Chapter 9 - The Enemy Inside the Penthouse
Adrien did not tell anyone the name Elena gave him.
Not Marcus.
Not Lucas.
Not Daniel.
Not even Grace until they were alone.
Then he closed the clinic waiting-room door.
“Thomas Vane.”
Grace frowned.
One of their residential security supervisors.
He had worked for Adrien for seven years.
Thomas was the man who coordinated Grace's drivers.
The man who knew when she worked late.
The man who knew when Adrien was out of town.
The man who had been standing downstairs the night Adrien found the ring.
Grace felt sick.
“Are you sure?”
“My mother identified him.”
“Could she be wrong?”
“Yes.”
Adrien appreciated the question.
Months earlier, he might have treated an accusation as proof.
Now he said:
“Which is why we verify it.”
Marcus investigated without being told the target.
Adrien asked him to audit communication patterns for every residential officer.
Four hours later, Marcus entered the clinic conference room.
His face told them everything.
“You already knew.”
Adrien nodded.
“Thomas?”
“Yes.”
Marcus looked furious with himself.
“I hired him.”
“So did I.”
“I vetted him.”
“So did I.”
Grace interrupted.
“This is not useful.”
Both men looked at her.
She folded her arms.
“You can spend tonight competing over who should feel guiltier after we solve the actual problem.”
Lucas, seated nearby, tried not to smile.
Adrien looked at Grace.
“Yes, ma'am.”
Marcus almost laughed.
Then he opened the report.
Thomas had been sending encrypted location updates to a private number.
The recipient traced back to a company connected to Vittorio.
“He's on duty tonight,” Marcus said.
“At the penthouse?” Grace asked.
“Yes.”
Adrien's expression hardened.
“Good.”
Grace immediately understood.
“No.”
Adrien looked at her.
“We can use him.”
“We are not turning our home into bait.”
“Not our home.”
Grace waited.
Adrien smiled slightly.
“His expectations.”
They fed Thomas false information.
Marcus casually informed residential staff that Grace would return to the penthouse to retrieve original restoration equipment before traveling to the courthouse.
In reality, Grace remained in a secure location.
Thomas sent the information within seven minutes.
Then Vittorio moved.
A representative arrived at the building claiming to deliver legal papers.
Another vehicle waited nearby.
No attack.
No dramatic confrontation.
Instead they attempted something more sophisticated.
An emergency injunction.
The documents claimed Grace was mentally distressed and being manipulated by Adrien into altering trust records for personal gain.
Grace read the filing and almost laughed.
“They're trying to discredit me.”
Adrien did not laugh.
“They're trying to prevent you from authenticating the document.”
Daniel nodded.
“If a judge grants temporary review, midnight passes.”
“And the trust dissolves,” Lucas finished.
Marcus added, “The hearing is scheduled for nine tomorrow morning.”
Grace looked around the room.
“Then we go.”
Adrien frowned.
“You don't have to—”
“Don't.”
He stopped.
Grace stepped closer.
“This entire scheme depends on everyone assuming I am the weakest person in the room.”
Adrien's mouth curved faintly.
“That has always been Robert's biggest mistake.”
At nine the next morning, Grace entered the courthouse wearing a navy dress, low heels, and no wedding ring.
Photographers waited outside.
Rumors had already reached the media.
MORETTI MARRIAGE CRISIS.
FOUNDATION DISPUTE.
WIFE SEEKS CONTROL OF BILLION-DOLLAR PROPERTY TRUST.
Grace saw headlines on phones as she entered.
Robert wanted her embarrassed.
Good.
She had spent too much of her life learning that embarrassment only worked when you agreed to carry it.
Inside, Vittorio appeared personally.
Adrien saw him across the hallway.
His godfather smiled.
“Adrien.”
“You've had better mornings.”
Vittorio sighed.
“You believe terrible things about me.”
“I believe documents.”
“You used to believe people.”
“I did.”
Adrien held his gaze.
“That was your mistake.”
Vittorio glanced toward Grace.
“She's changed you.”
“Yes.”
“That woman will cost you your family.”
Adrien looked toward Lucas, Elena, and Grace.
Then back at Vittorio.
“No.”
“She gave it back.”
The hearing lasted ninety minutes.
Vittorio's attorneys argued Grace lacked independence because of her marriage.
Grace's attorney responded with professional credentials, chain-of-custody records, and independent testing.
Then Robert entered.
Every head turned.
Adrien had not seen him since their confrontation.
Robert looked composed.
He took the witness stand.
Under oath, he claimed Grace had misunderstood their gala conversation.
He denied giving her forged documents.
Grace's attorney produced hallway footage.
Robert acknowledged the envelope.
He claimed the papers came from anonymous archives.
Then Grace testified.
She explained exactly why the documents were fraudulent.
The outdated crest.
The impossible typeface.
The altered ink.
The judge listened.
Robert's composure weakened.
Then Grace's attorney presented the original property agreement from locker 314.
Robert went pale.
Vittorio did not.
That frightened Adrien more.
The judge denied the injunction.
Grace was free to authenticate.
They left the courthouse with fourteen hours remaining.
Outside, reporters shouted questions.
“Mrs. Moretti, are you divorcing your husband?”
Grace stopped.
Adrien looked at her.
She could have kept walking.
Instead she faced the cameras.
“No.”
The crowd quieted.
Grace raised her bare hand.
“My wedding ring is currently somewhere safe.”
Adrien smiled.
Grace continued.
“And so is my marriage.”
Questions exploded.
She walked away.
In the car, Adrien took her hand.
“You enjoyed that.”
“A little.”
“You terrified Robert.”
“I enjoyed that more.”
They laughed for the first time in days.
Then Marcus's phone rang.
His smile disappeared.
“What?”
He listened.
Then turned toward Adrien.
“Elena is gone.”
Adrien froze.
“Gone how?”
“She checked herself out.”
“With who?”
Marcus looked at the location report.
“Thomas Vane.”
Grace's blood ran cold.
“How?”
“He entered using forged medical authorization.”
Adrien immediately called Elena.
No answer.
Then Grace's phone buzzed.
A video message.
Elena appeared inside a moving car.
She did not look frightened.
Instead she looked directly into the camera.
“Adrien, don't come after me.”
His jaw tightened.
Elena continued.
“I chose to go.”
Grace looked at Adrien.
The message ended with one sentence.
“Vittorio has something that belongs to me, and tonight I am taking it back.”
The video stopped.
Then Lucas's phone rang.
He answered.
Listened.
And turned white.
“What?” Adrien demanded.
Lucas lowered the phone.
“That was my hospital.”
His eyes moved to Elena's photograph.
“They found a patient record under an old alias.”
“Whose?”
Lucas swallowed.
“Elena's.”
Adrien waited.
Lucas continued.
“She was treated there twenty-four years ago.”
“For what?”
Lucas looked at his brother.
“Not childbirth.”
He turned the screen.
The record showed a second procedure.
Another infant.
Another sealed identity.
Lucas whispered:
“Adrien…”
“There were twins.”
May you like
Lucas had a twin brother.
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