Chapter 43 Marcus Webb
"There were men at that party. Men Mother had arranged. They were supposed to..." Reena swallowed hard.
"They were supposed to take you somewhere. Create a scandal that completely destroys your reputation. Force your father to disown you."
Eva felt the room spinning around her.
"But the drug was stronger than we thought. You felt it too fast and ran away before they could catch you." Reena's eyes glistened.
"When I realized what was happening, I... I couldn't go through with it. I told the men you'd gotten away, that they should abort the plan."
"You're saying you saved me?"
"No, I… I'm saying I'm not completely evil." A tear slipped down Reena's cheek.
"I know that doesn't fix anything or make things better. I know I still drugged you, helped with Mother's plans, and made your life hard for years. But that night... when I saw those men and what Mother wanted them to do to you... I couldn't."
Eva looked at her half-sister through the glass.
She wanted to brush this off as another manipulation, just another lie meant to win sympathy and shift the story in Reena's favor.
But something in Reena's face, the honest weakness and real shame, made her pause.
"Why are you telling me this now?"
"Because the Consortium is even more dangerous." Reena's voice grew firm.
"Mother thought she was controlling them, but she was just a tool. A very useful, very replaceable tool. And now they're coming for you, your family, and everyone connected to her."
"How do you know?"
"Because they reached out to me. Yesterday." Reena's hands were shaking. "A man came to see me. He wore an expensive, dark, neat suit, but there was something about his smile that made my skin crawl."
Eva observed how shaken up Reena was.
"His eyes were cold, like he was looking right through me. He sat across from me silently for a minute, watching, while I tried not to shake. He never raised his voice or threatened directly, but every sentence felt like a warning." Reena took a shaky breath."
"That man said that the Consortium was... unhappy with how things ended up. He told me that accidents can happen anywhere, even in prison. He said if I wanted to stay alive, I needed to cooperate."
"Cooperate how?"
"He wanted information about Mother's work, her contacts, and her blackmail files." Reena laughed bitterly.
"He thought I knew more than I do. When I couldn't give him what he wanted, he threatened me. About what might happen to me if I were not careful here. About accidents that could happen."
Eva felt a chill. "They are threatening you."
"They are threatening everyone." Reena leaned forward quickly. "But I know one thing he doesn't realize I know. One thing that might help you find Mother."
"What?"
Reena looked around nervously, worried someone might be listening.
"There is a man. His name is Victor Chen. He has been Mother's... handler, I suppose you'd call it. Her primary contact with the Consortium. When she disappeared, he was the one who helped her."
"Where do we find him?"
"I don't know. But I know someone who might." Reena quickly wrote something on a scrap of paper and pressed it against the glass. It had a name and address.
"His name is Marcus Webb. He used to work for Mother years ago. He handled some of her more sensitive deals. He fought with her and disappeared, but if anyone knows how to find Victor Chen, it's him."
Eva memorized the information.
"Why are you helping me, Reena? Really?"
Reena stayed silent for a long moment.
"Because Mother abandoned me." Her voice cracked. "She raised me to be a weapon, aimed me at you, and then threw me away as soon as I became a problem."
At last, Reena understood why her mother had done it.
"I spent my whole life thinking she loved me, that we were partners, that everything we did was for us." She laughed bitterly. "I was just as much a tool as you were a target."
"That doesn't excuse what you did."
"I know." Reena looked into her eyes. "Nothing excuses what I did. But maybe... maybe helping you take them down is a start."
Eva studied her half-sister, the woman who had been her enemy, her tormentor, and the cause of her worst nightmares.
And she saw the broken child beneath the monster.
"I can't forgive you," Eva said quietly. "Not yet. Maybe not ever."
"I know. I don't deserve your forgiveness."
"But if your information helps us find Helena..." Eva paused. "I'll talk to the prosecutor. See if anything can be done about your sentence."
A hint of hope appeared in Reena's eyes.
"Thank you."
Eva hung up the phone and stood.
As she walked away, she didn't look back.
Marcus Webb lived in a small apartment on the edge of the city, far away from the rich circles he once knew.
Adrian's team checked his background on the way. Webb had really worked for Helena Park fifteen years ago, handling financial matters that weren't always legal.
He quit suddenly after a fight with Helena—a fight that few people really understood.
Rumor had it there were shouts about "crossing a line" and something that made Helena unusually anxious for days afterward.
Since then, Marcus had lived quietly, working as an accountant for a small construction company.
Eva wondered why he had left. What had he seen that made him give up the money, the power, and the life Helena's world offered?
There was something in the way his name came up every time people spoke about Helena's secrets—a thread of unease woven through every mention.
Eva couldn't shake the feeling that Marcus knew more than he let on, something dark enough to haunt him even now.
She sensed that whatever drove him into hiding could be the key they needed.
They found him in his apartment. He was a nervous, thin man in his fifties with gray hair and watery eyes. When he saw Adrian's security team at his door, he almost shut it quickly.
"Mr. Webb." Eva stepped forward before he could back away. "Please. We need your help."
"I don't know anything." His voice shook. "I've been away from that life for years. I don't know anything."
"You know about Victor Chen."