Chapter 10 - The Boy in the PhotographBy morning, the Sterling mansion was no longer a mansion.
It was a crime scene.
Yellow tape wrapped the gates. Federal agents carried boxes from the library. Forensic teams photographed the chapel. Reporters lined the road in coats and boots, breath clouding in the cold air as they spoke into cameras.
Arthur Sterling was alive, handcuffed to a hospital bed under armed guard.
Mason Sterling was alive too, though barely. Smoke inhalation, broken ribs, and a conscience that had finally awakened after twenty years.
Vivian and Clara spent the night at a safe location with Robert Ellison.
Clara slept for two hours, then woke screaming.
Vivian held her until sunrise.
At eight in the morning, Detective Reyes arrived with coffee, files, and a face that said the nightmare had only changed shape.
“We found the bone box,” Reyes said.
Vivian sat straighter.
Clara watched from under a blanket.
Reyes opened a folder.
“The remains appear old. We need testing. But the initials on the ring match a man named Samuel Price.”
Vivian frowned.
Robert Ellison went pale.
“Who is Samuel Price?”
Reyes looked at him.
“Helena Sterling’s driver. Officially, he disappeared in 2005.”
Robert sat down slowly.
“He was the man who brought Vivian letters from home.”
Vivian’s chest tightened.
“What?”
Robert turned to his daughter.
“When Arthur cut us off, I kept sending letters. One day Samuel called me. He said Helena knew Arthur was isolating you. He said he could get messages inside.”
Vivian’s eyes filled with tears.
“I never received them.”
Reyes’s voice was gentle.
“We believe Arthur found out.”
Clara covered her mouth.
The room went silent.
Then Reyes placed the photograph of Noah Sterling on the table.
“We also found the boy.”
Vivian looked up.
“He’s alive?”
“Yes. He’s twenty-two now. His full legal name is Noah Price.”
Robert whispered, “Price?”
“Helena hid him with Samuel’s sister after Theodore died.”
Vivian stared at the photograph.
The teenage boy in the picture had Theodore’s eyes.
“Where is he?”
Reyes hesitated.
“He disappeared yesterday, about three hours before the videos were released.”
Clara sat up.
“Arthur’s people took him?”
“We don’t know.”
Vivian looked at her daughter.
Clara’s face had gone still in that frightening way children become still when they are forced to understand adult evil too soon.
Reyes closed the folder.
“There’s something else. Before Noah disappeared, he left a message.”
She played a recording.
A young man’s voice filled the room.
“If Clara Sterling ever finds this, tell her Helena was right. Arthur’s empire doesn’t end at the mansion. It starts there.”
The recording crackled.
May you like
Then Noah said one final sentence.
“And tell Vivian not to trust the woman in white.”
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