CHAPTER 10: THE FATHER WHO NEVER LEFT
The dead man was standing in front of him.
That was the only thought Adrian Vale could form.
Not a metaphor.
Not a memory.
Not a nightmare.
His father was alive.
Richard Vale.
The man whose funeral Adrian attended.
The man whose ashes he believed were buried beneath a cold marble stone.
The man whose portrait hung inside Vale Tower as a symbol of legacy.
Alive.
Standing.
Smiling.
The room felt unreal.
Like reality itself had cracked open and revealed something hidden underneath.
Adrian stared at him.
"You died."
Richard smiled.
A calm, almost gentle smile.
The same smile Adrian remembered from childhood.
The smile that convinced everyone he was a wise and loving father.
"You always were too trusting, Adrian."
The words hurt more than anger.
Because they confirmed everything.
Richard had been watching.
Waiting.
Manipulating.
For years.
Adrian took one step forward.
"You faked your death."
Richard looked around the room.
"People believe what they need to believe."
"You let me mourn you."
"Yes."
"You let me think I lost everything."
Richard tilted his head.
"Did you?"
Adrian's jaw tightened.
"You destroyed my life."
"No."
Richard corrected him.
"I built your life."
The arrogance in his voice was terrifying.
Because Richard truly believed it.
He didn't see himself as a villain.
He saw himself as a creator.
A man who shaped the world.
"You think I hurt you."
Richard continued.
"But everything I did was to make you stronger."
Adrian laughed quietly.
A cold, broken laugh.
"You stole my family."
Richard looked at Elena.
Then Clara.
Then Alexander.
"No."
He shook his head.
"I created your family."
Elena's face turned pale.
"Richard..."
The old man's eyes moved toward her.
"Still alive."
A pause.
"You were always difficult to remove."
Adrian felt anger rise.
"Don't talk to her like that."
Richard looked at him.
And for a moment, Adrian saw something frightening.
Pride.
Richard was proud.
"You still protect weakness."
"What?"
Richard stepped closer.
"That's why I had to create Alexander."
Everyone became silent.
Alexander looked at him.
Even he seemed uncomfortable.
Adrian noticed.
"You created him?"
Richard smiled.
"I saved him."
"No."
Adrian shook his head.
"You stole him."
Richard ignored him.
"When I saw you with Elena, I knew you were becoming soft."
A pause.
"You cared too much."
Richard pointed toward Clara.
"Children."
"Love."
"Family."
"These things make people vulnerable."
Adrian stared.
"You don't understand anything."
Richard smiled.
"On the contrary."
He looked at Alexander.
"I understand perfectly."
Alexander remained silent.
Adrian noticed something.
The young man who entered the room with confidence...
Was now quiet.
Almost uncomfortable.
Like he was hearing a truth he didn't want to hear.
Richard continued:
"I gave Alexander what you never had."
Adrian frowned.
"What?"
"Discipline."
Richard walked closer to Alexander.
"I removed unnecessary emotions."
Elena's expression changed.
"Stop."
Richard ignored her.
"I taught him that love is a weakness."
Adrian looked at Alexander.
And suddenly he understood.
Alexander wasn't cold because he wanted to be.
He was cold because someone built him that way.
Richard had spent twenty-two years creating a weapon.
Not a son.
A weapon.
"Why?"
Adrian asked.
Richard looked at him.
"Because the world belongs to people who are willing to do what others cannot."
"And you thought I wasn't?"
"No."
Richard smiled.
"I knew you weren't."
The words struck deeply.
"You had everything needed to become the greatest Vale."
A pause.
"But you had one fatal flaw."
"What?"
"You cared."
Silence.
Richard's voice became softer.
"And that is why I had to remove everyone who could control you."
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
"Everyone?"
Richard smiled.
"Elena."
A pause.
"Your mother."
Another pause.
"Your friends."
Adrian froze.
"Wait."
Richard continued.
"Anyone who could make you choose compassion over power."
Adrian felt something dark rising inside him.
"You killed my mother?"
Richard didn't answer.
And that silence was enough.
The room changed.
Even Alexander looked shocked.
Because there were secrets even he didn't know.
Adrian stepped forward.
"You destroyed everyone."
Richard looked almost disappointed.
"You still don't understand."
"No."
Adrian's voice became cold.
"I understand now."
He looked at Alexander.
Then Clara.
Then Elena.
"You weren't building an empire."
Richard smiled.
"You were."
"No."
Adrian shook his head.
"You were building a cage."
For the first time...
Richard's expression changed.
Only slightly.
But enough.
Because Adrian had finally said something Richard couldn't control.
Richard turned toward the door.
"Bring them."
Suddenly, armed men entered.
Adrian immediately moved toward Clara.
But Alexander stepped between them.
Everyone froze.
Richard looked at his son.
"Move."
Alexander didn't.
A small moment.
Almost invisible.
But Adrian saw it.
The weapon was beginning to break.
"Alexander."
Richard's voice became colder.
"You know what happens when you disobey."
Alexander stared at him.
For the first time...
He looked afraid.
Not of Adrian.
Not of the guards.
Of Richard.
Adrian realized something.
Alexander wasn't loyal.
He was trapped.
Richard had spent years convincing everyone that Alexander was his masterpiece.
But maybe...
Alexander was his biggest victim.
Then one of the guards rushed toward Clara.
Adrian moved.
But Alexander moved faster.
He grabbed the guard's arm.
The entire room froze.
Richard looked shocked.
"Alexander."
The young man's expression changed.
A battle was happening inside him.
Everything Richard taught him.
Everything he believed.
Colliding with something stronger.
Blood.
Family.
Truth.
Alexander looked at Clara.
Then at Adrian.
Then finally at Richard.
And whispered:
"No."
A single word.
But it carried twenty-two years of pain.
Richard's face darkened.
"You would choose them?"
Alexander's answer was quiet.
"No."
A pause.
"I choose myself."
The room exploded into chaos.
Guards moved.
Lights flashed.
Alarms screamed.
And Adrian realized something.
For the first time in twenty years...
Richard Vale had lost control.
But as Adrian grabbed Clara and escaped through the emergency exit, one terrifying thought remained.
Richard had not come here to kill them.
He had come here because he wanted something.
Something hidden.
Something even more valuable than money.
And as they reached the outside corridor...
Adrian found the answer.
A message appeared on his phone.
From an unknown number.
Only one sentence.
"Your father wasn't protecting the empire."
A second message appeared.
"He was protecting the truth about who you really are."
Adrian stopped.
His blood ran cold.
Because for the first time...
The question was no longer:
Who betrayed him?
The question was:
Was Adrian Vale even a real Vale at all?
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Hết Chapter 10
(Chapter 11: Adrian điều tra bí mật về chính thân phận của mình. Anh phát hiện Richard Vale đã che giấu một bí mật kinh hoàng từ ngày anh được sinh ra, và toàn bộ cuộc chiến gia đình có thể bắt nguồn từ một sự thật: Adrian không mang dòng máu Vale.)
