Chapter 26 - The locked manor
The wrought-iron gates of the Weston ancestral manor hung crookedly against the damp sea fog of the Rhode Island coastline. Ivy had choked the stone lions flanking the driveway, and the towering Gothic gables rose against the night sky like jagged teeth.
Evelyn killed the sedan's headlights half a mile down the coastal road. The four of them moved through the dense pine grove on foot, the cold ocean spray misting their faces.
"There are infrared perimeter sensors along the terrace," Garrett whispered, scanning the dark perimeter with an old night-vision tracker Marcus had supplied before the blast. "Arthur kept the security system active, but he kept it analog. He didn't want any cloud servers logging access."
"My father built this house," Margaret said, her voice steady and proud as she led them toward a service cellar entrance hidden beneath an overgrown boxwood hedge. "Arthur may own the guards, but he never knew how the servants moved through these walls."
She pressed a moss-covered flagstone near the cellar drain. A soft mechanical click echoed beneath their feet, and a heavy wooden door swung inward on greased brass hinges.
They stepped inside. The air was dry and smelled of cedar, aged leather, and dried lavender. It was completely untouched by modern renovation—a preserved tomb of the late nineties.
Maya walked through the corridors of her stolen childhood, looking at the framed black-and-white portraits along the wallpapered hallway. In one portrait, a handsome man with Garrett's jawline and Maya’s warm brown eyes stood smiling beside a glowing young Margaret holding an empty wicker crib.
"Your father waited for you every night in his library," Margaret whispered, touching Maya’s cheek. "Even when Vance told him the crib was empty, he refused to sell this estate. He told Arthur that truth is patient, and that home must always be ready."
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Suddenly, the hum of an emergency generator rattled through the floorboards.
👉 The overhead crystal chandeliers flickered on, bathing the library in brilliant light as a shadow stepped out from behind the heavy velvet drapes.
