Chapter 4: Light in the Shadows
A chill air, smelling of damp stone and copper, rushed out of the doorway.
Julian pushed past his father and stepped inside, pulling his phone from his pocket and switching on the flashlight beam.
The light cut through the gloom, illuminating a small, clean room reinforced with soundproof padding behind vintage wall tapestries. Sitting on a small armchair near a reading lamp sat a thin, pale woman in a soft white cardigan.
She looked up, shielding her eyes from the bright flashlight beam.
"Julian...?" her voice was soft, hoarse from years of disuse, but unmistakable.
"Sofia!" Julian dropped to his knees beside her chair, wrapping his arms around his sister. She felt thin and fragile, but her hands immediately gripped his back with fierce strength.
Arthur stood in the doorway, staring at his daughter, tears finally brimming in his eyes. "Sofia... I thought... Eleanor showed me the psychiatric reports... she said you were a danger to yourself..."
Sofia looked past Julian, her dark eyes locking onto Arthur, and then onto Eleanor, who stood behind him in the hallway, looking like a statue trapped in her own undoing.
"She lied to you, Dad," Sofia said softly, her voice steadying as she pulled a small, worn micro-USB drive from the pocket of her cardigan. "She lied about everything. And I kept the proof right here for four years."
Arthur turned slowly to face Eleanor.
"Call security," Arthur said to Julian without taking his eyes off his wife. "And tell the gatehouse to let the state troopers through."
Eleanor took two steps back, her face drained of color as the sirens began to wail in the distance, echoing across the grand estate gates.