Chapter 4 - The Woman Who Knew Everything
The next morning, Clara disappeared.
Her bed was empty.
The window was open.
Her coat was gone.
I nearly tore the house apart.
“Lock every exit!”
Victor's men moved immediately.
I ran downstairs.
“Find her.”
“We are.”
“Now.”
Five minutes later, Victor came back.
“She left voluntarily.”
“How do you know?”
“The cameras.”
He showed me the footage.
Clara walked through the back door at 6:12 a.m.
She was wearing a gray coat.
No suitcase.
No phone.
Nothing.
“She looks scared,” I said.
Victor nodded.
Then he zoomed in.
A black sedan was waiting across the street.
I recognized it.
My mother's driver.
My blood went cold.
I called my mother.
No answer.
I called again.
Nothing.
Then Clara's phone rang.
It was lying on her pillow.
There was one message.
If you want your baby to live, come to the old house. Alone.
I stared at it.
Victor read over my shoulder.
“Boss.”
“I know.”
“You're not going alone.”
“I said alone.”
“You're not.”
I looked at him.
He didn't move.
“Fine.”
We drove to the old Vale estate.
The house had been abandoned for years.
My father had died there.
My mother hated the place.
Or claimed she did.
The front door was open.
Inside, everything was dark.
“Clara!”
No answer.
We searched room by room.
Then I heard a sound from upstairs.
A cry.
I ran.
Clara was sitting on the floor.
Her wrists were tied with cloth.
Her face was wet with tears.
I dropped beside her.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Is the baby okay?”
She nodded.
I cut the restraints.
“Who brought you here?”
She looked toward the hallway.
“Your mother.”
My jaw tightened.
“Where is she?”
“She left.”
Victor entered.
“Boss.”
I helped Clara stand.
Then she froze.
“Adrian.”
“What?”
“There.”
On the wall was an old photograph.
My father.
My mother.
Me.
And another man.
I stared at him.
I knew that face.
Marcus Hale.
My father's former business partner.
The man everyone believed had died fifteen years ago.
“He's alive,” I whispered.
Clara nodded.
“He's the one who has been watching me.”
Victor's expression changed.
“Boss…”
“What?”
“We found something in the basement.”
We went downstairs.
Inside an old metal cabinet were dozens of files.
Photographs.
Bank records.
Surveillance reports.
And one folder with Clara's name.
I opened it.
The first page was dated three years ago.
The last page was dated yesterday.
Someone had been tracking Clara for years.
But the most disturbing document was a birth record.
It showed a baby born three years ago.
Mother: Clara Hayes.
Father:
Adrian Vale.
I stared at it.
My hands shook.
“She registered the baby.”
Clara nodded.
“I did.”
“Why didn't I know?”
“Because your mother intercepted the original.”
I looked at Victor.
“Find out where Marcus is.”
Victor nodded.
Then Clara grabbed my arm.
“Adrian.”
“What?”
“There is something else.”
She looked terrified.
“Marcus didn't just want your money.”
“What did he want?”
“He wanted you.”
I frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“He said your father promised him the Vale empire.”
My blood ran cold.
“And when your father died, he blamed you.”
The house seemed suddenly colder.
Clara whispered:
“He said the only way to take everything from you was to make you destroy yourself.”
I looked at the files.
My marriage.
My company.
My family.
My life.
Someone had been manipulating all of it.
And then I found the final photograph.
It showed my mother shaking hands with Marcus.
The date was yesterday.
I stared at it.
May you like
My mother hadn't been protecting our family.
She had been working with the man trying to destroy it.
