## Chapter 4: The Truth in the Dark
The wood splintered. Emily didn't look back. She pushed the rolling ladder toward the door to block it further and scrambled toward the secret latch in the shelving. It clicked, and a narrow passage opened. She stepped inside, the smell of dust and old paper filling her lungs, and closed the panel just as the library door gave way.
Through the thin slats of the hidden door, she heard Beatrice enter. “Find her, Vanessa. She can’t have gone far. She’s slow, bloated, and weak.”
“She’s in the walls, Beatrice,” Vanessa hissed. “The old service tunnels. I told you we should have drugged her tea first.”
“Just get the signature. The notary arrives at midnight. If she hasn’t signed by then, we use the ‘unfortunate accident’ protocol. I won’t have her ruining the Sterling name any longer.”
Emily’s blood ran cold. A notary? They had someone coming to legitimize this theft. She realized then that David wasn't in London. He couldn't be. He would have called. He would have sensed something was wrong.
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As she moved through the dark passage, her hand brushed against a cold metal box. She pulled it down. It was David’s old laptop, the one he used for gaming and private projects. She flipped the lid. The screen glowed, momentarily blinding her. It was still logged into his cloud account.
Her eyes widened as she saw the most recent synced files. They weren't business contracts. They were recordings. Audio files from the house's security system—the one David had told her he’d disabled to give them privacy. He hadn't disabled it. He had redirected it to his private server. He knew what his mother was capable of.
