Chapter 15 - The Unbroken Shadow
Ethan stood up from his desk, his jaw tightening as he stared at the crest on the yellowed paper. The rage that had filled him on the terrace returned, deeper and far more dangerous than before. Claire had not been working alone; she had been funded and guided by someone inside his own family who stood to inherit the Carrington estate if both Ethan and Lily were removed from the bloodline.
The door to the library opened softly, and Lily walked in, holding her brown teddy bear by its paw. She looked at her father standing near the window, her sharp blue eyes catching the pale look on his face.
She walked over to the desk, her small fingers touching the edge of the open London ledger. She didn't look surprised or confused; she looked up at Ethan with a calm, knowing expression that echoed her mother's fierce intelligence.
"Uncle Marcus called today while you were on the terrace, Daddy," Lily said softly, her small voice carrying an unnatural weight through the quiet room. "He asked if I still had the silver key."
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Ethan looked down at his daughter, his heart pounding in his chest as he realized the game was far from over. He reached out, taking Lily's small hand in his, his grip firm and unyielding as he looked toward the horizon.
Lily smiled a sweet, secretive smile, flipping open the small silver locket hanging beneath her collar to reveal a second, smaller key hidden inside—a key stamped with the number 18.
