CHAPTER 13: THE HOUSE BY THE LAKE
Daniel ran toward the lodge before Marcus could stop him.
Police officers spread through the trees.
The front door stood open.
Inside, Nathan lay beside the fireplace with blood on his sleeve. The bullet had passed through his upper arm.
He was alive.
Lily was not in the room.
“Where is she?” Daniel demanded.
Nathan pointed toward the rear hallway.
“Arthur took her to the clock tower.”
Marcus stayed with Nathan while Daniel followed the hallway into the oldest section of the lodge.
The stairs creaked beneath him.
Above, the damaged clock mechanism moved with a grinding sound.
Arthur stood on the tower platform with one arm around Lily.
In his other hand was a handgun.
The drop behind them extended three floors.
“Stop,” Arthur ordered.
Daniel froze.
Lily’s eyes met her father’s.
She was frightened, but she was not crying.
“The case contains trackers,” Arthur said. “Did you really believe I wouldn’t check?”
“Let her go.”
“You’ve spent your entire life receiving what should have belonged to others.”
“This is about money?”
“It is about control.”
Arthur’s expression finally changed.
“Your father intended to remove me from the trust. He discovered that I had redirected funds through the families Evelyn served.”
The other children had been practice.
The caretaker network created accusations, scandals and tragedies. Arthur then used his legal position to seize control of family estates during the chaos.
Lily was supposed to become his greatest victory.
He planned to frame her for stealing Elena’s jewelry and attacking Margaret.
After months of “documented behavioral problems,” Arthur would argue that Daniel and Elena had concealed their daughter’s instability.
The scandal would remove Daniel from the company.
Nathan would receive temporary control.
Arthur believed Nathan would be easy to manipulate.
“You underestimated Lily,” Daniel said.
Arthur looked down at her.
“She resisted longer than expected.”
“You mean she never gave you the code.”
Lily’s voice was small but firm.
“I gave her the wrong one.”
Arthur’s grip tightened.
Daniel saw Lily wince.
“Easy,” he said.
Arthur glanced toward the window as police lights appeared between the trees.
“There is still one way out.”
“You won’t reach it.”
“I don’t need to.”
Arthur lifted the gun toward Daniel.
Before he could fire, the clock mechanism released a deafening chime.
Lily ducked.
Daniel charged forward.
The gun discharged into the ceiling.
Arthur stumbled against the railing as Daniel pulled Lily away from him.
For one terrible second, Arthur hung over the drop.
Daniel caught his wrist.
Arthur stared up at him.
“You should let me fall.”
Daniel held him.
“No.”
Police officers reached the platform and pulled Arthur to safety before placing him in handcuffs.
Daniel dropped to his knees and held Lily.
“You came,” she whispered.
“I will always come.”
Downstairs, paramedics treated Nathan’s arm.
He watched Daniel carry Lily from the lodge.
“I’ll testify,” Nathan said. “About everything.”
His confession exposed the original spying arrangement and Arthur’s control of the caretaker network.
Colin Reed also agreed to cooperate.
Faced with decades in prison, Evelyn Marsh finally requested a meeting with prosecutors.
Daniel and Elena watched from behind protective glass as she entered the interview room wearing a jail uniform.
She looked smaller than she had inside the mansion.
But her eyes remained cold.
The prosecutor opened the file.
“Did Arthur Bell instruct you to obtain the Whitmore safe code?”
“Yes.”
“Did he authorize physical punishment?”
Evelyn hesitated.
“He told me to break her resistance.”
Daniel’s hands tightened.
The prosecutor placed the numbered notebook on the table.
“Why did you stop at one hundred ninety-nine?”
“I didn’t.”
Elena leaned closer to the glass.
Evelyn looked directly toward it, as though she knew the Whitmores were watching.
“There were two hundred marks,” she said.
“The last one wasn’t made by me.”
The prosecutor frowned.
“Who made it?”
May you like
Evelyn smiled for the first time.
“Ask Lily.”
