Chapter 3: The Shadow in the Estate
Tension peaked as Vance’s hired mercenaries infiltrated the mansion, desperately searching for the original hospital records, Sister Margaret's sworn affidavit, and the blue blanket. Amelia, Caleb, and Victoria barely managed to lock themselves inside Edward’s fortified, soundproof study. As the men began battering the heavy oak doors, Amelia relied on the survival instincts she had honed growing up in the foster system.
Scanning the room, she noticed an anomaly in the wood paneling behind Edward's grand portrait. Working together, Caleb and Amelia cracked the hidden wall safe, discovering the ultimate, undeniable proof: Edward's handwritten journals and a recorded dictation confessing to the kidnapping plot to secure a male heir. Sirens wailed in the distance as Victoria had managed to trigger a silent panic button. In a final, desperate breach, the mercenaries broke through the doors, but Caleb tackled the lead intruder, fiercely defending his newly found sister and his mother. The police swarmed the estate, arresting the men and immediately issuing a warrant for Vance, lifting the darkest shadow from the Ashford legacy.
