Chapter 20 - The War for AriaI was inside the armored SUV before Richard could finish speaking.
“Get me home!”
The convoy tore through downtown Seattle.
My security director spoke through the vehicle's encrypted communication system.
“Perimeter breach confirmed at 8:17 PM. One individual entered through the eastern service boundary.”
“Where is my daughter?”
“Safe room.”
“My mother?”
“With her.”
I finally breathed.
“Suspect?”
“Still inside the property.”
When we arrived, floodlights illuminated the entire estate.
Security teams moved through the gardens.
I ran upstairs.
My mother opened the reinforced safe-room door.
Aria was asleep against her chest.
I took my daughter into my arms and held her so tightly that she stirred.
“It's okay,” I whispered.
But it wasn't.
Someone had entered my home.
Again.
Twenty minutes later, security found the intruder.
He hadn't tried to reach Aria.
He had entered my father's private study.
And left something behind.
Another envelope.
Inside was a flash drive.
Parker connected it to an isolated computer.
One video file appeared.
The footage showed a younger Daniel Vale sitting inside what looked like a motel room.
The timestamp read December 1994.
Daniel stared directly into the camera.
“If you're watching this, something has happened to me.”
Adrian moved closer to the screen.
Daniel continued.
“Arthur Sterling is not responsible.”
My father closed his eyes.
“But Richard Crawford isn't acting alone.”
The room became completely silent.
“There is someone inside Sterling & Vale feeding him information.”
Daniel lifted a document toward the camera.
A name was visible at the bottom.
My mother gasped.
My father stumbled backward.
I stared at the signature.
It belonged to someone I had known my entire life.
Someone who had stood beside me through Dominic's downfall.
Someone who had handled my annulment.
Someone who had access to our trusts.
Our security.
Our private records.
Parker.
I slowly turned around.
The chair behind us was empty.
Parker was gone.
My phone vibrated.
One message.
You should have left the past buried, cousin.
Then another.
A photograph loaded.
Parker stood beside a private jet.
And beside him was a woman I immediately recognized.
Eleanor Albright.
Dominic's mother.
My blood ran cold.
The final message appeared.
THIS WAS NEVER ABOUT DOMINIC.
IT WAS ABOUT YOU.
I looked down at Aria sleeping peacefully in my arms.
For the first time, I understood the true scale of the war that had begun.
Dominic had merely been the opening act.
My family's enemies had been waiting decades.
And now they had finally stepped out of the shadows.
I kissed my daughter's forehead and looked toward my father.
“Lock every Sterling account.”
My father stared at me.
“All of them?”
“All of them.”
I handed Aria gently to my mother.
Then I turned toward the windows, where dawn was beginning to break over Seattle.
“Parker wanted a war.”
I picked up my phone.
May you like
“Let's show him what happens when someone declares war on a Sterling.”
To be continued.
