Chapter 8 - War Inside Vale House
Adrian returned to Vale House the next morning alone.
That was deliberate.
Ariana and Rose remained at Miles’ apartment under protection.
Elena stayed with them.
Adrian wanted whoever was watching to believe his family had separated again.
He wanted the enemy to become comfortable.
Vale House looked exactly as it always had.
Forty rooms.
Lake views.
Stone floors.
Original art.
Silence worth millions.
But Adrian no longer saw a home.
He saw a crime scene.
Every employee credential was frozen.
Every internal security account copied.
Every entrance monitored by a temporary team that reported only to Miles.
Charles Mercer’s office had been sealed overnight.
Mercer himself had disappeared.
Vanessa had not answered calls since morning.
Theodore Harrington released a statement describing the collapse of the merger as “temporary private disagreements.”
Adrian smiled when he read it.
Temporary.
He walked into the formal library.
Eleanor waited near the windows.
“You moved security without telling me,” she said.
“Yes.”
“You locked me out of half the house.”
“Yes.”
“You froze my financial access.”
“Yes.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“I am your mother.”
“That isn’t a security clearance.”
“Don’t speak to me like one of your employees.”
“Then answer like family.”
He dropped copies of the payment records on the table.
Eleanor looked at them.
“My credentials were stolen.”
“So you keep saying.”
“I did not investigate Ariana.”
“Did you support Vanessa?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I believed the marriage was destroying you.”
Adrian stared.
“My marriage?”
“You stopped sleeping. You traveled constantly. Every time you returned, the two of you argued.”
“Maybe I traveled because I didn’t want to face what I was doing.”
Eleanor blinked.
That was not the answer she expected.
Adrian continued.
“You liked Vanessa because she made sense on paper.”
“Yes.”
“I married Ariana because she made sense nowhere except here.”
He touched his chest.
“And I forgot that was the point.”
Eleanor’s expression softened.
“Adrian…”
“I have a daughter.”
The words changed the room.
Eleanor slowly sat.
“What?”
“Her name is Rose.”
His mother stared at him.
“She’s three months old.”
“Oh, my God.”
The reaction was real.
Adrian knew his mother well enough to see it.
Eleanor had not known.
“She’s healthy.”
Tears appeared in his mother’s eyes.
“My granddaughter.”
“Yes.”
“Where is she?”
“Safe.”
“Can I see her?”
“Not yet.”
Pain flashed across Eleanor’s face.
“You don’t trust me.”
“I don’t trust anyone.”
A silence.
Then she nodded.
“Fair.”
Adrian pushed another paper toward her.
“Why did Mercer have your access key?”
Eleanor stared at the page.
Then something seemed to occur to her.
“The gala.”
“What?”
“Eight months ago. My phone was replaced after the Foundation gala.”
“Why?”
“It stopped working.”
“Who handled the replacement?”
Her face changed.
“Charles.”
Adrian immediately called Miles.
Within minutes, investigators confirmed Eleanor’s secure credential token had been cloned during that period.
She had been framed.
Eleanor sat back.
“I brought him into this family.”
“Mercer?”
“Your father did.”
“No. Dad hired him.”
“I kept him after Richard died.”
She looked sick.
“I trusted him.”
Adrian said quietly, “So did I.”
For once, mother and son shared the same failure.
At noon, Vanessa arrived.
Uninvited.
Security stopped her at the front entrance.
Adrian allowed her inside.
She entered the library wearing a beige coat, sunglasses, and none of her usual perfection.
She looked frightened.
Eleanor stood.
“What are you doing here?”
“I need to speak to Adrian.”
“You can speak in front of her,” Adrian said.
Vanessa looked at Eleanor.
Then at him.
“My father is planning something.”
Adrian’s expression did not change.
“You’ll need to be more specific.”
“I think he intends to remove Mercer.”
“Remove?”
Vanessa swallowed.
“Permanently.”
Eleanor stared.
