Chapter 5: Packing Up the Past

Vespera’s POV 

The iron gates of the Falkenrath estate groaned under the weight of the autumn wind as I pushed them open.

Three hours after signing Kasimir’s cold, binding contract in his glass tower in Munich, I stood in the wild courtyard of my childhood home. Rain poured over the falling apart limestone lions flanking the entrance, washing away the last false hopes of the life I used to own.

Inside, the grand hall was already dying. Sheets of heavy linen covered the antique furniture like shrouds. Dust danced in the slivers of gray light filtering through the high tall windows. Every shadow seemed to hum with the faint memory of my father’s quick footsteps, the scrape of his fountain pen, the low rumble of his laugh before the debts ate him alive from the inside out.

I squeezed my eyes shut, holding back the burning sting behind my eyelids, and marched up the curved oak staircase toward Liesea’s room.

She was sitting up in her canopy bed, wrapped in a thick cashmere shawl, her small frame looking impossibly fragile against the mountain of pillows. Her honey blonde hair fell in soft, damp waves around her shoulders, framing a face that was far too pale, far too very pale for a girl of twenty.

"Vespera?" Her voice was soft, like dry leaves scraping across stone. She looked up from her sketchbook, her large hazel eyes instantly searching my face. "You were gone before dawn. Where have you been?"

I forced a smooth, practiced smile onto my lips, the same mask of calm appearance I had worn in Kasimir’s penthouse and sat on the edge of her mattress. I reached out, taking her thin, cold hand in mine.

"I was securing our future," I said, keeping my tone light, unhurried, reassuring. "I closed a deal this morning. A business deal between Falkenrath Real Estate and Adler Global Logistics."

Liesea froze. Her brow furrowed, a tiny line appearing between her delicate eyebrows. "Adler Global? Vespera that's Kasimir Adler's empire. The press calls him the Iron Chancellor. Father said he was a cruel, unprincipled sovereign who crushed every old family in Munich."

"Father was wrong," I lied, the words burning my throat. "Herr Adler has agreed to clear our family’s restructuring liabilities in full. More importantly, he is personally paying for your transfer to a private, highly special medical research facility in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. You’ll have twenty-four-hour care, the best physicians in Europe, and"

"And what does he get?" Liesea interrupted, her fingers tightening around mine with surprising strength. Her hazel eyes locked onto mine, sharp and unblinking. "Vespera, look at me. Men like Kasimir Adler do not save failing estates out of charity. What did you give him?"

My heart slammed against my ribs, hard and heavy. I looked away for a fraction of a second, catching my own reflection in the darkened windowpane.

"A public partnership," I murmured, smoothing back a stray strand of her hair. "A three year ear contract. The Falkenrath name gives his maritime logistics council cultural status, and his capital keeps our legacy alive. It’s business, Liesea. Pure, clean business."

"You're lying," she whispered, her voice trembling slightly. "You look different. Your posture is rigid. You're holding your breath." She leaned closer, her frail frame trembling under the cashmere shawl. "Vespera, please. Don't throw yourself into the dark to keep me breathing."

"I am not throwing myself anywhere," I insisted, cupping her cheek with my palm, feeling the terrifyingly hot flush of her mild fever against my skin. "I am protecting what is ours. We packed today. A private transport is arriving at noon to take you to the Alps."

She stared at me for a long, painful moment, sensing the iron wall I had built behind my eyes. She knew better than to push when I locked my jaw it was a stubbornness we had both inherited from our father.

"Promise me," Liesea whispered, her hazel eyes glistening with held back tears. "Promise me he isn't dangerous."

"He is a businessman," I answered smoothly, avoiding the truth. "And I am Falkenrath. Now rest while I pack your medical files."

I stood up, stepping out of her bedroom into the quiet, dim corridor. My chest felt hollowed out, scraped raw by the weight of the lie I had just fed my sister. She didn't know about the black envelope. She didn't know about the poison in our father's tea. She didn't know I had just bound myself to a man whose mismatched eyes looked at me like I was a piece of high value cargo.

I pulled my protected phone from my coat pocket to check the arrival time of the estate transport.

The screen illuminated with a single notification.

No sender number. No routing IP. Just a dark, unread email sitting in my inbox, marked three minutes ago.

I tapped the notification. The screen flickered black before displaying a single line of text in rough, plain font:

Do not step inside the Adler gates. He did not buy your debt to save you, Vespera. He bought it because your father’s killer is waiting inside his house.

My blood ran instantly cold.

Before I could process the message, the screen went completely black. A sudden, violent screech of heavy tires echoed from the courtyard below, followed by the deep, thunderous thrum of a dark helicopter descending through the rain directly over the estate.