Chapter 6 - Someone Inside the House
Mateo moved before Adelaide did.
His arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her against the wall.
“Stay behind me.”
“I can’t see anything.”
“That’s the idea.”
Emergency lighting flickered red.
Footsteps echoed.
A guard shouted.
Then glass shattered somewhere below.
Mateo drew a handgun.
Adelaide stared.
He noticed.
“You knew what I was.”
“Knowing and seeing are different.”
“Fair.”
They moved through the corridor.
At the stair landing, two security men appeared.
“All clear upstairs.”
“Chloe?” Adelaide asked.
“No visual.”
Mateo looked toward his chief of security.
“Find her alive.”
Adelaide caught the wording.
Alive.
Not because Chloe deserved protection.
Because Mateo knew Adelaide still loved her.
Even after everything.
That realization disturbed her more than the gun.
Power returned five minutes later.
Chloe was found locked inside a pantry.
Crying.
Her dress torn at the shoulder.
Evelyn ran toward her.
“Oh my God!”
Chloe recoiled.
Adelaide noticed.
So did Mateo.
“Who did this?” Rockford demanded.
Chloe stared at Evelyn.
Then lowered her eyes.
“I don’t know.”
Lie.
Adelaide knew it instantly.
Mateo had everyone moved into the main salon.
Security searched the estate.
One guard found an exterior service door unlocked.
Another found a cloned access card.
The USB device from Chloe’s purse was real.
And dangerous.
Mateo stood opposite her.
“Why did you bring it?”
Chloe cried.
“I didn’t.”
“It was in your purse.”
“Someone put it there.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
Evelyn touched her shoulder.
“She’s terrified.”
Chloe jerked away.
That was the second sign.
Adelaide stepped closer.
“Chloe.”
Her sister looked at her.
“Tell me.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
Chloe’s eyes filled harder.
“Because you don’t understand.”
Evelyn interrupted.
“That’s enough.”
Adelaide turned.
“Why?”
“Your sister has been traumatized.”
“So have I. Nobody ever stopped a conversation for me.”
Evelyn’s mouth tightened.
Mateo said, “Mrs. Jones, sit down.”
She glared.
He did not blink.
Evelyn sat.
Adelaide crouched in front of Chloe.
“You slapped me twenty minutes ago.”
Chloe laughed through tears.
“Good opening.”
“You’ve made fun of me most of my life.”
“I know.”
“You volunteered me to a mafia boss because you thought he’d reject me.”
“I know.”
“And I still know when you’re scared.”
Chloe looked at her.
“Who gave you the device?”
Silence.
Then Chloe whispered, “Mom.”
Nobody moved.
Rockford turned toward Evelyn.
“What?”
Chloe continued.
“She told me Mateo had documents proving you stole the money.”
Evelyn stood.
“She’s confused.”
“No.”
Chloe’s voice strengthened.
“You told me to copy his files.”
“For your father!”
“You said if I didn’t, Daddy would go to prison.”
Rockford’s face collapsed.
Evelyn looked at Mateo.
“This family matter has nothing to do with you.”
Mateo almost smiled.
“You broke into my house.”
“I didn’t.”
“Your daughter did.”
“Chloe acted emotionally.”
Chloe stared at her mother.
“You told me exactly where the study was.”
That changed everything.
Adelaide looked at Mateo.
Only a limited number of people knew the estate layout.
Mateo’s face became unreadable.
“Who gave Evelyn the plans?”
Nobody answered.
Then Adelaide remembered.
Luca.
He had managed estate renovations two years earlier.
She whispered, “Your cousin.”
Mateo’s gaze shifted.
Evelyn saw it.
That was enough.
She ran.
Not toward the front door.
Toward the terrace.
Security moved instantly.
But Evelyn was faster than anyone expected.
She reached inside her evening bag.
Mateo shouted.
A gun appeared.
Rockford froze.
Chloe screamed.
Evelyn aimed directly at Adelaide.
For one bizarre second, Adelaide thought: Of course.
Not Mateo.
Not Rockford.
Her.
The unwanted daughter.
The librarian.
The woman who saw numbers.
The woman who asked questions.
Mateo stepped in front of her.
The gun fired.
Chaos exploded.
Adelaide heard the shot but did not immediately understand what happened.
Mateo staggered.
Her hands grabbed him.
“Mateo!”
Security tackled Evelyn.
The weapon slid across the marble.
Rockford shouted.
Chloe screamed for someone to call an ambulance.
Adelaide lowered Mateo to the floor.
Blood spread across his upper arm.
Not chest.
Shoulder.
“Look at me,” she said.
He actually smiled.
“You sound bossy.”
“You’ve been shot.”
“Grazed.”
“How do you know?”
“I’ve been shot before.”
“That is not reassuring.”
His hand closed over hers.
“Adelaide.”
“What?”
“Are you hit?”
She stared.
Even bleeding, he was checking her.
“No.”
His eyes closed briefly.
“Good.”
Medical staff from the estate arrived.
Adelaide stayed until they forced her back.
Across the room, Evelyn was handcuffed.
But she was smiling.
Adelaide noticed.
“Why are you smiling?”
Evelyn looked at her.
“You really think this was the plan?”
Adelaide went cold.
“What?”
Evelyn’s eyes moved toward Mateo.
“Ask him what happened to the fifteen million.”
“We know.”
“No.”
Her smile widened.
“You know where it went.”
Adelaide stepped closer.
“But you don’t know what it bought.”
Then every phone in the room began ringing.
Mateo’s security chief answered first.
His face drained.
“Boss.”
Mateo looked up.
“What?”
The man hesitated.
“Warehouse seven is burning.”
Mateo’s eyes hardened.
A second guard entered.
“Federal agents just arrived at Moretti Shipping.”
“For what?”
“Money laundering.”
Adelaide understood.
The attack had never been intended to kill her.
It had been distraction.
While security focused on the mansion, someone was destroying evidence and framing Mateo.
Evelyn laughed softly from the floor.
“You should have rejected her.”
Mateo stared.
Evelyn looked directly at Adelaide.
“Everyone would have been safer if you stayed ugly and invisible.”
Something inside Adelaide changed.
For years those words would have destroyed her.
Now she stepped closer.
“No.”
Evelyn’s smile faded.
“You were safer when you thought I believed you.”
For the first time, Adelaide watched fear enter her stepmother’s eyes.
May you like
And she realized Evelyn had made the same mistake her entire family had.
She had confused Adelaide’s silence with weakness.
