Chapter 4The Girl I Called Sister
789 Words
“No.”
The word escaped me like a broken prayer.
Lucian opened the SUV door.
I didn’t wait for him.
I ran.
Rain poured from the night sky as I sprinted toward the abandoned warehouse surrounded by police cars, flashing lights, and ambulances.
“Miss Laurent!” someone shouted.
I ignored them.
My shoes splashed through muddy water as I pushed past officers.
Then I saw her.
My mother lay on a stretcher.
Unconscious.
Pale.
An oxygen mask covered her face.
“Mom!”
I rushed toward her.
A nurse stopped me.
“She’s alive, but she needs immediate treatment.”
Tears streamed down my face.
“Can I see her?”
The nurse nodded briefly.
I kissed my mother’s forehead.
“Please don’t leave me too.”
Her fingers twitched weakly.
Then the paramedics rushed her into the ambulance.
Before I could follow—
I heard screaming.
Female screaming.
Familiar screaming.
“No! Let me go!”
My body froze.
I turned.
And saw Sophia.
My cousin was being dragged out of the warehouse in handcuffs.
Her hair was a mess.
Her makeup smeared.
Her face filled with terror.
“Arabella!”
She saw me and broke down crying.
“Arabella, please help me!”
I stared at her in disbelief.
“What did you do?”
Her entire face crumbled.
“I didn’t do this!”
Lucian stepped beside me.
“She was found beside your mother.”
Sophia shook violently.
“I was set up!”
Lucian’s voice turned cold.
“Convenient.”
She looked at me desperately.
“Bella, please believe me!”
I wanted to.
God, I wanted to.
This was the same cousin who braided my hair as a child.
The same girl who protected me from bullies.
The same person who cried with me after my father’s arrest.
But then—
why was her necklace there?
Why was she found with my mother?
Why was everything falling apart?
“Sophia…”
My voice shook.
“Tell me the truth.”
She sobbed harder.
“I got a message saying your mother needed help.”
“What message?”
She looked around fearfully.
“They used an unknown number.”
Lucian immediately turned to his head of security.
“Trace it.”
“Yes, sir.”
Sophia looked at me desperately.
“I went there because I thought I could help your mother.”
“Then why were you unconscious too?”
Her face paled.
“Someone hit me from behind.”
Lucian laughed darkly.
“How convenient.”
Sophia screamed.
“I’m telling the truth!”
Lucian stepped toward her.
And suddenly—
he looked terrifying.
Not angry.
Not loud.
Just deadly calm.
“What do you know about Victor Laurent?”
My heart stopped.
My uncle.
My father’s younger brother.
Sophia’s father.
She froze.
Lucian noticed immediately.
“Interesting.”
Sophia shook her head violently.
“I don’t know anything!”
Lucian leaned closer.
“Your father transferred twenty million dollars offshore two days before your uncle’s arrest.”
My knees nearly gave out.
“What?”
Sophia stared at Lucian in horror.
“How do you know that?”
Lucian’s eyes darkened.
“Because I’ve been tracking your family for months.”
I turned toward him.
“What?”
He ignored me.
Sophia started crying harder.
“My father told me it was business.”
Lucian smiled coldly.
“Did you believe him?”
She stayed silent.
That was answer enough.
My chest tightened.
My uncle.
The man who attended every family dinner.
The man my father trusted with everything.
Could he really be involved?
Lucian’s phone suddenly rang.
He answered immediately.
Then his entire expression changed.
For the first time—
I saw genuine shock on his face.
“What?”
Silence.
Then deadly rage.
“Keep him alive.”
He ended the call.
My breathing became uneven.
“What happened now?”
Lucian looked at me.
And what he said destroyed me.
“Your father was attacked in prison.”
I froze.
“What?”
“He’s in critical condition.”
Everything spun.
“No…”
Lucian grabbed me before I collapsed.
And whispered the most terrifying words yet—
“This was never about money.”
My tears fell harder.
“Then what is this about?”
His expression darkened.
“Your family has been hiding something powerful.”
Before I could demand answers—
a sniper shot rang through the air.
Bang.
Sophia screamed.
Blood splattered across my face.
And my cousin collapsed beside me.
Sophia is shot by a sniper before revealing the truth about her father’s betrayal—and Lucian reveals Arabella’s family may be hiding something far more dangerous than stolen money.
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