Chapter 10
Lily climbed carefully onto the bed and pressed her face against her mother’s side.
Grace opened her eyes. “My baby.”
“I stayed with Uncle Adrian.”
“You were brave?”
Lily shook her head. “I cried a lot.”
Grace smiled weakly. “Brave people cry.”
Adrian stood near the foot of the bed.
Grace looked at him. “I’m sorry I followed you.”
“You saved my life.”
“You already owed Lily one. Now we’re even.”
“No.” His voice was quiet. “We will never be even.”
Grace studied him. For the first time, there was no distance in his expression. No wall between employer and employee, ruler and servant, powerful man and struggling mother. Only fear. Only gratitude. Only something neither of them was ready to name.
Three days later, Adrian called a meeting in the great hall of the estate. Representatives from every allied family attended. Senior employees from his legal businesses stood along the walls. Two attorneys and a detective from the Port Lawson Police Department waited near the entrance.
Vanessa and Mason were brought in separately. Mason’s hand was bandaged. Vanessa still wore her pride like jewelry.
Adrian stood at the head of the room. “For eleven years, Mason Reed held my trust,” he began. “For three years, Vanessa Ward held my name.”
He displayed the evidence piece by piece: the affair, the leaked route, the sedatives, the forced contamination of the surgical instruments, the forged will, the kidnapping of Daniel’s family, and the plan to murder Grace and Lily.
Vanessa laughed. “You expect these people to believe a housekeeper and a toddler over me?”
Adrian turned toward the doorway. Dr. Daniel Mercer entered with Rachel and Caleb beside him. Daniel’s eyes met Vanessa’s. Her smile disappeared.
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Next came the four captured men from the clinic, accompanied by police officers. Then Noah played Mason’s recorded phone call.
It’s done. Prepare the second phase.
