Chapter 15 - THE COUSIN AT THE TABLE
Sabrina Sterling had grown up beside Elena.
Their fathers were brothers.
They attended the same schools.
The same holidays.
The same summers in Maine.
When Sabrina's father died, Alvin paid for her education.
He gave her a position at Sterling Development.
He trusted her.
Elena trusted her more.
When Elena got married, Sabrina was maid of honor.
When Elena announced her pregnancy, Sabrina cried before Alvin did.
And now Diego claimed Sabrina had secretly met Victor.
Aaron began checking.
The results arrived quickly.
Sabrina had met Victor seventeen times in ten months.
Most meetings took place away from Sterling offices.
Hotels.
Restaurants.
A private club.
One meeting occurred the day before Diego presented Elena with the legal papers.
Alvin refused to believe it.
“She is family.”
Elena looked at him.
“So was Diego.”
The words silenced him.
Claire examined Sabrina's corporate access.
She had downloaded historical trust documents.
Medical insurance files.
Security schedules.
And board voting projections.
She had also accessed the archive index where the missing birth file had once been listed.
When confronted, Sabrina did not run.
She came to Alvin's house.
Elena waited in the library.
Sabrina entered alone.
She looked at Elena's stomach.
Then at the security camera above the door.
“So this is what we are now?”
Elena's voice was cold.
“What are we?”
“People who record family.”
“You helped people record my bedroom.”
“I did not.”
“Then explain Victor.”
Sabrina's face changed.
She sat down.
“You think your father is innocent.”
Elena felt exhausted.
“I am getting very tired of people entering rooms and telling me my father has secrets.”
“Because he does.”
“Then stop performing and tell me.”
Sabrina looked toward Alvin.
“He destroyed my father.”
Alvin stiffened.
“Your father stole from the company.”
“My father borrowed money.”
“He falsified documents.”
“He was desperate.”
“He blamed me because I caught him.”
Sabrina's eyes filled with tears.
“He killed himself six months later.”
Elena stared at her cousin.
She had been fourteen when Uncle Peter died.
The family told her it was an accident.
Sabrina had known the truth.
“You wanted revenge.”
“At first.”
“Then Victor showed me documents.”
“What documents?”
“Evidence that Alvin hid assets from my father.”
Alvin shook his head.
“Fabricated.”
Sabrina laughed bitterly.
“Of course you would say that.”
“Did you give Victor information about Elena's trust?”
Silence.
That was enough.
Elena felt something break inside her.
“You knew I was pregnant.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Diego wanted my shares.”
“I thought he was going to pressure you into signing.”
The same excuse.
The same disgusting sentence.
“I never knew he would hurt you.”
Elena stood.
Sabrina stood too.
“Elena.”
“Did you create the false medical file about my father?”
“No.”
“Did you tell Victor about the birth file?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I thought it proved what Alvin did to my father.”
Elena moved closer.
“And when Victor started targeting me?”
“I tried to stop him.”
“How?”
Sabrina began crying.
“I was the one who activated the backup medical alert.”
Elena stopped.
“What?”
“The night at the retreat.”
“Your bracelet had been partially disabled.”
The room went silent.
Sabrina looked at Alvin.
“Thomas altered the emergency settings.”
“I found out that afternoon.”
“I remotely restored them.”
Elena stared at her cousin.
“If you hadn't?”
May you like
Sabrina nodded slowly.
“The alarm that saved you would never have gone off.”
