Chapter 32 - The Manor of Secrets
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The Rolls-Royce glided through the iron gates of Sterling Manor, an imposing Elizabethan estate surrounded by rolling green hills, manicured hedges, and ancient oak trees wrapped in morning fog.
It looked less like a home and more like a fortress built to withstand centuries of war.
Julian escorted us through towering mahogany doors into a massive grand hall lined with oil portraits of past Sterling ancestors. At the far end of the hall, seated in a high-backed leather wheelchair near a roaring stone fireplace, was an elderly man.
He wore a tailored tweed suit, his silver hair neatly combed back. But it was his face that made my heart leap into my throat—he had my father's exact piercing blue eyes and sharp jawline.
"Lydia..." Lord Alistair Sterling spoke, his voice deep, gravelly, and rich with emotion. He wheeled himself forward, his eyes shimmering with tears as he looked at me and tiny Clara. "By God... you look so much like your mother."
I stopped ten feet away, clutching Clara tightly to my chest. "You're supposed to be dead, Uncle Alistair. My mother told me you died in a boating accident forty years ago."
Alistair let out a tired, heavy sigh, lowering his gaze for a brief moment.
"Your mother told you that to protect you, my dear," Alistair said softly. "Forty years ago, Vanguard Apex was formed by five powerful families. When I realized the darkness that firm was dipping its hands into, I faked my death to build a counter-network from the shadows."
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"And my father?" I demanded. "Was he part of your counter-network?"
"Arthur was the heart of it," Alistair revealed, gesturing toward a large leather sofa near the fire. "Please, sit. There is much you need to know before the International Board meets tomorrow night. Because Julianna Vance was not the head of the snake, Lydia... she was merely the tail."
