Chapter 6 - The Sister Who Came Back From The Dead
"Hello, sister."
The word struck Sadie harder than any injury she had ever endured.
Sister.
Not maid.
Not stranger.
Not someone who had accidentally entered the mansion.
Sister.
She stared at the woman standing in front of her.
The same eyes.
The same face shape.
The same small scar near the eyebrow.
A scar Sadie remembered from a childhood she could barely recall.
Her breathing became uneven.
"No..."
The woman tilted her head slightly.
A sad smile appeared on her face.
"You remember me."
Sadie stepped backward.
"No. That's impossible."
Adrian watched both women carefully.
He had seen enemies lie.
He had seen people fake emotions.
But this was different.
There was something in Sadie's expression.
Not suspicion.
Recognition.
Painful recognition.
"Who are you?" Adrian asked.
The woman looked at him.
For a moment, her expression became cold.
Then she answered.
"My name is Clara."
Silence.
"Clara Elena Miller."
Sadie froze.
Her mother's name.
The same last name.
The same name she had heard whispered in old documents.
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
"You're Elena's daughter."
Clara smiled faintly.
"Yes."
He looked at Sadie.
Then back at Clara.
"The second child."
Clara nodded.
"The child everyone thought disappeared."
Sadie's voice trembled.
"Where have you been?"
Clara looked at her.
And something changed.
The cold expression disappeared.
For a brief moment, she looked like someone who had spent years waiting for this moment.
"Surviving."
Sadie's eyes filled with tears.
"Mom told me you were gone."
"She told you that?"
Sadie nodded.
Clara looked away.
"She had to."
"Why?"
"Because if you knew I was alive, they would have found both of us."
The room became quiet.
Adrian stepped closer.
"Who are they?"
Clara's eyes moved toward him.
"Your family."
The answer was direct.
Too direct.
Adrian's face hardened.
"My family is dead."
Clara shook her head.
"Not all of them."
Daniel moved forward.
"Clara."
She looked at him.
"You knew she would come here?"
Daniel didn't answer.
Adrian immediately noticed.
"You knew."
Daniel remained silent.
Adrian's voice became colder.
"You knew where she was."
"Yes."
"And you didn't tell me."
"I was protecting her."
Adrian laughed quietly.
"Everyone keeps saying that."
His eyes moved between them.
"Everyone keeps protecting someone."
A painful silence followed.
Because he was right.
Everyone had made decisions about his life.
Everyone had decided what he deserved to know.
And everyone had left him standing in the middle of a story he never knew existed.
Sadie looked at Clara.
"Why didn't you find me?"
The question was quiet.
But it carried years of pain.
Clara's expression broke.
"I tried."
Sadie looked down.
"No, you didn't."
"I did."
"You knew where I was."
Clara looked at her.
"Yes."
"Then why?"
Clara took a deep breath.
"Because every person who got close to you disappeared."
Sadie stopped.
"What?"
Clara stepped closer.
"When I found out you were working here, I wanted to come."
"Then why didn't you?"
"Because the people watching this mansion weren't watching Adrian."
Everyone looked at her.
"They were watching you."
Adrian's eyes sharpened.
"Explain."
Clara looked at him.
"Your enemies never cared about your business."
She pointed at Sadie.
"They cared about Elena's children."
A cold feeling moved through the room.
Adrian had spent years believing his power made him a target.
But maybe he had been wrong.
Maybe his greatest weakness was not his empire.
Maybe it was the people connected to him.
Sadie looked at her sister.
"How did you know about my arm?"
Clara's face changed.
She looked at the bandage.
Then at Adrian.
"Someone told me."
"Who?"
Clara didn't answer.
Adrian stepped closer.
"Who hurt her?"
The room went silent.
Clara looked away.
That was enough.
Adrian understood.
"You know."
Clara's silence confirmed it.
"Tell me."
"No."
His expression darkened.
"That wasn't a request."
Clara looked directly at him.
"And that is why Elena was afraid of you."
The words stopped him.
Nobody spoke to Adrian like that.
Nobody.
But Clara did.
Because she wasn't afraid.
She had known him before the world feared him.
"You think power solves everything," Clara continued.
"But power is exactly what destroyed my family."
Adrian stared at her.
"You don't know me."
"I know enough."
Her voice became softer.
"My mother loved you."
A pause.
"But she was terrified of what you would become."
Adrian looked away.
Because those words hurt more than anger.
Sadie quietly sat down.
The pain in her arm was returning.
Adrian noticed immediately.
He moved toward her.
"Your arm needs a doctor."
"I'm fine."
He looked at her.
"Stop saying that."
The words were not angry.
They were tired.
Sadie looked surprised.
Adrian lowered his voice.
"You have been saying it your whole life."
She looked at him.
"And nobody believed you because nobody cared enough to ask."
For the first time, Sadie had no answer.
Adrian called his private doctor.
Within minutes, the mansion became filled with movement.
Guards.
Medical staff.
Security teams.
But Adrian only watched Sadie.
Not Clara.
Not Daniel.
Sadie.
Because the more he learned, the more he realized something.
She had walked into his life carrying all the pain everyone else ignored.
And he had almost ignored it too.
The doctor examined her arm.
His expression changed.
"Mr. Blackwood."
Adrian looked over.
"What?"
"This wasn't one injury."
The room became silent.
The doctor carefully removed the outer bandage.
"There are multiple fractures."
Sadie's face went pale.
The doctor continued.
"Some are older."
Adrian's eyes darkened.
"How old?"
The doctor looked uncomfortable.
"Months."
Nobody spoke.
Months.
Sadie had been living with a broken arm for months.
Working.
Cleaning.
Pretending.
Adrian slowly turned toward her.
"Who did this?"
Sadie looked away.
Clara answered.
"I know."
Everyone turned.
Adrian's expression became dangerous.
"Who?"
Clara hesitated.
Then she looked at Sadie.
"I'm sorry."
Sadie's eyes widened.
"Clara..."
But Clara continued.
"The person who broke her arm..."
A pause.
"Was someone inside this mansion."
The air changed instantly.
Adrian looked around.
Every servant.
Every guard.
Every person who had been standing nearby.
Someone inside his home had hurt her.
And someone had helped hide it.
Adrian's voice became dangerously quiet.
"Everyone leaves this room."
Nobody moved.
Then he repeated.
"Now."
The staff disappeared.
Only Adrian, Sadie, Clara, and Daniel remained.
Adrian looked at Clara.
"Name."
Clara shook her head.
"I can't."
His eyes narrowed.
"Why?"
"Because the moment you know, they will know I told you."
"And?"
Clara looked at Sadie.
"And they will kill the person who protected her."
Sadie suddenly stood.
"Who?"
Clara looked at her.
Her face filled with fear.
"Sadie..."
"Who protected me?"
Clara opened her mouth.
But before she could answer, Adrian's phone vibrated.
A message.
From an unknown number.
He opened it.
One photo appeared.
His blood ran cold.
It was a picture taken inside the mansion.
Tonight.
From a hidden camera.
The photo showed Sadie sleeping in her room.
And beneath it was one sentence.
"Your first daughter was easy to find."
Adrian stared.
Then another message arrived.
May you like
This time, only four words.
"Your second one next."
