Chapter 39 - THE BLOOD TEST
In the dark, the only sound was the hissing of escaping freon and the ragged, shallow breathing of four human beings.
"Mia," I whispered, feeling my way through the pitch black toward the center of the room. "Mia, speak to me."
"I'm here," she cried quietly from three feet away. "My hands... Clara, I can't untie them."
I reached out, my fingers finding the coarse nylon ropes binding her wrists. I worked blindly, tearing my fingernails against the double knots until the fibers loosened. She collapsed into my arms, trembling so violently her teeth rattled.
"Stay down," I breathed against her hair. "Hayes, where are you?"
Silence.
Then, from the darkness near the exit corridor, came the slow, steady clicking of a lighter.
A small, flickering yellow flame blossomed in the dark.
Julian Vance stood in the doorway. His face was blackened with soot, his shirt torn away, the cold gas frosting on his skin. He held an ordinary disposable lighter in his left hand.
In his right hand, he held a flare launcher—loaded, armed, and aimed directly at the ruptured hydrogen line running along the floor.
"Do you know why Vanessa Sinclair hated Mia so much?" Julian asked, his voice low, vibrating with an eerie, calm madness. "Do you think it was because Mia was poor? Because she wore clothes from thrift bins?"
He laughed—a short, jagged bark of amusement.
"Vanessa wasn't the heiress," Julian said, the flame flickering across his bloodshot eyes. "The real Vanessa Sinclair died at birth. The Sinclair family adopted a surrogate child to maintain their trust fund rights. Mia’s mother was the surrogate. Mia is the biological heir to every single patent, every dollar, every square foot of land the Sinclair Corporation owns."
Mia froze beside me, her breath catching in her throat.
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"Vanessa’s entire life was a lie built on Mia’s stolen name," Julian continued, stepping forward. "That day in the auditorium... when Vanessa tore that dress... it was a desperate, panicked attempt to intimidate the true daughter into silence before the inheritance audit began. But you, Clara... you had to comfort her. You had to look closer. You had to uncover the ghost."
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