Chapter 15 - The Final Beneficiary
The black town car sat idling in the shadows of the tree line, its tinted windows masking the driver’s identity. The driver’s side door swung open, and an elderly man in a chauffeur’s uniform stepped out, carrying an ivory wool blanket and a thermos of hot tea. Vivienne instantly recognized him: Mr. Miller, the patriarch’s private driver of thirty years, who had supposedly retired to Scotland months before the drama began.
Miller approached with quiet reverence, draping the heavy wool blanket over Camille’s shivering shoulders before offering a respectful nod to Vivienne. He did not look at the raging fire; his attention remained entirely devoted to the two sisters. He informed them that the private jet was fueled and waiting at the regional airstrip, with flight plans filed for Zurich under newly issued passports. He reached into his pocket and handed Vivienne a sealed envelope bearing the personal crest of the Sterling family.
Vivienne broke the wax seal under the pale light of the car’s headlamps. Inside was a single handwritten note in her father’s unmistakably sharp scrawl, dated that very morning: ""If you are reading this, Vivienne, you proved yourself the only true Sterling. The fortune is yours. But remember: the man who tried to kill me was not Julian, nor Eleanor. Look at Camille’s wrist."" Vivienne turned slowly toward her sister. Camille had pushed back her sleeve to adjust the blanket, revealing a pristine, faded tattoo around her wrist—the exact geometric mark of the syndicate that had ordered Arthur’s execution five years ago, and Camille was smiling at her with cold, merciless eyes."
