CHAPTER 6 — BENEATH THE HARBOR

The tunnel was narrow and wet.

Elena heard Richard ahead of her, moving quickly despite his age.

She followed the sound until the passage opened into a hidden boathouse beneath the cliffs.

Moonlight spilled across the water.

A black speedboat waited beside the dock.

Richard was already climbing aboard.

Elena picked up a rusted metal hook.

“Stop.”

Richard turned.

“You’re risking your life for people who would replace you tomorrow.”

“I’m doing it for Oliver.”

“You barely know him.”

“I know what it feels like to lose a parent.”

Richard started the engine.

Elena jumped onto the dock and grabbed the mooring rope.

The boat pulled against it.

Richard accelerated.

The rope burned through Elena’s palms.

She refused to release it.

The boat swung sideways and struck the dock.

Richard fell against the controls.

Elena climbed aboard.

He recovered quickly and struck her across the face.

She fell.

Richard grabbed the metal hook.

“You should have stayed poor and invisible.”

Before he could swing, Oliver’s voice echoed from the tunnel.

“Elena!”

Richard turned.

Nathaniel stood at the entrance with Oliver behind him.

“Let her go,” Nathaniel said.

Richard laughed bitterly.

“You still think you’re the hero?”

“No.”

Nathaniel stepped closer.

“I’m the son who spent his entire life being afraid of you.”

He climbed onto the boat.

Richard raised the hook.

Nathaniel caught his arm.

The two men struggled.

The boat shifted violently.

Richard lost his balance and fell into the harbor.

For one terrible moment, nobody moved.

Nathaniel reached for him.

Richard slapped his hand away.

“I don’t need you!”

The current pulled him beneath the dock.

Nathaniel jumped into the water anyway.

Elena found a life ring and threw it toward them.

Nathaniel caught his father and dragged him to the ladder.

Police officers entered the boathouse moments later.

Richard Hawthorne was pulled from the water in handcuffs.

He stared at Nathaniel with contempt.

“You should have let me drown.”

Nathaniel looked toward Oliver.

“No child should have to watch his father make that choice.”

Richard was taken away.

Calvin and the second guard were arrested inside the mansion.

Margaret survived her gunshot wound and agreed to cooperate in exchange for a reduced sentence.

She gave investigators years of financial records, names, recordings, and offshore account details.

But the victory came at a cost.

Evelyn’s condition worsened before paramedics could reach her.

She was rushed to the hospital.

Nathaniel and Oliver followed in the ambulance.

Elena remained behind, wrapped in a blanket as police searched the estate.

At sunrise, an officer approached her.

“Miss Reyes?”

“Yes?”

“You should come to the hospital.”

Her heart sank.

“Is Evelyn—”

“It’s not Mrs. Hawthorne.”

He handed Elena her phone.

May you like

The housekeeper was supposed to be invisible. Instead, Sophia Hale becam...

The housekeeper was supposed to be invisible. Instead, Sophia Hale became the only person who could expose a massive conspiracy in...

My Husband Hit Me at Dinner—Then His Sister-in-Law Whispered, “Tell the...

"“You and Adrian can rent somewhere smaller,” he said. “A young married couple does not need two bedrooms.” Several relatives nodd...

A federal judge thought his power could cover up a murder. He didn't exp...

"A federal judge thought his power could cover up a murder. He didn't expect her to survive the 20-foot fall. ⚖️🩸The pristine whi...

There were twelve missed calls from Bridgeport Medical Center.

Her mother had collapsed during the night.