Chapter 10 - SARAH'S SECRET
Emergency lights flickered on ten seconds later.
Ten seconds was enough.
A masked man stood at the end of the corridor.
Evan shouted.
The intruder ran.
Two security officers chased him.
Sarah carried Noah into the panic room.
Mark followed.
The steel door closed.
Inside, Sarah was breathing hard.
Mark checked Noah.
He was safe.
Then Mark noticed blood on Sarah’s sleeve.
“You are hurt.”
She looked down.
A small cut crossed her forearm.
“It is nothing.”
“It is not nothing.”
Mark opened the medical cabinet.
As he cleaned the cut, Sarah looked away.
Mark noticed an old scar near her wrist.
Then another.
Not recent.
Not accidental.
He said nothing at first.
Sarah noticed where he was looking.
“My father was not a good man.”
Mark stopped.
“You do not have to explain.”
“I think I do.”
Sarah sat down.
“My mother worked for wealthy families.”
“She spent her life taking care of other people’s children.”
“My father hated it.”
“He said she cared more about them than she cared about us.”
Sarah stared at the floor.
“When I was fourteen, he became violent.”
“My mother tried to leave.”
“He found us.”
Mark listened silently.
“One night, I called the police.”
“I thought they would arrive before anything happened.”
Sarah swallowed.
“They did not.”
Mark’s expression softened.
“My mother survived.”
“But I learned something that night.”
“What?”
“When someone dangerous tells you they are going to hurt someone, believe them before they prove it.”
Mark understood.
That was why Sarah had entered the nursery.
That was why she noticed Victoria’s behavior.
That was why she did not dismiss strange details.
“I am sorry.”
Sarah gave a small smile.
“Do not be.”
“It taught me to watch people.”
Mark almost laughed.
“That may have saved Noah’s life.”
A knock sounded against the panic room door.
Evan gave the security code.
The intruder had escaped.
But he had left something behind.
A phone.
On the phone was a live video feed.
Victoria appeared on the screen.
She sat in a dark room.
Sarah stared.
Victoria smiled.
“Hello, Mark.”
Mark’s expression hardened.
“What do you want?”
“To finish what your father started.”
“You mean what Richard believes he deserves.”
Victoria’s smile disappeared.
“You know.”
“I know you are Richard’s daughter.”
Victoria leaned back.
“Then you finally understand.”
“I understand you are a fraud.”
“No.”
Her eyes flashed.
“I am a Reed.”
“You married your own cousin to steal money.”
“I married the man holding what should have belonged to my father.”
Mark stepped closer to the screen.
“You helped kill Daniel.”
Victoria said nothing.
That silence was enough.
Mark whispered, “You did.”
Victoria looked directly at him.
May you like
“Daniel should have stopped investigating.”
Then the video ended.
