The heiress’s vengeance

Chapter 4

The Ghost in the Nursery

"He’s supposed to be in the family crypt," Elara whispered, her eyes glued to the grainy laptop screen.The man in the rocking chair tilted his head, his smile widening as if he could hear her through the digital connection. He stood up, the red rose still clutched in his hand, and walked toward the camera mounted on the nursery wall. The feed cut to black the moment his fingers reached for the lens."Silas was the golden boy," Caspian said, his voice dropping an octave. He didn't look at the screen; he looked at the blurred world outside the SUV window. "The Thorne who could do no wrong. His plane went down over the Atlantic. We recovered the wreckage. We had a closed-casket funeral.""Then who was just sitting in my son’s room?" Elara demanded. She pulled Milo closer. The boy was shivering again, sensing the shift in the air."A ghost with an agenda," Caspian replied. He reached into the glove box and pulled out a handheld scanner. "If Silas is alive, the entire Thorne inheritance is in question. The will was predicated on his death. If he’s the first-born and he’s breathing, your claim,and mine,is void.""So Julian wasn't just hiding a wife," Elara said, the pieces clicking into place with a sickening snap. "He was hiding Thorne. He’s been working with Silas this whole time.""Or Silas has been using Julian as a puppet to see who would crawl out of the woodwork to claim the estate," Caspian said.The SUV slammed to a halt at the gates of the Vane estate. The wrought iron was twisted, torn off its hinges as if a tank had driven through it. Caspian’s lead security detail jumped out before the car had fully stopped, weapons drawn, moving in a tactical diamond formation toward the front door."Stay in the car," Caspian ordered Elara."Like hell," she snapped. She grabbed a small tablet from the seat pocket. "I’m the only one who can bypass the internal security. If Silas is in there, he’s already tripped the silent alarms. The house is probably a pressurized cage by now."Caspian looked at her, then at Milo. "Then we move fast. Keep the boy between us."They stepped out into the humid air. The silence of the suburbs felt heavy, broken only by the distant wail of a siren that wouldn't arrive in time. Elara tapped a sequence into her tablet, her fingers flying across the glass."The front door is deadbolted from the inside," she said. "We have to go through the garage."They moved through the side entrance, the smell of gasoline and expensive wax filling their lungs. As they reached the kitchen door, the sound of Julian’s muffled begging became clear."I did what you asked! I kept her here! I kept the boy! Just tell them to put the gun down, Silas!"Elara pushed the door open.The kitchen was a wreck. Julian was on his knees in the center of the room, his face bloodied, his hands tied behind his back with a zip-tie. Standing over him was the man from the video. He looked older than the photos in the Thorne archives, his skin pale and a long, jagged scar running from his temple to his jawline."Family reunions are always so loud," Silas said. He didn't look at Julian. He looked at Caspian. "Hello, little brother. You’ve grown into the suit quite nicely."Caspian leveled his weapon at Silas’s chest. "You’re a long way from the bottom of the ocean, Silas.""The water was cold," Silas said, twirling the rose between his fingers. "But the betrayal was colder. Did our father tell you why I left? Or did he just let you believe the engines failed?""He told me you were a liability," Caspian said."I was a visionary," Silas countered. He turned his gaze to Elara, his eyes roaming over her with a predatory curiosity. "And you must be Elara. The invisible architect. The woman who built a kingdom for a coward like Julian.""Where is the Moretti representative, Silas?" Elara asked, her voice steady despite the hammer of her heart. "Julian said they were here."Silas laughed, a hollow sound that sent chills down her spine. He kicked Julian in the ribs, sending the man sprawling onto the floor. "There are no Morettis. I just needed Julian to sound convincing enough to bring you home. You see, Elara, the Thorne estate requires a signature that only a 'living' heir can provide. And since Caspian was so quick to marry you, he’s made things very complicated for my return.""You want her to sign over the estate," Caspian said."I want what’s mine," Silas said. He dropped the rose onto Julian’s back. "But I also want the boy. You see, Elara, Julian didn't steal Milo from the Morettis. He stole him from me."Elara felt the world tilt. She looked down at Milo, who was hiding his face in her skirt. "What?""Sienna wasn't Julian's secret," Silas said, stepping closer. Caspian’s finger tightened on the trigger, but Silas didn't stop. "She was mine. Julian was just the caretaker. He was supposed to keep my son safe while I vanished. But the i***t fell in love with life. He fell in love with the help."Julian let out a sob from the floor. "I loved her! I