Chapter 1 - The Splintered Oak and the Screaming Steel
The crystal chandeliers of the Sterling estate hummed above fifteen of Chicago’s wealthiest socialites.
Arthur Sterling adjusted his charcoal-black lapel and smiled across the banquet table at his platinum-blonde fiancée.
Victoria Vance wore an extravagant crimson-red satin gown that dripped with diamonds, basking in the glow of Arthur’s empire.
Caterers glided across the polished dark-oak floor, filling flutes with vintage champagne while laughter echoed against towering marble columns.
Then the heavy double doors of the dining hall burst open without a sound of announcement.
Clara Sterling strode directly into the center of the lavish dining room, her pale-blue satin gown swaying against silver heels.
Her long chestnut-brown hair was wildly disheveled, her expressive green eyes rimmed with red tears.
In her trembling, pale hands, the twenty-four-year-old heiress gripped a three-pound steel claw hammer.
Arthur froze mid-toast, setting his crystal goblet down as confusion rippled through the gathered elite.
"Clara, darling, what on earth are you doing?" Victoria purred smoothly, tilting her head with calculated amusement.
Clara did not spare Victoria a single glance.
She stopped abruptly three paces from the edge of the dining table, staring down at an unremarkable seam in the dark-oak flooring.
Before anyone could draw another breath, Clara hoisted the steel hammer high above her shoulder with both hands.
The heavy metal head cleaved the air and struck the polished floor with an explosive, deafening crack.
Splinters of dark oak flew into the air, raining down upon the polished shoes of terrified dinner guests.
Women shrieked and leaped out of their upholstered chairs as mahogany furniture scraped violently across the floorboards.
Clara delivered a second blow with savage, weeping desperation, driving the steel into the floor until the retaining board gave way.
"Clara, stop this right now!" Arthur bellowed, his authoritative voice booming through the mansion as he stepped away from the table.
The girl didn’t stop; she hammered a third time, fracturing the wood completely and exposing a hidden rectangular frame.
Tears cascaded down her trembling cheeks as her knuckles turned dead white around the steel handle.
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She looked straight into her billionaire father’s piercing blue eyes, her chest heaving with suffocating agony.
"Dad! My mom is under the floor!" Clara screamed, her voice cracking the gilded air in half.
