Chapter 9 - Adrian stared at the document.He read it again.
And again.
Grace was Evelyn's daughter.
Not by marriage.
By blood.
The daughter Evelyn had hidden for twenty-four years.
Adrian called his attorney.
“Where did you get this?”
“Your father's private archive.”
“Who else knows?”
“No one.”
Adrian looked toward the black screen where Grace had disappeared.
“Find the location.”
His security team moved quickly.
They traced the video through a hidden network.
A warehouse outside Stamford.
Adrian arrived with six armed security specialists.
The building was empty.
No Grace.
No Victor.
Only a chair.
A single camera.
And a note.
YOU'RE GETTING CLOSER.
Adrian ripped it apart.
Then noticed a bloodstain beneath the chair.
Fresh.
His heart dropped.
Grace was injured.
Or someone wanted him to think she was.
A sound came from the back of the warehouse.
Adrian raised his weapon.
“Who's there?”
Nothing.
Then a man stepped forward.
Old.
Weak.
He raised both hands.
Adrian recognized him from photographs.
Thomas Whitmore's former driver.
Samuel Cole.
“I've been waiting twenty years.”
Adrian lowered the weapon slightly.
“Where is Grace?”
Samuel shook his head.
“I don't know.”
“Then why are you here?”
“To tell you the truth.”
Samuel pulled out an old envelope.
“Your father gave me this before he died.”
Adrian opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
Evelyn holding a newborn baby.
Thomas stood beside her.
On the back:
Our daughter. Keep her safe.
Adrian stared.
“Grace.”
Samuel nodded.
“Your father knew Evelyn would try to destroy the child.”
“Why?”
“Because Grace wasn't supposed to be born.”
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
“What does that mean?”
“Evelyn was having an affair.”
“With whom?”
Samuel hesitated.
“Michael Miller.”
Adrian's face changed.
Grace's supposed father.
The man who had been accused of stealing from Whitmore.
Samuel continued.
“Thomas discovered the affair. But he forgave her.”
“Then why hide Grace?”
“Because Evelyn wanted the child gone.”
Adrian stared.
“She was worried about her reputation.”
“No.”
Samuel shook his head.
“She was worried about inheritance.”
Adrian understood.
Grace was Thomas's biological daughter.
That made her a legal heir.
And if Thomas had died with a hidden daughter, the inheritance could be challenged.
Evelyn had spent decades erasing Grace's existence.
Adrian asked:
“Why did my father never tell me?”
“Because he feared for your life too.”
Samuel looked at him.
“Your father believed Evelyn would kill anyone who stood between her and control.”
Adrian suddenly heard footsteps.
Samuel looked terrified.
“They found us.”
The warehouse doors slammed shut.
Victor entered.
Then Evelyn.
Adrian turned.
Evelyn held a gun.
“Samuel.”
The old driver backed away.
“You were supposed to stay silent.”
“I've been silent for twenty years.”
“And now?”
“Now I'm tired.”
Evelyn raised the gun.
Adrian stepped between them.
“Don't.”
She looked at him.
“My son.”
“You lost the right to call me that.”
Evelyn sighed.
“You've always been dramatic.”
“Where is Grace?”
Evelyn smiled.
“Safe.”
“Let her go.”
“She is my daughter.”
“You abandoned her.”
“I protected her.”
“You erased her.”
“I saved her from a life of weakness.”
Adrian laughed.
“You call kindness weakness?”
“Yes.”
“That woman saved me.”
Evelyn's eyes hardened.
“That's why she had to die.”
A gunshot cracked through the warehouse.
Adrian ducked.
Samuel collapsed.
Adrian turned.
Victor's gun smoked.
Evelyn screamed:
“Not him!”
Victor stared at her.
Then at Adrian.
“I was told Samuel had to die.”
Evelyn's face changed.
Suddenly, Victor looked frightened.
Because there was another person standing behind him.
Malcolm.
Holding a gun.
And Malcolm aimed not at Adrian.
But at Victor.
“You've become a liability,” Malcolm said.
Victor slowly turned.
May you like
“You?”
Malcolm fired.
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