Chapter 12: She Thought She Ruled This Mansion—Until the Door Swung Open and Her Worst Nightmare Stepped Inside
Chapter 12: The Flight to Switzerland
No one moved.
The monitors had gone dark.
Yet the image of the seventeen-year-old girl remained etched into every mind in the room.
Sebastian stared at his own reflection in the black screen.
His eldest daughter.
Alive.
Only a few hundred miles away.
"So close..."
His voice barely rose above a whisper.
Olivia reached for his hand.
"We're going to bring her home."
Emily stood silently beside Oliver.
Neither of them knew what to feel.
They had spent less than a day discovering they were brother and sister.
Now they had learned there was another sister.
One who had never known them.
Oliver finally spoke.
"What's her name?"
The question echoed through the underground chamber.
No one answered.
Because no one knew.
Ryan Mercer broke the silence.
"We don't have much time."
He looked around the hidden library.
"If the Woman in White could access these systems once..."
"...she can do it again."
Sebastian nodded.
"We leave immediately."
Mrs. Harper looked toward the steel door.
"And go where?"
"Switzerland."
Ryan frowned.
"Commercial flights are impossible."
"They'll be watching every airport."
Sebastian smiled faintly.
"My family stopped relying on commercial flights a long time ago."
He reached beneath William Blackwood's desk.
His fingers found a hidden switch.
With a soft click, another compartment opened.
Inside rested a satellite phone.
An old leather notebook.
And a single metal key engraved with a falcon.
Sebastian picked up the phone.
There was only one contact.
Hawthorne
He pressed the call button.
The line connected immediately.
A calm, elderly voice answered.
"I wondered when you'd call."
Sebastian smiled for the first time that day.
"It's been a long time."
"Far too long."
Ryan looked puzzled.
"Who is this?"
The voice chuckled.
"A friend of your father's."
Sebastian's expression softened.
"Arthur..."
"It's good to hear your voice."
Arthur Hawthorne laughed quietly.
"I was beginning to think you'd keep your father waiting forever."
Sebastian frowned.
"My father is dead."
A pause.
"That's what everyone believes."
The line went silent.
Sebastian slowly lowered the phone.
"What did you just say?"
Arthur repeated himself.
"I said..."
"...that's what everyone believes."
The call ended.
No explanation.
Only silence.
Six thousand miles away...
Snow drifted gently across the Swiss Alps.
Inside Saint Aldwyn Academy, students crossed the stone courtyard on their way to afternoon classes.
The seventeen-year-old girl walked alone.
A book rested beneath her arm.
She stopped beside the frozen lake.
She came here every day.
Always at exactly three o'clock.
Always alone.
An elderly groundskeeper approached with a warm smile.
"Still reading by the water, Miss Rowan?"
She smiled politely.
"It's quiet here."
The old man nodded.
"It suits you."
As he walked away, she reached into her coat pocket.
She removed an old silver locket.
Half of it.
The broken edge looked as though another piece had once fit beside it.
She had worn it for as long as she could remember.
No one had ever explained where it came from.
Or who had given it to her.
Behind the academy's tall iron fence...
A black sedan watched silently.
Inside sat two men.
"The family's moving."
The driver nodded.
"We have confirmation."
"What about the girl?"
The passenger looked through binoculars.
"She suspects nothing."
The driver smiled.
"Keep it that way."
Back beneath Blackwood Estate...
Ryan was examining William Blackwood's leather notebook.
Most of its pages were filled with names.
Dates.
Coordinates.
Cryptic symbols.
Then something caught his attention.
"Sebastian."
"What?"
Ryan turned the notebook around.
"There are three photographs tucked into the back cover."
Sebastian took them carefully.
The first showed himself and Olivia on their wedding day.
The second showed baby Oliver asleep in his crib.
The third...
His hands began to tremble.
It showed William Blackwood standing beside a little girl of about five years old.
Dark hair.
Green eyes.
The same girl they had just seen on the monitor.
William was smiling.
The little girl was laughing.
On the back of the photograph, William had written only six words.
My granddaughter deserves the truth.
Olivia stared.
"He found her."
Ryan nodded slowly.
"Years ago."
Sebastian's breathing became uneven.
"My father knew where she was."
Mrs. Harper looked confused.
"Then why didn't he bring her home?"
Ryan opened the notebook again.
A folded letter slipped onto the desk.
It was addressed to Sebastian.
Still sealed.
His hands shook as he opened it.
Inside, William's handwriting was unmistakable.
My son,
If you are reading this, I am gone.
You will be tempted to rescue your daughter immediately.
Do not make that mistake.
She is safer where she is—for now.
There are people watching her every moment.
If they discover she knows who she truly is, she will die.
Trust no one.
Not even those who claim to protect you.
Especially them.
When the time comes, she will find you.
Not the other way around.
—Father
The room fell silent.
Emily looked at Sebastian.
"So Grandpa wanted us to wait?"
Sebastian folded the letter carefully.
"My father never asked for blind obedience."
He looked at Olivia.
"He asked for judgment."
Olivia nodded.
"And right now..."
"...our daughter doesn't even know she's in danger."
Ryan suddenly stiffened.
"Wait."
He pointed toward the notebook.
"There are initials written beside every name."
Sebastian leaned closer.
"What initials?"
"W.B."
"William Blackwood?"
Ryan shook his head.
"No."
He turned another page.
There, written beside dozens of entries, were two different sets of initials.
W.B.
And...
E.R.
Olivia frowned.
"Dr. Elias Rowan."
Ryan nodded.
"They worked together."
Before anyone could respond—
The satellite phone rang.
Everyone froze.
Sebastian answered cautiously.
"Yes?"
A young woman's frightened voice came through the speaker.
"I... I found your number inside my grandfather's journal."
Sebastian looked confused.
"Who is this?"
There was a long pause.
Then she answered.
"My name is..."
The sound of shattering glass interrupted her.
Men shouted in the background.
The girl screamed.
"Please!"
The line filled with static.
Sebastian's heart pounded.
"Where are you?"
The voice returned for one final second.
"They're taking me—"
The call cut off.
Silence.
Ryan stared at the phone.
"Was that...?"
Sebastian slowly lowered it.
His face had turned pale.
"That was our daughter."
At that exact moment, thousands of miles away, masked men forced the seventeen-year-old girl into a black vehicle outside Saint Aldwyn Academy.
As the car sped through the snow, her silver half-locket slipped from her hand and fell unnoticed onto the white ground.
The elderly groundskeeper rushed outside moments later.
He picked up the broken locket.
Then quietly smiled.
When he straightened, his posture changed completely.
Older.
Sharper.
Nothing like a simple groundskeeper.
He reached into his coat and spoke into a concealed radio.
"They've made their move."
A familiar voice answered.
"Then it's time."
The old man removed his wool cap.
Beneath it, hidden for years from the world...
Was the unmistakable face of Arthur Hawthorne.
William Blackwood's oldest friend.
May you like
And the man who had secretly watched over Sebastian's missing daughter for the last seventeen years.
To Be Continued...
