Chapter 12 - Mrs. Thornbury Finally Talks
Mrs. Thornbury knew about the birth certificate.
Of course she did.
When we returned, Stellan placed Julian under guard inside the estate.
Not imprisoned, technically.
Julian called it imprisonment.
Stellan called it hospitality with locked doors.
I stopped asking.
Mrs. Thornbury stood in the library while Julian explained the hidden registration.
She closed her eyes.
“You should have told them,” Julian said.
“You should not lecture anyone about honesty.”
“Fair.”
I looked between them.
“Explain.”
Thornbury sat down.
“Adrian prepared documents before Fern was born.”
“How could he register a baby who hadn’t been born?”
“He didn’t.”
“Then?”
“He created a sealed family trust using the anticipated name.”
Fern Vincent Cross.
My daughter’s second name was supposed to be Vincent.
“Why name her after a man Adrian believed was dangerous?”
Stellan answered.
“Because Father was obsessed with legacy.”
Thornbury nodded.
“The name was bait.”
A legal key Vincent would recognize.
Adrian wanted his father to reveal himself.
“What does the name unlock?”
“A vault.”
“Where?”
Mrs. Thornbury looked at Stellan.
“Beneath the family mausoleum.”
Stellan looked exhausted by the number of hidden spaces his family apparently possessed.
“Of course there’s a vault under the mausoleum.”
Despite everything, I nearly laughed.
At midnight, we went.
This time nobody pretended there were no guards.
The Cross mausoleum stood at the center of the cemetery.
Inside were plaques for generations of the family.
Including Vincent.
Stellan stared at his father’s name.
“Feels optimistic now.”
Mrs. Thornbury located a hidden mechanism behind the plaque.
A keypad appeared.
Code?
FERN.
Nothing.
VINCENT.
Nothing.
FERNVINCENT.
Green light.
The stone panel moved.
Inside was a steel box.
We opened it.
Documents.
Passports.
Photographs.
And another recording from Adrian.
This one was dated six months earlier.
He appeared exhausted.
“Stellan, Selene, if you’re watching this, Vincent is alive.”
I gripped the edge of the table.
“I confirmed it personally.”
Stellan leaned closer.
“Father found me after the accident. He kept me in private medical care until I could walk.”
My stomach turned.
“Then he offered me a choice. Work for him or watch Selene die.”
I closed my eyes.
“I pretended to agree.”
Adrian smiled faintly.
“Turns out lying runs in the family.”
Stellan exhaled.
“I’ve spent months moving evidence into places he cannot reach. Fern’s trust was part of it.”
Adrian’s expression changed.
“I saw her once.”
Tears immediately filled my eyes.
“Outside Selene’s apartment.”
His voice broke.
“She had a yellow blanket.”
I remembered.
Fern was six months old.
I had taken her outside after rain.
“I wanted to walk across the street.”
He swallowed.
“I didn’t.”
I cried silently.
“If I survive this, I will spend the rest of my life apologizing.”
Then Adrian looked directly into the camera.
“If I don’t, tell Fern I stayed away because I loved her, not because I forgot her.”
Stellan’s jaw tightened.
The video continued.
“Vincent has one weakness.”
“What?” Stellan whispered.
“He needs the family to believe he was right.”
Adrian leaned closer.
“He won’t disappear if he thinks he can make Stellan choose him.”
The recording ended.
Another document lay beneath the device.
A location.
An old Cross steel mill outside Chicago.
And a date.
Tomorrow.
Stellan studied it.
“He wants a meeting.”
“With Vincent?” I asked.
“Yes.”
Julian shook his head.
“It could be a trap.”
“It is a trap.”
“Then don’t go.”
Stellan looked at him.
“I’m going.”
I folded my arms.
“So am I.”
“No.”
“Here we go again.”
This time, Mrs. Thornbury intervened.
“Selene cannot go.”
“Thank you,” Stellan said.
She continued.
“Because Vincent expects her to.”
Stellan frowned.
“What?”
“He will prepare for Selene. Not for Helena.”
Everyone looked toward Stellan’s mother.
Helena smiled coldly.
“Finally.”
Stellan looked horrified.
“No.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“How unfortunate. Apparently controlling behavior is hereditary.”
For once, I liked her.
The plan changed.
Stellan and Helena would meet Vincent.
I would remain in a secure command vehicle with Darius.
Julian would provide access codes.
Fern remained at the mansion under Mrs. Thornbury’s protection.
Before leaving, I went to Fern’s nursery.
She was asleep.
Stellan entered behind me.
For several moments, neither of us spoke.
“What happens if he really is there?” I asked.
“My father?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know.”
“Will you kill him?”
Stellan looked at Fern.
“No.”
The answer surprised me.
“Why?”
“Because Adrian asked me not to become him.”
I studied Stellan.
Maybe people did change.
Not because they were forgiven.
Because eventually someone gave them something more important than vengeance.
Fern moved in her sleep.
Stellan touched her little hand.
She closed her fingers around his.
“You’ll come back?” I asked.
He looked at me.
“Yes.”
“Promise?”
His expression softened.
“I’ve learned not to make promises in this family.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“No.”
He held my gaze.
“It isn’t.”
Two hours later, his vehicle entered the abandoned Cross steel mill.
Cameras transmitted everything to us.
Stellan stepped out.
Helena beside him.
Then another car appeared.
A tall older man exited.
Gray hair.
Cane.
Vincent Cross.
Alive.
Father and son faced each other for the first time in twelve years.
Vincent smiled.
“Stellan.”
Stellan’s face gave nothing away.
“Father.”
Vincent opened his arms.
“I’m home.”
Stellan did not move.
Then a second man stepped from the vehicle.
Marcus Vale.
And behind him—
My heart stopped.
Adrian.
Alive.
Hands restrained.
Face bruised.
But alive.
I screamed his name even though he could not hear me.
Vincent looked toward the hidden camera.
Then smiled.
He knew exactly where I was watching from.
May you like
And everything Adrian had planned had just reached its final stage.
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