Chapter 12 - The Traitor at Arthur’s Table
Thomas was not waiting.
But something he had left behind was.
The demolished building had once contained a bank.
Below it remained an abandoned vault.
The second key opened it.
Inside were boxes.
Hundreds.
Each carried the name of a victim Victor’s network had harmed.
Thomas had documented them all.
Clara found letters addressed to herself and Daniel.
Evelyn found one addressed to her.
Arthur found one too.
To Arthur.
His hands trembled.
Thomas had written it shortly before his death.
You are not your father.
Arthur stopped reading.
Clara waited.
He eventually continued.
Thomas had known Victor was shaping Arthur into an heir.
He had watched the boy resist.
He believed Arthur might someday destroy what their family had built.
That letter became something Arthur had never possessed.
Permission to stop carrying his father’s sins.
They discovered another document.
Ownership records.
Thomas had quietly acquired legitimate Kingsley assets and placed them in a trust.
Beneficiaries:
Daniel Vance.
Clara Vance.
Arthur Kingsley.
Evelyn laughed through tears.
“Thomas always did enjoy complicated paperwork.”
But there was one problem.
The trustee was Sebastian Cole.
Even imprisoned, Sebastian could obstruct access.
Unless they found the successor trustee.
A name had been redacted.
Daniel used forensic imaging.
Letters slowly emerged.
DOMINIC ROSSI.
Clara laughed.
Arthur didn’t.
Dominic had hidden one final truth.
When confronted, he admitted Thomas had recruited him at nineteen.
Dominic had never truly served Victor.
He had spent twenty years protecting Arthur from inside.
Every insult directed at Clara had been ugly.
But calculated.
Every suspicious action had concealed another protective move.
Clara punched him in the shoulder.
“You could have found a less obnoxious strategy.”
“I panicked.”
“For six months?”
“I’m committed.”
Arthur almost smiled.
Dominic transferred the trust immediately.
No conditions.
No personal gain.
For the first time, Arthur trusted him completely.
That should have been the end of the betrayals.
It wasn’t.
Ryan Mercer escaped custody.
And this time he did not run.
He kidnapped Daniel.
Again.
Clara stared at the ransom message.
Her brother had officially become too easy to kidnap.
Ryan demanded ten million dollars.
Arthur prepared it.
Clara refused.
“He doesn’t want money.”
“What does he want?”
“To matter.”
Ryan had spent years being somebody else’s tool.
Victor’s.
Sebastian’s.
Nora’s.
He wanted control.
Clara knew how to take it away.
She met him alone in an abandoned train depot.
Or appeared to.
Daniel was tied to a support beam.
Ryan smiled.
“You came.”
Clara looked bored.
That irritated him.
“I said you came.”
“I heard you.”
“You’re not afraid?”
“I spent years afraid you were the best I could do.”
His smile vanished.
“That was much scarier.”
Ryan raised his gun.
Clara continued.
“You stole from me because you couldn’t build anything. You lied because nobody would choose the real you. And now you kidnap people because asking for attention stopped working.”
“Shut up.”
“No.”
Daniel smiled despite the tape across his mouth.
Ryan stepped closer.
Exactly where Clara needed him.
Arthur emerged behind him.
Dominic from the side.
Police from both exits.
Ryan stared.
Clara smiled.
“You always underestimated how much space I take up.”
Ryan surrendered.
Later, Daniel hugged her.
“You enjoyed that.”
“Enormously.”
Arthur approached.
“Remind me never to make you angry.”
“Too late.”
His gaze softened.
“Clara.”
Something in his tone changed the air.
Daniel noticed.
“Oh, absolutely not. I’m leaving.”
He left.
Arthur stepped closer.
“I meant what I said in the warehouse.”
“Which part?”
“The blood-loss part.”
She smiled.
“Convenient.”
“I’m in love with you.”
Clara’s humor disappeared.
Arthur looked terrified.
The feared Arthur Kingsley.
Terrified by four words.
Clara touched his face.
“I’m not ready.”
He nodded immediately.
“Okay.”
“But I might be getting there.”
Hope entered his eyes.
Then his phone rang.
Dominic.
Arthur answered.
His expression hardened.
“What?”
Clara heard only fragments.
Prison.
Victor.
Medical wing.
Visitor.
Arthur ended the call.
“Victor had a visitor.”
“Who?”
Arthur turned the phone toward her.
Security footage showed Evelyn entering Victor’s prison medical room.
May you like
Alone.
And carrying a gun.
