Chapter 25 – A Sister She Never Knew
Sharon returned to her safehouse, the rain slicking streets of Zurich behind her. Every sound of the city - the honking of distant traffic, the slap of her heels on wet stone, the muffled hum of street lamps - felt amplified.
She had barely unpacked the Lazarus Protocol files when she noticed a subfolder she had overlooked: "Family Archives – Restricted Access."
Her pulse quickened. Family archives weren't just about inheritance or estate planning; they were personal, intimate, and often scandalous.
Opening the folder, she discovered a series of encrypted files and scanned documents - birth certificates, adoption papers, medical records.
Her stomach twisted.
One file in particular bore a name she had never seen: Isabelle Laurent.
Encrypted letters hinted at correspondence, legal maneuvers, and a clear attempt to erase this person from public records.
Sharon sat back, heart pounding.
A half-sister.
And someone had made sure the world never knew she existed.
Sharon began cross-referencing the data. Isabelle Laurent had been born to Georgia's father and a woman who had no public presence in Laurent circles. Records were redacted, identities shifted, and legal documents falsified to make it appear as though she never existed.
The implications were staggering:
• Isabelle could have claims to Laurent Global's assets.
• She could be a threat to the control the board and James Barnett exerted over Georgia's public image.
• Most importantly, she could be alive - somewhere - or had been eliminated to prevent exposure.
Sharon's mind raced. If Isabelle was alive, she could be a potential ally. Or the next target.
And if she were dead... then the network of cover-ups had already proven it would kill to protect the Laurent legacy.
Every nerve in Sharon's body screamed caution.
As Sharon delved deeper into correspondence and encrypted files, she noticed a pattern: subtle references to Isabelle's life, her education, letters sent and intercepted, even medical visits that were quietly erased.
Someone had monitored Isabelle's existence from birth.
Someone had decided, with surgical precision, to make her vanish.
Sharon felt the weight of the revelation pressing down. The Lazarus Protocol, the forged signatures, the offshore accounts - all of it paled in comparison to the potential personal implications.
If Isabelle were alive, she might know secrets Georgia herself did not want revealed.
If she were dead... then Sharon was next, because she now held the knowledge of a family secret deliberately buried by Laurent Global.
The black phone buzzed. Another warning:
Knowledge of family is dangerous. Stop digging. Move. Survive.
Sharon swallowed hard.
The shadows of the Laurent family were darker than she had ever imagined.
And with a sister erased from records, the stakes weren't just survival, money, or identity.
They were personal.
And deadly.
