Chapter 5 - The Sister in the Shadows
The truth spilled out in the dark, a horrifying confession masked by the sound of the crashing waves outside.
"Seraphina was the golden child," Clara whispered, pulling her knees to her chest. "She was the heir to the Vanguard empire. Bright, charismatic, perfect. I was... the spare. I had severe anxiety. I didn't fit the corporate image. They kept me hidden at boarding schools."
"What happened to her?" Maya asked, horrified.
"Two years ago, the night before the company's massive IPO launch, Arthur came home drunk," Clara said, her voice shaking. "Seraphina ran out to the driveway to greet him. He didn't see her in the dark. He backed over her. He crushed her."
Maya covered her mouth to muffle a gasp.
"If the press found out the CEO killed his own daughter the night before taking the company public, the stock would have tanked. He would have gone to prison," Clara continued, her eyes hollow. "So, Eleanor called a private doctor. They buried Seraphina in the foundation of the new pool house. And then, they pulled me out of boarding school."
"They forced you to become her," Maya realized, nausea twisting her stomach.
"I look exactly like her. But I couldn't act like her. I kept crying. I kept trying to tell the staff. So, they locked me in the West Wing. They diagnosed 'Seraphina' with a sudden neurological disorder to explain why she disappeared from public life. They keep me drugged so I don't fight back, and they hire tutors to make it look like she's still being educated."
Maya reached out and grabbed Clara's trembling hands. "The tutor before me... Sarah. Did she find out?"
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"Sarah found Seraphina's real medical records on Arthur's private server," Clara cried. "Arthur caught her in his office. I heard her screaming. Then I never saw her again."
Maya's heart hammered against her ribs. She was standing in the middle of a multi-billion dollar murder cover-up.
