CHAPTER 40: Richard Thorne

The applause continued.

Slow.

Deliberate.

Mocking.

Smoke drifted thickly through the underground chamber while pieces of burning debris crashed somewhere above them. The hidden room trembled beneath the weight of the dying estate.

Yet somehow the man’s voice cut through all of it with terrifying calm.

“It took all of you remarkably long to figure it out.”

Aria’s pulse slammed against her ribs.

Ethan stepped in front of her instinctively while Daniel swung the flashlight toward the darkness beyond the shelves.

A figure slowly emerged through the smoke.

Tall.

Gray-haired.

Elegant despite the chaos surrounding him.

The same man from the old photograph.

Only older now.

Alive.

Richard Thorne smiled faintly as he stepped into the flashlight beam.

“Well,” he said smoothly, “this is emotional.”

Victor’s face went completely cold.

“You should be dead.”

Richard chuckled softly.

“A popular opinion lately.”

Daniel raised his weapon immediately.

Richard barely looked at it.

“That would be unwise in a room full of unstable gas lines and collapsing fire damage.”

Daniel didn’t lower the gun.

“I’m comfortable with unwise.”

Under different circumstances, Aria might have laughed.

Instead, terror crawled slowly through her stomach.

Because Richard didn’t look afraid.

At all.

He looked prepared.

Like this moment had been waiting for him rather than surprising him.

Ethan’s voice turned razor-sharp.

“You killed my father.”

Richard’s gaze shifted toward him with mild interest.

“Eventually, yes.”

The bluntness of the answer stunned the room silent.

Even Victor looked unsettled.

Aria felt sick instantly.

Richard sighed lightly, almost bored by the tension surrounding him.

“Your father became difficult near the end.” His eyes flicked briefly toward Eva. “Compassion tends to complicate intelligent men.”

Ethan moved before anyone could stop him.

Fast.

Violent.

But Victor grabbed him hard before he could reach Richard.

“Don’t.”

Ethan nearly shoved him off.

“He murdered my father.”

“And if you attack him blindly, you’ll get all of us killed.”

Richard smiled slightly.

“There’s the Victor Hale I remember. Still the only man in the room capable of thinking while angry.”

Victor’s expression darkened dangerously.

“I should’ve killed you years ago.”

Richard tilted his head faintly.

“But you didn’t know.” He spread his hands casually. “That’s always been your weakness, Victor. You only see the threats standing directly in front of you.”

Aria watched the exchange carefully.

And suddenly understood something chilling.

Victor had never been the mastermind.

He’d been a weapon pointed in the wrong direction for twenty years.

Obsessive.

Controlling.

Dangerous.

But manipulated too.

Richard’s eyes shifted toward Aria then.

And for the first time since appearing, genuine interest crossed his face.

“There she is.”

Aria’s stomach tightened instantly.

The way he looked at her felt wrong.

Calculating.

Like someone evaluating the final piece of a puzzle.

“You caused the accident,” she said quietly.

Richard gave a faint shrug.

“I adjusted circumstances.”

“You killed people.”

“I protected investments.”

The casual cruelty in his tone chilled the entire room.

Eva looked pale with fury.

“You murdered innocent people to hide financial crimes?”

Richard laughed softly.

“My dear, people kill for far less impressive reasons every day.”

Ethan’s voice lowered dangerously.

“Why hunt her afterward?”

Richard’s gaze returned to Aria.

“Because survivors create loose ends.”

The answer hit like ice water.

Aria felt Ethan tense beside her.

Richard noticed immediately.

Interesting, that look seemed to say.

Then he smiled again.

“But apparently she inherited more resilience than expected.”

Victor took one slow step forward.

“You burned the house.”

Richard’s expression barely changed.

“No,” he said calmly. “Your daughter did.”

Silence crashed into the chamber.

Aria stared at him.

“What?”

Richard sighed dramatically.

“She’s upstairs.”

The words detonated through the room.

Eva went white instantly.

“No.”

Richard looked mildly amused by their reactions.

“She’s become rather theatrical over the years.”

Ethan’s voice sharpened.

“Isabella.”

Richard nodded.

“She set the east wing on fire after trying to access the archives.” He smiled faintly. “Unfortunately for her, she underestimated how unstable old estates become.”

Aria’s pulse hammered painfully.

“She’s alive?”

“For now.”

Before anyone could react, another violent tremor shook the underground chamber.

Stone cracked overhead.

Dust exploded downward.

Daniel looked upward sharply.

“We’re out. Right now.”

Richard remained perfectly calm.

“You should listen to him.”

Ethan’s eyes narrowed dangerously.

“You’re not leaving here.”

Richard smiled almost kindly.

“That’s optimistic.”

Then suddenly the lights flickered out completely.

Darkness swallowed the chamber.

Aria heard movement instantly.

Fast movement.

“Damn it!” Daniel shouted.

Flashlights swung wildly through smoke and shadows.

A loud metallic crash echoed nearby.

Then a gunshot exploded through the darkness.

Aria flinched violently.

Someone cursed.

Another crash thundered overhead as part of the ceiling collapsed near the staircase entrance.

Smoke thickened instantly.

“Everyone move!” Daniel barked.

Ethan grabbed Aria’s hand immediately.

“This way.”

Chaos erupted around them.

Flashes of light.

Falling debris.

Heat surging through underground corridors as the fire finally began reaching the lower level.

Aria coughed hard against the smoke while Ethan guided her through the chamber.

Behind them, Victor shouted something she couldn’t hear properly over the roar collapsing around them.

Then suddenly Eva stopped moving.

Aria turned sharply.

“What happened?”

Eva stared toward the darkness near the shelves.

Frozen.

Heartbroken.

At first Aria thought she’d seen Richard.

Then she saw it too.

A figure standing motionless through the smoke beyond the piano.

Female.

Watching them.

Silver crescent moon necklace glinting faintly beneath the firelight.

Aria stopped breathing.

Isabella.

For one suspended second, nobody moved.

The sisters stared at each other across twenty years of ruin and smoke.

And Isabella smiled.