the inevitable conclusion of a deteriorating mental state.
It was clinical, professional, and entirely evil.
Noel copied the files onto an encrypted drive and immediately messaged Mr. Finch. The first step was complete: he had the proof of identity, the proof of the twins' existence, and the undeniable proof of Henry's malicious tampering.
The sight of Ariel’s private fear, coupled with the evidence of Henry’s cold, calculated betrayal, fueled a new, terrifying resolve. He had done his part; now, he needed to wait for Finch to deliver the final confirmation.
He knew what his next step had to be: he had to see his daughters again, but this time, he was coming not just as a silent observer, but as a father who finally understood the price Ariel paid for their lives.
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