Chapter 7 - Blood Against Blood
Arthur kicked the wooden side door off its rusted hinges with a thunderous roar. The splintered wood crashed inward, hitting the dirt floor as Arthur raised his revolver straight at Victor’s chest. ""Drop the weapon, Victor! Drop it right now!""
Victor didn't jump. He merely shifted his cold gaze toward the door, his lips curving into an arrogant, pitying smirk. Beside him, Thorne reached for his waistband, but Arthur fired a single warning shot that blew through the timber beam above Thorne’s head, showering him in sawdust.
""Hands where I can see them, Thorne!"" Arthur bellowed, his voice carrying the full weight of a judge passing down a life sentence. ""Step away from that girl!""
Eleanor rushed past Arthur, completely ignoring the drawn guns, and dropped to her knees beside Chloe’s chair. She reached out with trembling, frantic fingers to peel the tape from Chloe’s lips, weeping openly. ""I’m here, baby. I’m here. Nobody is going to touch you.""
Chloe gasped for air, tears cutting clear tracks down her grime-stained cheeks. ""Who are they? Why are they doing this to me?""
""Because you are my daughter,"" Eleanor cried, pressing her forehead against Chloe’s cold cheek. ""You are my baby girl, Clara. You were stolen from me.""
""How touching,"" Victor drawled, keeping his gun pointed steadily at Arthur’s midsection. ""A mother-daughter reunion in a decaying shack. Tell me, Arthur, do you honestly think you're walking out of here alive? Do you think the police will believe you over the chief executor of the Sterling Trust?""
""You had her kidnapped from the maternity ward,"" Arthur spat, his eyes burning with fury. ""You were only twenty years old, Victor. How could you do that to your own family?""
""It wasn't my idea,"" Victor chuckled softly, a venomous edge entering his tone. ""I was just a kid running errands for the real masterminds. Julian owed millions to the docks cartel. And your dear, saintly father... Justice Sterling... couldn't bear the scandal of his youngest son going to federal prison. So they made Clara disappear. Staged it as a random stranger abduction. Stashed her with Thorne and bought a new identity.""
""My father... did this?"" Eleanor whispered, turning her head in horror, her world tilting violently on its axis.
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""Of course he did,"" Victor sneered. ""And he left me in charge to make sure the secret died with him. But you had to go out for lunch today, didn't you, Aunt Eleanor?""
Suddenly, the floorboards behind Victor groaned, and the dark water beneath the dock rippled violently as another shadow stepped into the boathouse from the lake hatch.
