Stella

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐄𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭

ELIAS BURNS

The only sound in the empty and dim corridor in the left wing of the mansion was my loud footsteps hurrying through to Zale's main office where he'd gone in minutes ago to meet me there. I ignored the sound of the thunderstorm outside, flashing through the window. Drops trickled down the windows, giving the right wall dark diamond sparkling-looking shadows. The left wall was full of windows. On the right wall, there were doors leading to different types of rooms.

The end was the main office which led to another office which I occupied. The main one, of course, was Zale's which I entered.

"Zale," I announced my presence and he waved me to signal for me to come in. I obliged, going to sit down on the chair opposite of him who was behind the desk.

"What did she reveal?" He asked expectantly, knowing I would get out some information from the child. Zale was too cold-hearted for a scared little girl, so I convinced him to allow me to speak to her, instead. I was fairly shocked when I was informed that a kid was knocking on our mansion to announce that she had a tip on our missing father.

To my displeasure, Zale insisted to take her into the black room first - as we called it - to unnerve her a bit. It was the room where Zale liked to intimidate people from his higher position and most of the time they don't walk out of that room.

Stella was lucky to have her young age to protect her, otherwise, she would be lying dead on the floor from the moment Zale realized she was lying.

I explained to Zale what Stella had told me and he didn't react. When I revealed that Stella was Megan Anderson's daughter, the woman who we had hunted down only to find out she was killed by one of the smaller street gangs that weren't worth mentioning, he stopped scribbling for a second then continued. It confused me.

"Zale?" I said a bit impatiently. He tended to keep his thoughts to himself until the very last minute and it annoyed me. Especially when I was the one who worked by his side on daily basis.

"Interesting..." He murmured, tapping a finger on the desk. My gaze darted down and found a map lying on his desk. I raised my eyebrows as I realized it was the one that Stella cried over.

"Why do you have that map?" I questioned. When Zale's face raised, I added to explain, "The girl cried when she couldn't find it. I assume it has a sentimental value."

"Carlo searched her backpack in case of weapons on the plane and brought this to me." He said and I nodded. "You can give it back to her if you want."

My brows shot up in surprise. "You're allowing her to have your property?"

"It's not mine, it's hers. I just needed to look it over." He said as he took a pen to write something down on a paper that was lying in front of him on the desk, shifting his focus on it as he listened to me.

"Huh," I said doubtfully. He wasn't the one who hands over others' property back and every single thing he touch, it was his. Part of his reputation. "Want to tell me what the hell is going on?" My eyebrows raised in a silent question.

"She's our sister." He suddenly announced.

My train of thoughts screeched to a halt at the mention of our sister.

I snapped my head up in shock to Zale who was writing something down on the papers, his face stoic as always. Without looking up, he added, "Get Rowan to do the DNA test to confirm and place the girl in the guest rooms."

"Pardon?" My jaw was hanging open. "What do you mean by our sister?"

His gaze lifted at me momentarily to say, "Half-sister. Father had a daughter."