treated him like he was mine!""You used them both!" Elara screamed."He did," Silas agreed. "But now the rightful father is home. Give me the boy, Elara, and sign the renunciation. You can go back to being a nobody. I’ll even let you keep a few million for your trouble.""He’s staying with me," Elara said, stepping behind Caspian.Silas sighed, reaching into his pocket. He didn't pull out a gun. He pulled out a small remote. "I didn't just lock the doors, Elara. I know you built the security here. But I’m the one who funded the upgrades. Did you ever wonder why the basement has a dedicated gas line that doesn't lead to the furnace?"Elara’s face went white. "You rigged the vents.""In sixty seconds, this house becomes a vacuum," Silas said. "Unless you hand him over."Caspian didn't hesitate. He lunged forward, tackling his brother into the kitchen island. The remote skittered across the floor, sliding under the industrial refrigerator."Run!" Caspian shouted.Elara grabbed Milo and bolted toward the garage, but Julian, desperate and broken, tripped her as she passed. She hit the floor hard, Milo sliding out of her grip."I won't let you take him!" Julian shrieked, his eyes glazed with madness. "If I can't have life, no one can!"He scrambled toward the refrigerator, his bound hands clawing at the floor for the remote.Elara kicked him in the face, but he had already touched it. A hissing sound began to fill the room from the high-wall vents."The code!" Caspian yelled, pinned in a struggle with Silas. "Elara, kill the line!"Elara scrambled for her tablet, but it had cracked when she fell. The screen was flickering, lines of dead pixels obscuring the command prompt."Milo, get to the garage! Now!" Elara commanded.The boy didn't move. He was staring at the two men fighting on the floor, then at Julian, who was laughing through the blood."The password, Elara!" Silas choked out, his hands around Caspian’s throat. "Tell me the password or we all die in the dark!"Elara looked at the tablet. She saw one line of code still visible. It wasn't the gas shut-off. It was the fire suppression system."Hold your breath," Elara said.She slammed her fist onto the shattered screen.A deafening roar filled the kitchen as the overhead sprinklers didn't just spray water,they released a thick, white chemical foam meant for electrical fires. The room went white in an instant.In the chaos, Elara felt a hand grab her hair."Got you," a voice hissed in her ear.She was yanked backward, away from Milo, away from the exit. She felt the cold press of a knife against her throat."Stop moving!" Silas yelled into the white fog. "Caspian! Stop or I'll open her up!"The hissing of the gas continued. The foam was rising."Mama!" Milo’s voice cried out from somewhere near the floor."Don't come closer, Milo!" Elara screamed."The code, Elara," Silas growled, his blade nicking her skin. "Give me the shut-off code or the boy breathes the gas first."Caspian emerged from the foam, his face a mask of fury. He held his gun leveled, but his hand was shaking. "Let her go, Silas.""The code!" Silas roared.Elara looked at Caspian. She saw the calculation in his eyes. She saw the moment he realized that the contract was dead."The password is 'Placeholder'," Elara said, her voice a whisper.Silas paused. "What?""The password for the gas," she said. "It’s 'Placeholder'. Because that’s all I ever was to all of you."Silas reached for the keypad on the wall through the foam. He punched in the words.The hissing stopped.But the door to the garage didn't unlock. Instead, the red emergency lights began to flash."What did you do?" Silas turned on her."That wasn't the gas shut-off," Elara said, a cold smile touching her lips. "That was the police silent alarm. And I just locked the kitchen from the outside.""You're in here with me!" Silas yelled."I know," Elara said.Behind Silas, the shadow of Julian rose from the floor. He had managed to get his hands around a heavy marble rolling pin from the counter."She's mine!" Julian screamed.He swung.The marble hit Silas in the back of the head with a sickening crack. Silas slumped forward, his knife falling from Elara's throat.But Julian didn't stop. He turned the rolling pin toward Elara, his face twisted in a mask of pure, unadulterated hate."You ruined everything," Julian whispered.He lunged.Caspian fired.The bullet hit the island, sparks flying, but Julian was already on top of Elara.Suddenly, the heavy oak door to the dining room shattered inward.A man Elara didn't recognize, dressed in a tailored Italian suit, stepped through the debris. He held a silenced pistol with the grace of a professional.He shot Julian twice in the shoulder, knocking him off Elara.The man ignored the foam, ignored the Thorne brothers, and walked straight to Milo. He knelt down and looked at the boy’s face."Hello, little prince," the man said in a thick Italian accent.He looked back at Elara, his eyes hard as flint."My name is Lorenzo Moretti," he said. "And I believe you have something that belongs to my family.”