Chapter 7 - Luca stared at the screen.“Adrian.”
His middle name.
The name of his supposedly nonexistent brother.
Eleanor looked at him.
“Your middle name is Adrian?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“My mother chose it.”
“Because of your brother?”
“I was told I had no brother.”
His face hardened.
“Now I know that was a lie.”
They returned to the Whitmore estate before dawn.
Charles was waiting.
He looked at Eleanor.
Then at the keycard.
“You found it.”
Eleanor placed the photograph on the table.
“You lied to me.”
Charles looked at the photo.
“Many times.”
“About my father.”
“Yes.”
“About my mother.”
“Yes.”
“About Luca.”
Charles looked at Luca.
“Yes.”
Luca stepped forward.
“What happened to Adrian?”
Charles's expression changed.
“I don't know.”
Richard appeared behind them.
“I do.”
Everyone turned.
Richard placed a file on the table.
“Adrian didn't die.”
Luca opened it.
Inside were records.
Adrian had changed his name.
Moved through six countries.
Built a private security company.
Then disappeared five years ago.
“Where is he now?” Luca asked.
Richard answered:
“Working for the person who has been trying to kill Eleanor.”
Silence.
Eleanor stared.
“Who?”
Richard looked at Charles.
Charles looked at him.
Neither spoke.
Then Samuel walked in.
“I know.”
He placed another document on the table.
A corporate structure chart.
At the top was a company Eleanor had never seen.
BLACKWELL CAPITAL.
Under it were fifteen subsidiaries.
Whitmore Holdings.
Moretti Logistics.
Three private banks.
Two media companies.
And dozens of shell corporations.
Eleanor's expression hardened.
“Who owns Blackwell?”
Samuel paused.
“No one knows.”
Eleanor looked closer.
There was an executive director listed.
A name.
A. VALE
Luca's jaw tightened.
“Adrian.”
Richard shook his head.
“That's an alias.”
Eleanor looked up.
“What alias?”
Richard replied:
“Alexander Vale.”
Eleanor stared.
“Vale is my mother's family name.”
“Yes.”
“Then Alexander?”
Richard's eyes darkened.
“Your mother's maiden name was Elena Vale.”
Eleanor froze.
Her mother had spent years calling herself Elena Whitmore.
She had never told Eleanor her original surname.
Luca suddenly understood.
“Alexander is her brother.”
Richard nodded.
Eleanor looked at him.
“Who is my uncle?”
Richard didn't answer.
Samuel did.
“Blackwell.”
The room fell silent.
Eleanor slowly sat down.
Her own uncle had built the network controlling her father's company.
The man everyone had been running from.
The man trying to take the trust.
The man who knew her mother was alive.
The man who had been watching her since birth.
Her own blood.
A phone rang.
Everyone looked at Charles.
It wasn't his.
It came from inside Eleanor's coat.
She pulled out the phone.
She had never seen it before.
The screen displayed one message.
YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE OPENED THE TRUST.
Another message appeared.
NOW YOU HAVE THIRTY-SIX HOURS.
Eleanor typed:
Who are you?
The reply came instantly.
THE PERSON WHO SAVED YOUR LIFE SIX YEARS AGO.
Her stomach tightened.
Then:
ASK LUCA WHY HIS BROTHER WAS KILLED.
Eleanor looked at Luca.
He stared at the screen.
“I don't know.”
The phone buzzed again.
A photograph appeared.
Luca's father standing beside Adrian.
Then a second image.
Adrian holding Eleanor as a baby.
Then a third.
Adrian lying on the floor.
Blood beneath him.
Eleanor covered her mouth.
Luca stared.
“That's not possible.”
The sender wrote:
ASK YOUR FATHER WHO PULLED THE TRIGGER.
Eleanor turned toward Charles.
He looked terrified.
“Dad?”
Charles didn't answer.
Luca grabbed him by the collar.
“Who killed my brother?”
Charles finally whispered:
“Your mother.”
Luca froze.
Eleanor looked at Charles in disbelief.
“My mother killed Adrian?”
Charles shook his head.
“No.”
“Then why say that?”
“Because that's what everyone was supposed to believe.”
Luca released him.
Charles continued.
“The man who killed Adrian wasn't Elena.”
“Who?”
Charles looked at Eleanor.
Then at Luca.
“The same man who killed the only witness who knew your father's real identity.”
A voice came from the hallway.
“Me.”
Richard Hale stood there.
Blood was running down his shirt.
He collapsed onto the floor.
Eleanor rushed to him.
“Who shot you?”
Richard grabbed her hand.
His eyes were fading.
“Your uncle.”
Then he whispered:
May you like
“He knows you're alive.”
And the mansion lights went out.
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