Elena held her ground, gently shielding the trembling girl as Ethan stepped forward and pulled the oil painting completely off its reinforced hinges.
Ethan: Good God... a hidden cavity? What is this built for?
Elena: Ask your beloved step-sister. That's where she kept her locked up with handcuffs and tape over her mouth.
Ethan turned slowly, his gaze fixing on Margaret with an expression so cold and dead that the temperature in the hallway seemed to plummet.
Ethan: Margaret... is this true? Is this where our missing sister Chloe has been all this time?
Margaret: Ethan, don't look at me like that! She's mentally unstable, she would have ruined our corporate merger!
Ethan: You locked our flesh and blood inside a dark wall like an animal? While I spent five years searching for her across the country?
Margaret: I did it for the family business! Without my control, the board would have liquidated our assets!
Chloe lifted her head from Elena's shoulder, her voice cracking as fresh tears streamed down her pale cheeks.
Chloe: She beat me every time I made a noise, Ethan... she wouldn't even let me look out the window.
Ethan's hands began to shake, his fists clenching so tightly that his knuckles turned stark white against his tailored cuffs.
Ethan: You monster... you absolute monster.
Margaret: You can't touch me, Ethan! My name is on every single deed, every patent, and every offshore account!
Ethan: Not anymore. My security team is locking down every exit of this estate right now.