Chapter 7 - THE SISTER WHO CAME HOME
Dorcas had never heard Mason mention a sister.
“She lives in London,” he said.
“Why?”
“Because she hates me.”
Claire arrived the next afternoon.
Thirty-eight.
Elegant.
Brilliant.
And furious.
She slapped Mason before taking off her coat.
Dorcas liked her immediately.
“You let Victor run our father's company for twenty years!”
“I didn't know.”
“You never wanted to know!”
Mason absorbed it.
Old Mason would have retaliated.
This Mason said, “You're right.”
Claire froze.
“What?”
“I should have questioned him.”
That ruined the argument.
Claire stared at Dorcas.
“What did you do to him?”
“Fed him.”
Claire laughed.
It was the first crack.
But she denied drugging anyone.
“I came back twice this year because Mother told me she was frightened.”
“Why didn't she tell me?” Mason asked.
Claire gave him a sad look.
“Because she was frightened of you too.”
That hurt worse.
Eleanor later confirmed it.
“You love fiercely,” she told her son. “But fear made your love feel like a locked door.”
Mason sat beside her.
“I'm sorry.”
Eleanor's eyes filled.
Twenty years.
That was how long she had waited to hear him say those words without being forced.
She touched his face.
“I know.”
Claire had not poisoned them.
But she knew who might have.
Graham Pike.
Security chief.
And Victor Hale's secret son.
Pike disappeared before police reached his apartment.
The conspiracy's final piece was still free.
That night, Dorcas found Mason sitting alone.
“I'm tired,” he said.
“Then sleep.”
“What if I wake up and something has happened?”
“I'll wake you.”
“What if something happens to you?”
“Then I'll yell loudly.”
He smiled.
Dorcas took his hand.
“Mason, being afraid doesn't make bad things stop happening.”
“I know.”
“It only makes you miss the good things happening now.”
He looked at her.
“What good things?”
She kissed him.
“That.”
For the first time in years, Mason slept eight hours.
When he woke, Dorcas was gone.
Her pillow was empty.
The bedroom door stood open.
Downstairs, the kitchen was destroyed.
A chair overturned.
Broken glass.
Blood on the floor.
Mason stopped breathing.
Then his phone rang.
Graham Pike's voice said:
“You have something that belongs to me.”
Mason's voice became deadly.
“What?”
May you like
“My father's company.”
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