Chapter 9
The company was not Adam’s.
It belonged to Beatrice’s brother, Marcus Vale.
Adam knew Marcus.
Everyone did.
Generous Uncle Marcus.
The man who paid for Adam’s college.
The man who had given them the down payment for this house.
Emma had worked briefly for one of Marcus’s subsidiaries.
She found irregular accounts.
Transfers routed through shell companies.
Payments to nonexistent contractors.
Then she discovered something worse.
Her boyfriend, Daniel Price, was one of Marcus’s accountants.
Daniel tried to help her gather evidence.
Two months later, Daniel disappeared.
Emma learned she was pregnant shortly afterward.
Noah was Daniel’s son.
Adam looked at the newborn.
Then at his mother.
“What did Marcus do?”
Beatrice whispered.
“Nothing.”
The video kept playing.
Emma said Richard contacted her because Daniel had secretly sent him copies of financial records before vanishing.
Richard had been trying to expose Marcus for years.
But he never went to police because Marcus had threatened Adam.
Adam stopped the video.
“My father disappeared to protect me?”
Beatrice stared at him.
“Your father was weak.”
“No.”
Adam shook his head.
“You told me he abandoned us.”
“He did.”
“You told me he was dead.”
“He left us to clean up his mess.”
Adam’s voice broke.
“What mess?”
Beatrice snapped.
“He thought he could destroy my family.”
Sophia stared.
“Your family?”
Beatrice realized what she had said.
Too late.
Adam resumed the video.
Emma explained the final piece.
Beatrice had always known Richard was alive.
She had helped Marcus hide financial crimes for years.
The fake funeral had not been about heartbreak.
It had been about erasing Richard socially.
If everyone believed he was dead, no one would search for him.
And if Richard eventually tried to return, he could be painted as unstable or fraudulent.
Emma held up the memory card.
“This contains copies of everything Daniel found. If I disappear, give it to the police.”
The video ended.
No one spoke.
Then Adam opened the second file.
Security footage.
A hospital parking lot.
Emma walking toward a car.
A black SUV pulled alongside her.
A man stepped out.
Marcus Vale.
Adam stared at his uncle.
Emma tried to back away.
Marcus grabbed her arm.
The video cut off.
Sophia gasped.
“That was yesterday.”
Adam reached for his phone.
Beatrice moved.
She slapped it from his hand.
It struck the floor.
“Stop!”
Everyone froze.
Beatrice was crying now.
Not quietly.
Not with dignity.
Completely.
“You don’t understand what Marcus will do.”
Adam picked up the phone.
“Then tell me where Emma is.”
“I don’t know.”
“Where is my father?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who does?”
Beatrice looked toward the window.
Outside, headlights swept across the front yard.
A vehicle stopped.
Beatrice's face changed.
Sophia immediately pulled Noah closer.
Adam looked through the blinds.
A black SUV sat in the driveway.
The same model from the hospital footage.
The driver's door opened.
Marcus stepped out.
Adam whispered.
“You called him.”
Beatrice shook her head.
“No.”
“Did you?”
“I told him the card was here.”
Sophia backed away.
“Why?”
Beatrice looked at her.
“Because I was trying to save my son.”
Adam stared.
“By locking my newborn nephew inside a wall?”
“You have no idea who Marcus is.”
Adam walked toward the front door.
Beatrice grabbed his arm.
“No.”
He pulled free.
“I’m done being afraid of people I was taught to trust.”
He dialed emergency services.
Then Marcus knocked.
Three slow knocks.
Not urgent.
Not worried.
Confident.
Beatrice whispered.
“Don’t open it.”
Adam stared through the glass.
Marcus smiled.
Then tried the handle.
Locked.
He knocked again.
“Adam?”
No answer.
Marcus’s voice remained calm.
“Your mother called me.”
Adam spoke to the dispatcher quietly.
“My uncle is outside. I believe he may be connected to a missing woman and other crimes. Please send police.”
Sophia stood behind the kitchen island holding Noah.
Beatrice looked between Adam and the door.
Her entire body shook.
Marcus knocked harder.
“Open the door.”
Adam said nothing.
Then Marcus stopped.
He looked through the side window.
His eyes found the laptop.
The memory card.
Sophia.
Noah.
His smile disappeared.
He stepped backward.
Turned.
And ran toward the SUV.
Adam gave the dispatcher the license plate.
The vehicle tore away from the house.
Beatrice collapsed into a chair.
“He’ll kill me.”
Adam looked at her.
“Maybe you should have thought about that before helping him.”
She looked up.
“I did it for you.”
“No.”
Adam’s voice was cold now.
“You did it because choosing him was easier than telling the truth.”
Twenty-three minutes later, police arrived.
By then, Adam had copied every file from the memory card onto two separate drives and sent another copy to a cloud account.
Beatrice watched him.
“You’re just like your father.”
Adam looked at her.
May you like
For the first time, those words didn't sound like an insult.
“Good.”
