Chapter 6 - THE INTRUDERS
The heavy oak doors of the mansion's rear entrance splintered open. Footsteps echoed in the dark.
Victoria Ashford stepped into the grand hallway, accompanied by a tall, heavily armed man. It was the estate manager who had supposedly gone home early the night Grace was tortured. He had been on Victoria's payroll all along.
"Find the boy," Victoria hissed, her voice dripping with malice. "If we have the boy, the maid will hand over the flash drive with the original contract. Vance needs it destroyed before the SEC raids his offices tomorrow morning."
Grace, hiding with Noah in a dumbwaiter shaft just behind the kitchen walls, clapped a hand over her own mouth to stifle a sob. She hadn't told Nathaniel everything. The night she found the papers, she had slipped a small USB drive into her pocket. It was the absolute proof of Victoria's treason.
She had been too afraid to mention it, fearing Victoria would kill her if she knew it was gone. Now, Victoria knew.
"Stay here," Grace whispered into Noah's ear, kissing his forehead. "Do not make a sound, no matter what you hear."
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"Mom, don't leave me," Noah pleaded quietly.
"I have to fix this," she said, her eyes fierce. Grace slipped out of the hidden corridor and began moving through the shadows, heading toward Nathaniel's study. She needed to give him the drive.
