At my birthday party, my husband tied me to a ceiling beam and whipped me thirty times because…..

Then a man’s voice came through.
Calm.
Deep.
“Hello, Flora.”
My blood turned cold.
Victor Hale.
“You’ve made this much more complicated than it needed to be.”
I gripped the phone.
“If you touch her—”
He laughed softly.
“I’ve been touching your family’s life for twenty-seven years.”
Noah moved closer to the phone.
“You’re dead.”
Victor laughed again.
“Noah Sterling. Still impulsive.”
Noah’s face changed.
Victor knew him.
Personally.
Caleb’s eyes narrowed.
He was still working on the trace.
Victor continued.
“Flora, your mother is alive because I allowed it.”
I felt sick.
“She belongs with us.”
“Then come take her.”
Caleb immediately shook his head.
Trap.
I knew.
Victor knew I knew.
“That’s what you want.”
“Very good.”
His tone almost sounded approving.
“You really are Eleanor’s daughter.”
Then his voice hardened.
“Bring Arthur Vance.”
Arthur stopped breathing.
I looked at him.
Victor continued.
“Bring him alone with you.”
“No.”
“Then your mother dies before sunrise.”
Noah reached for the phone.
I pulled it away.
“Why Arthur?”
Victor went silent.
Then he said something that made Arthur grab the nearest chair for support.
“Because Arthur knows who killed your father.”
The call ended.
Nobody moved.
I slowly lowered the phone.
Noah turned toward Arthur.
Our father had died twelve years ago from what doctors called a sudden heart attack.
At least, that was what we had always believed.
Noah walked toward Arthur.
“Start talking.”
Arthur looked at all six of us.
Then at Wendy.
His face collapsed.
“I hoped this would die with me.”
My voice came out cold.
“What?”
Arthur whispered, “Your father didn’t have a heart attack.”
Noah grabbed him by the jacket.
“What happened?”
Arthur looked directly at me.
“He was poisoned.”
The room disappeared around me.
“And you knew?”
Arthur nodded once.
“For twelve years.”
Noah tightened his grip.
“Who killed him?”
Arthur closed his eyes.
Then whispered:
“Your mother.”

Noah released Arthur so suddenly that the older man nearly fell backward.
Nobody spoke.
Nobody seemed capable of it.
I stared at Arthur.
“My mother killed my father?”
Arthur lowered his eyes.
“That is what I was told.”
The distinction mattered.
Marcus caught it immediately.
“Told by whom?”
Arthur looked toward him.
“Victor.”
Caleb let out a cold breath.
“So your entire claim comes from the man currently holding Eleanor?”
Arthur said nothing.
Noah stepped closer again.
“You kept that secret for twelve years based on Victor Hale’s word?”
“No.”
Arthur rubbed his face.
“There was evidence.”
Julian’s voice became sharp.
“What evidence?”
Arthur hesitated.
“Your father’s toxicology report.”
My heart lurched.
“We were told there was no autopsy.”
“There was.”
Noah stared at him.
“Who suppressed it?”
Arthur’s silence answered first.
Then he whispered, “Victor.”
I felt anger rise so fast it almost made me dizzy.
“So Victor told you my mother poisoned my father, then hid the report proving my father was poisoned?”
“Yes.”
“And you believed him?”
Arthur looked at me.
“At the time, yes.”
“Why?”
“Because your mother had returned.”
The room froze.
I stopped breathing.
“What did you say?”
Arthur looked toward Noah.
“Eleanor came back twelve years ago.”
Noah’s face went blank.
“No.”
“She contacted me three days before your father died.”
My brothers stared at him.
I could hear my own heartbeat.
“You saw her?”
Arthur nodded.
“Once.”
“Where?”
“At an abandoned Sterling warehouse outside Newark.”
Caleb immediately asked, “Which one?”
Arthur gave him an address.
Caleb typed it into his phone.
Marcus asked, “Why would she contact you after hiding for fifteen years?”
Arthur looked at me.
“She said she had finally found enough evidence to expose Victor.”
Noah’s voice cracked.
“Then why didn’t she come home?”
Arthur looked ashamed.
“She believed Victor had someone inside the family.”
That sentence returned.
Someone inside the family.
I hated how easily it poisoned the air between us.
Leo paced toward the windows.
“So Mom comes back. Meets Arthur. Dad dies three days later.”
Arthur nodded.
“And then she disappears again.”
“Yes.”
Julian folded his arms.
“What did Victor show you?”
“A video.”
My stomach tightened.
“What video?”
Arthur swallowed.
“Eleanor entering your father’s study the night before he died.”
Noah shook his head.
“That proves nothing.”
Arthur continued.
“She was carrying a small vial.”
Silence.
My mind immediately searched for excuses.
Medicine.
Evidence.
Anything.
Marcus asked, “Did the footage show her putting anything in his food or drink?”
“No.”
“So it proved nothing.”
Arthur looked at him.
“Not by itself.”
“What else?”
“A letter.”
Caleb looked up.
“From Eleanor?”
Arthur nodded.
“What did it say?”
Arthur looked directly at me.
“She wrote that your father had become too dangerous to protect.”
Noah laughed bitterly.
“Convenient.”
I stepped closer.
“Do you still have it?”
“No.”
“Of course.”
“Victor took it.”
Noah cursed.
Caleb spoke quietly.
“Victor controlled every piece of evidence.”
Arthur nodded.
I stared at him.
“And somehow you never found that suspicious.”
“I did.”
“When?”
Arthur’s eyes hardened with regret.
“Too late.”
Before I could respond, Caleb’s phone buzzed.
He looked down.
Then again.
And again.
His expression changed.
“What?” I asked.
“The call trace.”
Everyone turned toward him.
He held up the screen.
“The call didn’t come from Connecticut.”
My stomach dropped.
Noah stepped forward.
“Where?”
Caleb looked at me.