Chapter 3 - The Bloodline’s CurseThe scream that echoed from the second-floor balcony shattered the remaining silence of the estate.
It wasn't a cry of anger.
It was a cry of pure, unadulterated terror.
Roman didn’t even look up toward the sound. His eyes remained locked on his mother, whose aristocratic composure was completely disintegrating. The paper in his hand rattled slightly, not from fear, but from the sheer force of his grip.
“Who is in the eastern wing, Vivienne?” Roman asked, his voice dangerously low.
Vivienne didn't answer. She took another step backward, her polished heels slipping slightly on the wet marble of the portico. For a woman who had ruled the Kane family with an iron fist for three decades, she suddenly looked small. Old. Frail.
“Answer him,” I whispered, my voice cracking through the freezing rain.
The heavy oak doors of the mansion burst open.
Marcus, Roman’s trusted head of security, came sprinting out. His face was pale, his tactical gear soaked in sweat despite the freezing temperature. He stopped just short of Roman, glancing briefly at me with a look of profound pity and shock before focusing on his boss.
“Boss, we have a situation inside,” Marcus breathed, trying to catch his breath. “The secret basement beneath the ballroom. We found her.”
“Found who?” Roman demanded.
“Your older sister, Clara,” Marcus said, the words hanging heavily in the cold air. “The one they told you died in a car crash ten years ago. She’s alive. And she was the one who just screamed.”
The revelation hit the driveway like a physical blow.
Roman froze. The Kane empire had always been built on secrets, but this was a foundation-shattering betrayal. Clara Kane, the brilliant eldest child, had allegedly perished a decade ago. It was her death that had forced Roman to abandon his dreams of a normal life and take over the family’s bloody mantle.
“You told me she was gone,” Roman said, turning his gaze back to Vivienne.
“She was weak!” Vivienne suddenly hissed, her fear morphing into venomous rage. “Just like this trash from Queens you brought into my house! Clara wanted to dissolve our assets. She wanted to turn the Kane family into a charity. I did what had to be done to preserve our legacy!”
“By locking her away?” I cried out, clutching my stomach as another sharp pain rippled through me. “By lying to your own son?”
Roman didn’t waste another second on words. He turned around, scooping me up into his arms in one swift, seamless motion. His heavy charcoal coat wrapped tightly around my shivering body. The warmth of his chest was a stark contrast to the icy rain that had threatened to numb my soul.
“Marcus, secure Vivienne. If she moves an inch, treat her as a hostile,” Roman ordered.
“Where are we going, Roman?” I whimpered, burying my face into his neck.
“To the hospital, Bianca,” he murmured against my wet, shaved head. “I’m taking you away from this hell.”
As he carried me toward the idling black sedan, I looked over his shoulder.
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Vivienne was surrounded by three armed guards, her elegant black silk dress ruined by the splashed mud. She looked at me, her eyes burning with a promise of absolute destruction.
But as the sedan doors slammed shut, isolating us from the storm, I knew the war had only just begun.
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