Chapter 27 - THE UNMASKING
Maya spun around as the rear door of her sedan swung open, and a tall, distinguished woman in her late sixties stepped out onto the wet pavement. She wore an elegant navy wool coat, her silver hair styled impeccably, her eyes carrying the same sharp intelligence as Maya's own.
"Hello, Maya," the silver-haired woman said softly, offering a faint, melancholic smile. "It has been a very long time since I held you in my arms."
Maya’s mind reeled in absolute disbelief as she stared at the woman's face, recognizing features from old black-and-white family photographs. "Aunt Eleanor? You... you died in the car crash with my father!"
"That is what Richard Sterling was led to believe," Eleanor explained, stepping closer into the streetlamp light. "If the syndicate knew I survived, they would have hunted you down before you were old enough to fight back."
The stranger in the grey coat bowed his head respectfully. "Lady Eleanor has spent twenty years building an underground network to destroy the Sterling syndicate from within."
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Maya looked between her long-lost aunt and Officer Wright, her heart racing as the massive scale of the deception revealed itself.
"Why didn't you tell me the truth in the hotel lobby?" Maya asked, her voice tight with emotion.
