Chapter 14: Crossing The Gate
1083 Words
POV: Elena Carter
The Sterling estate was almost an hour away from the city.
Elena sat quietly in the back seat of the hired car, her handbag resting firmly on her lap.
Inside it were the documents that could either open the Sterling family's doors to her or expose the entire plan.
Her forged birth certificate.
The old records Agnes had helped arrange.
The photographs.
Everything she needed to prove that she was Isabelle Sterling.
Elena looked down at her hands.
They were trembling.
She slowly clenched them into fists.
No.
She couldn't afford to be nervous.
Agnes's voice echoed in her mind.
"The moment you step into that house, you are Isabelle. Don't let fear make you forget that."
Elena took a slow breath.
She began rehearsing the story again.
Her name was Isabelle Sterling.
She had been taken away as a child.
She had been raised by a woman who had hidden the truth about her family.
She had recently discovered who she really was.
Now she had come home.
Simple.
At least, it sounded simple when Agnes explained it.
But repeating a story alone in a room was very different from telling it to the people who had actually lived it.
What if Richard Sterling asked something she hadn't prepared for?
What if Eleanor remembered something Agnes didn't know?
What if Victoria asked the wrong question?
Elena's stomach tightened at the thought.
Victoria.
She looked out the window.
The city had gradually disappeared behind them, replaced by quieter roads and tall trees.
Elena's fingers tightened around her handbag.
She had not come here to find a family.
She had not come here because she missed people she had never known.
She had not come here because she wanted the Sterling name.
She had come because Vivian deserved justice.
Her sister had died.
And the people connected to her death were still living their lives.
Elena would make sure they remembered Vivian.
The car slowed.
She looked ahead.
A massive iron gate stood between the road and the Sterling estate.
Her heartbeat immediately quickened.
Beyond the gate was the mansion.
She had seen photographs of it before, but the pictures had not prepared her for the actual sight.
The property was enormous.
Tall trees lined the long driveway. Carefully maintained gardens surrounded the mansion, and the house itself stood in the middle of everything, imposing and elegant.
It looked like a place where nothing bad could ever happen.
Elena almost laughed at the thought.
Bad things had happened there.
Perhaps worse things than she even knew.
The car stopped at the security post.
A guard approached.
Elena's back stiffened.
The driver lowered the window.
"Good afternoon."
The guard glanced into the car.
"Who is she?"
The driver looked toward Elena.
"Miss Isabelle Sterling."
The guard's expression changed slightly.
He looked at Elena again.
"Isabelle Sterling?"
Elena forced herself to meet his eyes.
"Yes."
Her voice came out calm.
The guard checked the documents the driver handed him.
Elena watched his eyes move across the papers.
Every second felt painfully long.
She wondered if he could somehow see through the documents.
Could he tell they were fake?
Could he see that she wasn't Isabelle?
The guard finally returned the papers.
"You're expected."
Expected.
The word sent a strange chill through her.
Of course they were expecting Isabelle.
But hearing it from someone standing at the gate made everything suddenly real.
The guard stepped back.
The massive iron gates began to open.
Elena stared at them.
For one brief moment, she thought about telling the driver to turn around.
She could still leave.
No one inside knew the truth.
She could disappear before she got herself trapped in a lie that might eventually destroy her.
Then she remembered Vivian.
The photograph.
Her sister's smile.
Elena swallowed.
She couldn't turn back.
The car moved forward.
The tires crossed the threshold.
Elena had entered the Sterling estate.
She watched the mansion grow larger as they drove toward it.
Her heart pounded harder with every passing second.
She looked at her reflection in the dark window.
Elena was still Elena.
But from this moment onward, everyone inside would know her as someone else.
Isabelle Sterling.
The car stopped in front of the mansion.
Elena didn't move.
The driver turned around.
"We're here, Miss Sterling."
She nodded.
"Thank you."
Her hand reached for the door.
Before she opened it, she looked at the mansion one last time.
Then she stepped out.
The air felt colder than it had outside the gate.
Elena adjusted her handbag and looked up at the enormous front doors.
She took one step.
Then another.
Her heels sounded against the stone pathway.
She reached the bottom of the stairs.
And stopped.
Someone was standing behind the upstairs window.
Elena's eyes narrowed.
A woman.
She couldn't see her clearly through the glass, but the figure wasn't moving.
She was staring directly at Elena.
Elena remained still.
The woman lifted one hand slowly and touched the window.
Elena's heartbeat stumbled.
Why was she looking at her like that?
Then something unexpected happened.
The woman suddenly stepped back.
She turned away from the window.
And disappeared.
Elena frowned.
She didn't know who it was.
But whoever she was, she had reacted strangely.
Almost as though seeing Elena had frightened her.
Elena took another step toward the house.
Then the front door opened.
She froze.
A man stood inside.
Not a servant.
Not security.
Someone who looked as though he belonged in the house.
He stared at Elena.
His face went completely pale.
For several seconds, neither of them spoke.
Then his eyes moved from Elena's face to the handbag in her hand.
His expression changed.
Fear.
Real fear.
Elena's stomach tightened.
The man whispered something she couldn't hear.
Then, without taking his eyes off her, he turned sharply and disappeared inside.
Elena stood at the bottom of the steps.
She had expected confusion.
She had expected questions.
She had even expected suspicion.
But she had not expected fear.
Her fingers tightened around the strap of her handbag.
What had he seen?
Why had he reacted like that?
And more importantly…
Who inside the Sterling mansion already knew something about Isabelle Sterling?
Elena slowly climbed the first step.
Then another.
The door remained open.
Waiting.
She had come here prepared to lie to the Sterling family.
But suddenly, she had the unsettling feeling that someone inside the house might already be hiding a lie of their own.
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