Chapter 7 - THE OTHER FATHERThe Name Hidden Behind the ScarI couldn't stop staring at the photograph.
“Who is he?”
Lucas didn't answer immediately.
“His name was Daniel Cross.”
“Was?”
“He died.”
“When?”
“Three days before Rosehill went up for sale.”
I looked at him.
“How do you know?”
“Because I was there.”
The room seemed to shrink.
“Why were you with him?”
Lucas hesitated.
“I've been trying to find your mother.”
“Where is she?”
“I don't know.”
“You just told me she was alive.”
“She was.”
“When?”
“Last night.”
My pulse raced.
“Where?”
Lucas looked at the door.
“She left me a message.”
He handed me a small cassette tape.
I stared at it.
The same kind I'd found in the blue box.
My mother had left two.
I found a tape player on the desk.
Pressed play.
Static.
Then her voice.
Older.
Tired.
But unmistakable.
“Adrian.”
I closed my eyes.
For eighteen years I'd dreamed of hearing that voice.
Now I was terrified.
“If you're hearing this, then everything went wrong.”
A pause.
“Your father will tell you Daniel Cross was a criminal.”
The tape clicked softly.
“He wasn't.”
Another pause.
“Daniel was your biological father.”
My breathing stopped.
“Harold knew.”
The recording continued.
“He knew before you were born. He also knew I was planning to leave him.”
My hand tightened around the edge of the desk.
“I didn't disappear because Harold wanted me gone.”
Her voice broke.
“I disappeared because Harold wanted you.”
I opened my eyes.
Lucas was watching me.
“Why?”
The tape answered.
“Because your blood was connected to something your grandfather built.”
I frowned.
My grandfather had died when I was twelve.
He had founded the first Vale construction company.
Old money.
Old buildings.
Old secrets.
“What did he build?”
My mother's voice whispered:
“A hidden property network.”
The tape crackled.
“Land purchased through shell companies. Buildings transferred through trusts. Entire neighborhoods placed under names that didn't exist.”
I thought of Rosehill.
My blood ran cold.
“The legal owner of Rosehill is not the company you've been negotiating with.”
Static.
“The true owner is your trust.”
I looked at the documents.
“That can't be.”
“It can.”
Then she said something else.
“Every person who signed the Rosehill deal was chosen because they knew you would trust them.”
My lawyer.
Martin.
The investors.
People I had known for years.
The tape continued.
“They needed you to become the legal beneficiary.”
I stood.
“Why?”
“Because only you could unlock the final transfer.”
A click.
Then silence.
I rewound.
Played it again.
At the very end, buried beneath the static, was a sentence.
I boosted the volume.
My mother's voice returned.
“Whatever happens, Adrian, do not let them open the basement.”
Lucas stepped backward.
“What basement?”
I stared at him.
“Rosehill.”
His face changed.
“You're going back.”
“Yes.”
“You don't understand.”
“Then tell me.”
He shook his head.
“Rosehill isn't a building.”
“What is it?”
May you like
Lucas whispered:
“A vault.”
Related Stories
