Chapter 5 - The Lost Sister|
Elena felt her stomach drop into a cold, dark void.
Sarah.
She remembered the name. Eight years ago, before Elena started working for Carter Enterprises, the news had been dominated by the sudden disappearance of Sarah Carter—Alexander’s brilliant younger sister and the chief architect who had designed this very skyscraper.
The official police report concluded that Sarah had fallen overboard from a private yacht during a storm off the coast of Maine. Her body was never recovered. Alexander had inherited her entire fortune, her patents, and her share of the family business.
Elena looked down at Sofie. Her daughter was staring at the silver swan music box inside the vault, her small eyes bright with a strange, hypnotic familiarity.
"She knew," Alexander murmured, turning around slowly to face Elena. "Sarah designed the vault's mechanical bypass. She told me she built a hidden fail-safe into the titanium seam—a mechanical release designed to respond to the pressure of a specific, customized magnetic ring she always wore."
Alexander walked over to Elena, stopping two feet away. He looked down at Sofie’s small hands.
On Sofie’s thumb sat a cheap, plastic ring from a gumball machine—a green, glowing cat ring her mother had bought her at the laundromat three weeks ago.
"Show me the ring," Alexander demanded.
Elena held Sofie’s hand back instinctively. "It’s just a toy, Mr. Carter! I bought it for fifty cents!"
Marcus stepped forward, pulling a small handheld scanner from his jacket. He ran it over Sofie’s plastic ring.
The device beeped twice.
"It’s not plastic, Boss," Marcus revealed, his voice filled with shock. "It’s a neodymium core coated in painted resin. The magnetic signature matches Sarah’s original design frequency."
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Alexander stared at the toy ring, then looked up into Elena’s eyes, his expression turning terrifyingly cold.
"Where did you get that ring, Elena?" Alexander asked softly. "Because my sister was wearing it the night she drowned."
