Chapter 6 - The Name Behind the Blood
Z
I read the sentence again.
Then again.
My hands became cold.
Marcus stood across from me in the small apartment I had rented outside Pine Ridge. After the trial, I had refused to stay at the Sterling estate. The mansion was too full of ghosts.
Leo was in his room doing homework.
For the first time in months, he had laughed that afternoon. He had told me his teacher said he was good at drawing.
I had wanted to hold on to that happiness.
Then Marcus gave me the letter.
“Who sent this?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” he said. “It was delivered to the office anonymously.”
“It could be Daniel.”
“It could.”
“But why would he say he didn’t order Julian’s death?”
Marcus’s expression was grave.
“Because he may be telling the truth.”
I stared at him.
“You heard the recording. He was in the car.”
“Yes. He caused the crash. He tried to cover it up. He kidnapped Leo. He is guilty of more crimes than most people could commit in a lifetime.”
“Then what are you saying?”
Marcus sat down across from me.
“I’m saying Julian’s death may not have been the original plan.”
He placed a second document on the table.
It was an old corporate file from Sterling Corporation.
At the top was a name I recognized.
Evelyn Sterling.
Julian’s aunt.
Arthur’s older sister.
The woman who had barely spoken during the family dinner. The woman who had sat quietly at the end of the table, watching everyone with gray, unreadable eyes.
“She’s been on the board for thirty years,” Marcus said. “She controlled the family trust before Arthur took over.”
“And?”
“And Julian had been investigating her too.”
My heart pounded.
Marcus opened one of Julian’s leather notebooks.
Several pages were marked with red tabs.
On them, Julian had written about land deals, insurance payouts, port acquisitions, and financial transfers dating back nearly two decades.
At the center of every transaction was Evelyn’s name.
“She helped Daniel move money?” I asked.
“More than that,” Marcus said. “It looks like she built the system he used.”
I felt sick.
“Why?”
“Power,” Marcus replied. “Arthur was the public face of the family. Julian was the heir. Daniel was the desperate one. Evelyn had influence over all of them.”
I remembered Julian’s warning.
Not my brother. Not my aunts. Not even my father.
My aunt.
He had said it.
I just hadn’t understood.
Marcus pointed to a date in the notebook.
“The night Julian died, he planned to meet with a federal investigator. He was going to give them proof against Daniel and Evelyn.”
“Did he meet them?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
Marcus hesitated.
“Because someone called Daniel first.”
The room seemed to tilt.
“Evelyn.”
“It’s possible.”
I stood and walked to the window.
Outside, rain tapped gently against the glass. Leo’s bicycle leaned against the porch railing. The ordinary sight of it made everything feel more terrifying.
“What does she want now?” I asked.
Marcus looked down at the letter.
“Your signature.”
Of course.
The Sterling shares.
The ports.
The real estate.
The corporation still needed my approval for any major sale until Leo turned eighteen.
And Evelyn had waited.
She had let Daniel fall.
She had let Arthur confess.
She had let the scandal explode.
Because in the chaos, everyone had stopped looking at her.
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
Marcus nodded toward it.
“Don’t answer.”
But I did.
“Hello?”
For several seconds, there was only silence.
Then Evelyn Sterling spoke.
Her voice was calm, elegant, almost gentle.
“Elena,” she said. “I was hoping we could talk.”
I gripped the phone harder.
“You sent the letter.”
“I sent you the truth.”
“You had Julian killed.”
A soft sigh came through the line.
“Such an ugly word. Julian made choices.”
“You ordered Daniel to stop him.”
“I gave Daniel information. What he did with it was his own weakness.”
My stomach turned.
“You’re admitting it?”
“No,” Evelyn said. “I’m educating you.”
Marcus had moved closer, listening.
Evelyn continued.
“You are holding a company you do not understand. You are raising a boy who will inherit enemies before he inherits money. And you are trusting Marcus Vance, a man who has kept more secrets than he has told you.”
I looked at Marcus.
His face changed.
“What does that mean?” I asked.
Evelyn laughed softly.
“Oh, Elena. Ask Marcus why Julian fired him three months before he died.”
The call ended.
I turned toward Marcus.
He did not deny it.
“Why did Julian fire you?” I asked.
Marcus looked exhausted.
“Because he discovered something about Leo.”
The room went silent.
My heart stopped.
“What about Leo?”
Marcus closed his eyes.
Then he said the words that shattered the last piece of my old life.
“Leo may not be Julian’s biological son.”
I couldn’t breathe.
May you like
From Leo’s room, I heard the sound of a pencil falling to the floor.
And I realized he had been standing in the doorway the entire time.
