Chapter 9 - The Hidden Safe
Clara had slipped back into her room, her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird. She knew that arguing with Richard was useless. He controlled the guards at the gate, the house staff, and the family bank accounts. If she made a single wrong move, he would lock her in her room immediately.
She needed the one thing Richard had been searching for since Arthur Vance died: her father’s original, unedited primary ledger and real estate trust documents.
Arthur Vance was a cautious man. He had never trusted Richard. Before he passed, Arthur had placed a small, hidden safe inside the base of the massive grandfather clock in the study—a secret only Clara knew.
While Richard stepped out to take a private meeting in the garden, Clara snuck into the study. With shaking fingers, she moved the heavy wooden pendulum, keyed in her birthdate into the hidden mechanical lock, and pulled the safe door open. Inside lay a thick leather binder, a set of master keycards to every flagship Vance hotel, and an audio recorder left by her father.
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She didn't have time to listen to the recording. She grabbed the binder, stuffed it into her leather handbag, and grabbed the plush bunny her daughter loved.
👉 Just as her fingers wrapped around the strap of her bag, the study door clicked open, and heavy footsteps echoed across the hardwood floor.
