Chapter 7 - A Sister's Resolve
Back in her small dormitory room, Clara did not sleep. She sat on the edge of her bed, her mind spinning. Julian thought he had broken her. He thought the threat to Lily’s life would keep her silent forever.
And he was right, to an extent. She would do anything to protect Lily. But Clara realized something else: as long as Julian held all the cards, Lily’s life was never truly safe. If Clara made one mistake, if she looked at Julian the wrong way, he could pull the plug on a whim. The only way to truly save Lily—and herself—was to destroy Julian Vance.
She needed that ledger.
The ledger was Julian's shield, but it was also his Achilles' heel. If she could get her hands on it and deliver it to someone outside his circle of influence—perhaps a federal agency or an independent journalist—the entire house of cards would come crashing down.
Clara spent the next three days observing Julian's routine with agonizing precision. She noticed that every afternoon at exactly 3:00 PM, Julian took a 30-minute walk around the estate's private gardens to meet with his security chief. During this time, his office was left empty, though locked.
But Clara still had a backup master key she had stolen months ago and hidden inside her hollowed-out plastic mop handle—a desperate insurance policy she had never hoped to use.
On the fourth day, as the grandfather clock in the lobby struck 3:00 PM, Clara watched Julian walk out the glass doors into the misty gardens. Her heart hammered in her ears, but her hands were steady now. The fear had crystallized into a cold, hard resolve.
She walked to his office, unlocked the door with her hidden key, and slipped inside, closing it softly behind her.
She bypassed the desk search—she knew he wouldn't leave the ledger in an unlocked drawer. Instead, she went straight to the large painting of the estate hanging behind his chair. She pushed it aside, revealing a small digital safe.
Clara took a deep breath. She had watched Julian enter the code from the reflection of the window pane days before. She pressed the keys: 0-3-0-4.
The safe clicked open. Inside lay the black leather ledger. She grabbed it, stuffing it deep into the front pocket of her cleaning apron.
May you like
She was about to leave when she saw another item in the safe: a heavy brass key with the number 304 engraved on it.
Clara stared at it. She couldn't leave Sarah behind. If she exposed Julian, he would destroy everything, and Sarah would be lost in the chaos. She grabbed the key, locked the safe, realigned the painting, and slipped out of the office.
