Chapter 5 - The Shadow Brother
By Wednesday morning, the Blackwood scandal had dominated the front pages of every financial newspaper in North America and Europe.
“THE ICE CALCULATOR RETURNS: EVELYN HART DESTROYS BLACKWOOD CAPITAL IN 48 HOURS.”
Inside a private, high-security medical penthouse overlooking Central Park, Evelyn sat beside a large velvet armchair. Penny was fast asleep on the sofa under a soft fleece blanket, clutching a plush teddy bear, completely safe and protected.
Sitting in the armchair across from Evelyn was a tall, lean man with sharp, dark eyes that mirrored her own. He wore a crisp white linen shirt, his sleeves rolled up to reveal wrists marked by faint, thin silver scars—the permanent reminders of his dark years of addiction and rehabilitation.
Gideon Hart.
Evelyn’s younger brother.
For seven years, the world had assumed Gideon Hart was dead or ruined—a burnt-out casualty of a wealthy family’s tragic downfall. But behind the scenes, away from the glittering lights of Wall Street, Gideon had spent five years clean, working as the head of covert intelligence for Hart Meridian, the global holding company Evelyn had secretly built from the shadows.
"He hit you thirty times, Eve," Gideon said, his voice terrifyingly quiet. He was cleaning his fingernails with a small silver pocketknife, his knuckles white against the dark handle. "I checked the audio logs from the wine room. Thirty."
"It's over, Gideon," Evelyn said, sipping her herbal tea. "He's in jail. The firm is ours. Penny is safe."
"It isn't over," Gideon corrected, looking up. His dark eyes flashed with an unholy, lethal fire. "A man like Julian Blackwood doesn't suffer when he's in jail. He suffers when he realizes how small he truly is. He still thinks he lost to a hedge fund syndicate. He doesn't know who you are."
Evelyn looked at her brother. "What did you do?"
"I bought his bail bond," Gideon said with a slow, terrifying smile. "He thinks an anonymous benefactor posted his five-million-dollar bail this morning. He thinks he's getting out to fight his legal battle."
Evelyn set her tea cup down with a soft clink. "Gideon..."
"He’s going to his estate in Westchester right now, Eve," Gideon said, standing up and pulling a dark coat over his shoulders. "He thinks he still has his private vault hidden behind the library wall. He thinks his gold reserves and offshore bearer bonds are waiting for him."
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Evelyn looked at her sleeping daughter, then back at her brother. A cold, ruthless understanding passed between the two siblings—the last remaining blood of the Hart family.
"Tell Marcus to prepare the final contract," Evelyn said, her voice turning to stone. "I want to be there when he opens the vault."
