Chapter 7 - The Price of Sergio’s Future
Sergio woke in a private hospital room under police protection.
Doctors found a sedative in his system, but no serious injury. He claimed he could not remember the hours between entering Adrian’s archive and being discovered.
Elena visited without Grace.
Sergio turned his face toward the window when she entered.
“You won,” he said.
“This was never supposed to be a competition.”
“It always was in our house.”
Elena sat in the chair beside his bed.
“Sergio, what did Adrian give you?”
He closed his eyes.
“A key and instructions.”
“What instructions?”
“To give you the key if anything happened to him.”
“Why you?”
“Because Adrian knew Mom and Dad checked your things. He thought they ignored me.”
“They didn’t ignore you.”
“They used me differently.”
Elena waited.
Sergio looked toward the door.
“Damian met me during my first year at university. He said I had potential. He introduced me to executives, paid for training, and made me feel like I was already part of something important.”
“And then he asked about me.”
“At first, small things. Whether you were dating Adrian. Whether Adrian stayed at our house. Whether you talked about the baby.”
“You told him everything.”
“I thought he was helping Adrian.”
“When did you realize he wasn’t?”
“The night Adrian gave me the locker key.”
Sergio swallowed.
“He said Damian might try to stop him from reaching a trust meeting. He told me not to trust Dad. I laughed at him.”
“Why?”
“Because Dad had spent my whole life telling me people like Adrian looked down on families like ours.”
Elena thought of Martin taking Damian’s envelope.
“What was in the packet removed from the archive?”
“Adrian’s original trust amendment and an audio recording.”
“Where is it?”
“I gave it to Damian.”
Elena stood.
Sergio gripped the blanket.
“I didn’t have a choice.”
“You always had a choice.”
“He had the livestream.”
Elena stopped.
“What livestream?”
“Not the one you saw. Another one.”
Sergio explained.
Months earlier, during a party, he had driven after drinking and struck a cyclist. The cyclist survived, but Damian obtained footage of Sergio leaving the scene. Rather than report him, Damian paid the victim’s medical costs and kept the recording.
“He said if I stopped cooperating, he would release it and make sure I went to prison.”
Elena’s anger did not disappear, but it changed shape.
“You should have told the truth.”
“I know.”
“You signed statements against me.”
“I know.”
“You helped them take my home.”
“I know.”
Sergio began to cry.
“I thought if I gave Damian the packet, he would let me go. Then I overheard him say the DNA result did not matter because he had a second plan.”
“What plan?”
“He wants the Vale board to declare Adrian legally disqualified before his death.”
“How can a dead man be disqualified?”
“If they prove Adrian violated company rules or misused trust assets, his shares could return to the central family trust instead of passing to Grace.”
“What evidence does Damian have?”
“None. He planned to create it.”
Elena sat again.
“What was on Adrian’s audio recording?”
“I only heard part of it.”
“Tell me.”
“Adrian was arguing with someone about the crash.”
“The crash had not happened yet.”
“Not his crash. His father’s.”
Adrian’s father, Charles Vale, had died eight years earlier when his private helicopter went down during a storm. The accident transformed Vivian from a reserved board member into the company’s chairwoman.
Sergio lowered his voice.
“Adrian said someone tampered with the maintenance reports. He believed Damian knew.”
The door opened.
Vivian stood there.
She had heard the final sentence.
“My husband’s crash was investigated,” she said.
Sergio looked terrified.
“So was Adrian’s.”
Vivian entered and closed the door.
“Who was Adrian arguing with?”
“I don’t know.”
“You said you heard the recording.”
“I heard two voices. Adrian and a woman.”
Vivian’s expression changed.
“What did the woman say?”
Sergio tried to remember.
“She said exposing the report would destroy the company. Adrian said the company deserved to be destroyed if it was built on murder.”
Vivian gripped the back of a chair.
Elena watched her.
“You recognize the woman.”
“No.”
“You do.”
Vivian looked at Sergio.
“Was there a name?”
“He called her Mother.”
The room became silent.
Vivian moved toward the window.
“That is impossible.”
“Was it your voice?” Elena asked.
“No.”
“Then why would Adrian call another woman Mother?”
Vivian did not answer.
Naomi arrived with Detective Aaron Blake, who had been assigned to the fraud and intimidation investigation. Sergio agreed to provide a full statement. He also gave police access to his accounts and admitted his role in the false reports.
He would likely face charges for the hit-and-run and the guardianship fraud.
For once, no one promised to protect him from the consequences.
Before Elena left, Sergio called her back.
“There is something else.”
“What?”
“When I entered the archive, Damian told me to search for a blue ledger.”
“Did you find it?”
“No.”
“What is it?”
“He said Adrian used it to record private trust transfers.”
“Where would Adrian hide something like that?”
Sergio looked at the silver chain in Elena’s hand.
“He said you already had the answer.”
Elena examined the chain.
The pendant looked solid, but Adrian had once told her it contained a piece of the place where he felt safest.
She pressed the edge.
A tiny compartment opened.
Inside was a strip of paper bearing an address.
May you like
Elena recognized it immediately.
The lake house where Adrian had proposed.
