Chapter 10 - The Night His Kingdom Turned Against Him
Adrian did not reach for a weapon.
He reached for Lena.
“Back door.”
Rebecca shook her head.
“There's nowhere to go.”
Gabriel looked outside.
Three vehicles.
Too many.
Adrian's phone rang.
Gideon.
“You continue disappointing me,” Gideon said.
Adrian stared through the window.
“You continue surviving disappointment.”
“I want the drive.”
“You're becoming repetitive.”
“Then let me simplify matters.”
Another vehicle arrived.
Not Gideon's.
Vale security.
Adrian relaxed.
Then the Vale men stepped out—
and joined Gideon's.
Gabriel swore.
Adrian's empire was splitting.
Gideon had spent decades buying loyalty.
“Your organization isn't yours anymore,” Gideon said.
Adrian's expression remained calm.
“Organizations aren't people.”
“What?”
“You can buy employees.”
Adrian looked at Lena.
“Not loyalty.”
He ended the call.
Gabriel asked, “Plan?”
Adrian smiled.
Lena had learned that Adrian smiling during dangerous moments was rarely reassuring.
“We leave.”
“How?”
“Front door.”
“That is a terrible plan,” Lena said.
“You jumped into the East River.”
“Stop using that against me.”
Adrian opened the door.
Gideon's men waited.
Then something unexpected happened.
Police vehicles appeared.
Federal vehicles behind them.
Gideon's men scattered.
Lena stared.
“You called the FBI?”
Adrian adjusted his coat.
“Technically Gabriel did.”
“When?”
“Before Vale Tower.”
“You already gave them the evidence?”
“Copies.”
Lena stared.
“You let Gideon believe we still had the only copy.”
“Yes.”
“You manipulative—”
“Thank you.”
“That wasn't a compliment.”
“I accepted it as one.”
For the first time in days, Lena laughed.
Then a shot of fear crossed Adrian's face.
Gideon wasn't among the detained men.
He had escaped again.
Worse, so had Crane.
The federal investigation began exploding across New York.
Helixor accounts frozen.
Hospital administrators questioned.
Foundation executives suspended.
News organizations obtained fragments of the story.
But Adrian had one concern.
Lena.
Her name had leaked.
By afternoon, reporters surrounded Vale Tower.
HOMELESS WOMAN SAVES BILLIONAIRE.
VALE FOUNDATION LINKED TO SECRET MEDICAL TRIAL.
MYSTERY WOMAN AT CENTER OF SCANDAL.
Lena hated every headline.
“I'm not a mystery woman.”
Adrian looked at the television.
“Technically—”
“Don't.”
He shut it off.
Her past became public.
Debt.
Eviction.
Nursing school.
Her mother's death.
Strangers debated her life online.
Some called her heroic.
Others called her opportunistic.
One article suggested she had staged Adrian's rescue.
Lena stared.
“I cut your brakes now?”
“Apparently.”
“I was sleeping under a bridge.”
“An elaborate cover.”
She threw a pillow at him.
Adrian caught it.
Then both became quiet.
Something had changed.
They could feel it.
The crisis had forced them together.
But underneath danger, something warmer had begun.
Neither named it.
That evening Adrian found Lena in the penthouse kitchen.
She was making instant noodles.
He stared.
“There is a chef.”
“I wanted noodles.”
“We have food.”
“This is food.”
“Debatable.”
Lena pointed the fork at him.
“You're becoming annoying again.”
“Again?”
She smiled.
Adrian leaned against the counter.
“What happens after this?”
She stopped.
“I don't know.”
“School.”
Lena looked at him.
“I heard the recording too.”
“I can't afford school.”
“Yes, you can.”
“No.”
He sighed.
“I knew that answer was coming.”
“I don't want your money.”
“Why?”
“Because then I'll owe you.”
“You pulled me from a sinking car.”
“I don't want repayment.”
“Neither do I.”
“Then why?”
Adrian hesitated.
Because he wanted her to stay.
He couldn't say it.
Not yet.
“Because your mother wanted you to finish.”
“That's emotional manipulation.”
“Yes.”
“You're terrible.”
“So I've been told.”
Lena smiled.
Then the building alarm sounded.
Both froze.
Gabriel entered.
“Fire system.”
“Real?”
“No.”
Adrian understood immediately.
Distraction.
The lights died.
Again.
Lena whispered, “I'm beginning to hate dramatic lighting.”
Adrian almost smiled.
Then the elevator opened.
One man emerged.
Dr. Jonathan Crane.
Alive.
Older than the photographs.
Thin.
Calm.
He held no visible weapon.
That somehow made him worse.
“Lena Mercer.”
Adrian stepped in front of her.
Crane smiled.
“Vincent's son.”
“You're under arrest.”
“Eventually.”
Crane looked at Lena.
“You've caused extraordinary inconvenience.”
“Good.”
“You sound like Elaine.”
“Better.”
Crane's smile faded.
“Your mother wasted an opportunity.”
“My mother was a patient, not an opportunity.”
“You could change medicine.”
“By being experimented on?”
“By participating.”
“No.”
Crane studied her.
“You don't understand what you are.”
Adrian's voice hardened.
“She is a person.”
Crane glanced at him.
“That's sentimental.”
“Yes.”
The answer surprised everyone.
Including Adrian.
He looked at Lena.
She looked back.
Crane noticed.
“Interesting.”
He stepped backward.
“Ask Adrian why his father really protected you.”
Lena frowned.
“We know why.”
“No.”
Crane smiled.
“Vincent discovered your mutation years before Elaine became ill.”
Adrian went still.
Lena stared.
“What?”
“Your mother wasn't the beginning.”
Crane pressed the elevator button.
“Your father was.”
Lena stopped breathing.
“My father died when I was four.”
“Did he?”
The elevator doors closed.
By the time security reached the lobby, Crane was gone.
Lena remained motionless.
Adrian approached.
“What was your father's name?”
She looked at him.
“Thomas Mercer.”
Gabriel searched.
Nothing unusual.
Then Sebastian called.
His voice shook.
“Adrian.”
“What?”
“I found an old file belonging to Vincent.”
“About?”
“Thomas Mercer.”
Lena grabbed the phone.
“What does it say?”
Sebastian hesitated.
Then answered:
“Your father didn't die when you were four.”
Lena's world stopped.
May you like
“He worked for Helixor for another twelve years.”
---
