Page 22 of Silent Oaths
Tonight,Iwill be sworn in as the new patriarch, the titleI’vebeen groomed for since the dayLionelWhitmoredecidedIwas worth more than to be a ward of the state.It’sthe culmination of everythingI’veworked for, everythingI’vesacrificed.Andyet, a bitter taste lingers on my tongue.
It’stoo soon.
Myjaw tightens.
Lionel’sdeath left a hole, and the legacy demands someone to fill it.Ithas to be me—it was always going to be me.Ishould be pleased—Ideserve this—but the timing is all wrong.
Truthis,Lionel’sdeath was too sudden.Ineeded him alive a little longer to clean up the pieces, to transition power smoothly.
Mathis, my driver, pulls the car to a stop at a red light, and for a moment, the silence in the cabin feels suffocating.Igaze out the window, catching my reflection—sharp suit, sharper eyes, a reflectionLionelwould’ve approved of.Ishouldn’t give a shit about what he thinks anymore.
Myadoptive father, the man who built an empire out of shadows and lies, whose presence once filled every corner ofVanguardwith silent authority, is nothing more than ashes.
Andnot by my hand.
Thatthought sticks to my skin, sharp as broken glass.Thefire wasn’t part of the plan—notourplan, anyway.Itshould have beenmymove, my decision, but someone else played their hand first.
Camila, orVerónica, as she calls herself now, made sure to have the upper hand.
Shewas my adoptive sister, aWhitmorebefore she was a ghost.Whenshe disappeared, we were forbidden to question the convenient story we were fed, andIwas too hungry forLionel’sapproval to dig deeper.Herabsence was a mystery we learned to ignore, butIcan’t any longer.
She’sback.
Thefire didn’t just destroy the old mansion; it kicked over a hornet’s nest of secrets.Camila—the sister we thought we lost—isalive.
Shestepped out of the past, seizing control in the most destructive way possible.
Idon’t know whether to admire her nerve or despise her recklessness.Shestormed in after years of silence and tore down the foundationsLionelbuilt, leaving the rest of us to pick up the pieces.
Ilean back in my seat, closing my eyes for a moment.Verónicais out there somewhere, laying low, likely laughing at the irony of her adoptive brothers scrambling in the aftermath of her chaos.
Whenthe time comes, we’ll need to talk about her future, what she wants and whether it aligns with what we need.Thisfamily name isn’t something you walk away from.
TheWhitmoreestate is quieter than ever now that the mansion has been reduced to dust.Theinvestigation into the fire has concluded, and whileEbonridgePDsuspected foul play,Iconvinced them it was an accident.Obviously, it wasn’t, butI’drather them not dig deeper and uncoverValeriaandVerónica’sinvolvement.
Selfishly,Iwant something to hold over their heads whenIfinally confront them.Myadoptive sister was very hard to find, a skilled hacker herself.Iguess it runs in the family.Still,Ifound her.She’sliving in an apartment just outside of town withValeria.
Mathisslows the car as we nearVanguard.Fromthe outside, it looks like a nondescript office building tucked between a bank and a high-end boutique.
Theentrance is as unassuming as ever—a simple doorway nestled between two faceless buildings, the kind of place you’d walk past a hundred times without ever noticing.
Wepull into the underground parking garage, the sound of the engine echoing off the concrete walls as we descend.Finally, we come to a stop near an elevator tucked into the far corner.
“You’llwait,”Isay without looking atMathis.
“Yes, sir.”
Istep out, the sharp scent of oil and exhaust biting at my nose.Adjustingmy cufflinks,Imake my way to the elevator.Thedoors slide open with a soft chime, andIpress my thumb to the biometric scanner.
Thesudden buzz of my phone cuts through the quiet.Iglance at the screen and smirk whenIseeJulian’sname flash across it.
“Yes?”Ianswer asIlean against the wall.
Julian’sexasperated sigh comes through the line, followed by the unmistakable sound of something shattering in the background. “She’sat it again.”
Idon’t need to ask who.
Amuffled voice cuts through, shrill and furious. “You’reall psychopaths!Sick, twisted assholes!”