Adrian remained still.
“Why tell me?”
“Because this has gone too far.”
“When exactly did it become too far?”
Vanessa flinched.
“When someone tried to take the baby.”
So she knew.
Adrian stepped toward her.
“You knew Ariana was pregnant.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Rose existed.”
“Yes.”
Eleanor whispered, “My God.”
Adrian stopped only a few feet from Vanessa.
“You threatened my wife.”
“No.”
“You told Ariana she should have told me about the baby before you made me hate her.”
Vanessa closed her eyes.
“I said it.”
“Why?”
“I was angry.”
“Why did you want me to leave Ariana?”
“Because I wanted you.”
No excuses.
No polished answer.
Just the truth.
Adrian stared at her.
“And the photographs?”
“My father told me Ariana was hiding financial information from you. He said Mercer was investigating.”
“You believed him?”
“At first.”
“At first.”
She looked ashamed.
“Then I realized she was pregnant.”
“When?”
“The clinic.”
“You followed her?”
“No. Mercer asked me to confirm she was the woman in the photographs.”
“And when you realized?”
“I should have told you.”
“Yes.”
“But my father said the pregnancy might not be yours.”
“And you believed that because it was convenient.”
Vanessa looked at him.
“Yes.”
The honesty infuriated him more than denial might have.
“You helped destroy my marriage.”
“Yes.”
“You stood in my house while Ariana left carrying nothing but a suitcase.”
Vanessa’s eyes filled.
“Yes.”
“And you knew my daughter existed.”
“Yes.”
Adrian looked away because the urge to destroy everything around him was suddenly overwhelming.
Eleanor spoke.
“Why was Rose targeted?”
Vanessa shook her head.
“I didn’t know that part. I swear.”
“Your father’s companies benefit if Adrian has no heir,” Eleanor said.
“I knew there were trust provisions. I didn’t know the details.”
“Mercer did,” Adrian said.
Vanessa nodded.
“My father and Mercer have worked together for years.”
“Where is Mercer?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where is your father?”
“At Harrington Tower.”
“Why are you here?”
Vanessa reached inside her coat.
Security immediately moved.
She froze.
“It’s a drive.”
Adrian held out his hand.
She placed a small black USB drive in it.
“What is this?”
“Files from my father’s private office.”
Miles entered just then.
Adrian handed him the drive.
Vanessa continued.
“There are payments. Messages. Trust documents.”
“Why steal them?”
“Because last night I heard my father talking to Mercer.”
“What did they say?”
Vanessa looked toward the windows.
“That Ariana and Rose should never have made it back to Chicago.”
Adrian’s face became deadly still.
“What exactly did your father say?”
Vanessa whispered, “He said Phase Two failed.”
Miles looked at Adrian.
The phrase from the text message.
Adrian asked, “What is Phase Three?”
Vanessa shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
The alarm sounded.
Not a loud siren.
A quiet security tone inside Adrian’s phone.
Miles checked his immediately.
His face went white.
“What?”
Miles looked at him.
“Apartment breach.”
Adrian did not breathe.
“What apartment?”
“Miles’.”
The room stopped.
Rose.
Ariana.
Adrian ran.
He did not wait for the elevator.
He took the stairs two at a time.
Miles followed.
Security vehicles were already moving before they reached the driveway.
The call connected.
Elena answered.
She was crying.
“Where is Ariana?” Adrian shouted.
“She took Rose into the bedroom when we heard glass break.”
“Is she there?”
“I don’t know. I can’t find her.”
“What do you mean you can’t find her?”
“The window…”
Adrian’s blood went cold.
“What window?”
“The fire escape.”
Adrian gripped the phone.
“Elena, where is Ariana?”
Elena sobbed.
“She’s gone.”
Adrian stopped breathing.
“And Rose?”
A terrible silence followed.
Then Elena gave the answer that transformed fear into pure terror.
May you like
“Rose is gone too.”
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