Chapter 8 - The Founder Beneath the River
They pulled the skeleton from the channel before the current carried it deeper into the tunnel.
The remains were wrapped in the rotting fragments of an expensive coat. A chain circled the ribs and ankles. The silver ring remained locked around one finger.
Cross knelt beside the body.
“I searched for him for twenty-four years.”
Julian stared at the bones.
“Who is he?”
“Adrian Vale.”
Julian’s expression emptied.
“My father was Adrian Vale.”
“No,” Cross said. “The man who raised you used that name.”
Julian took a step backward.
Elena recovered her mother’s recorder from the stones. The device was wet, but its indicator light still glowed.
Cross removed the ring from the skeleton.
Inside the band was an engraved date.
January 7, thirty-two years earlier.
“The night before Seven Crowns was founded,” he said.
Elena looked at the old photograph.
A young man standing beside Eleanor had been identified as Adrian Vale.
“If this is the real Adrian, who is in the picture?”
Cross’s eyes moved toward Julian.
“Sebastian Kessler.”
“Thomas Kessler’s brother,” Elena said.
“Yes.”
Julian shook his head.
“No. My father’s name was Adrian. His medical records, passport, birth certificate…”
“Created after the consortium was formed.”
“You’re lying.”
“I watched Sebastian kill Adrian.”
Julian lunged.
He struck Cross across the mouth.
The older man fell against the tunnel wall.
Elena stepped between them.
“Stop.”
Julian pointed at Cross.
“He expects us to believe my entire family history is false.”
“The body is wearing the founder’s ring,” Elena said.
“That proves nothing.”
“It proves someone was chained beneath your house.”
“My house,” Julian repeated bitterly.
The words no longer carried ownership.
Cross wiped blood from his lip.
“Adrian Vale intended to withdraw from the consortium. He discovered Eleanor and Sebastian were diverting the founders’ capital into private accounts. Sebastian killed him and assumed his identity.”
“My grandmother married a stranger using her brother-in-law’s name?”
“Eleanor was not Adrian’s wife.”
Julian went still.
Cross continued.
“She was his sister.”
Elena studied the photograph again.
Eleanor and the man identified as Adrian did not stand like husband and wife. There was no intimacy between them.
“Who was Eleanor married to?” Elena asked.
“Mateo Marquez.”
The tunnel seemed to tilt.
Elena stared at him.
“My grandfather?”
Cross nodded.
“For three years.”
“That’s impossible.”
“The marriage was annulled and erased before your mother was born.”
Julian looked between Elena and the skeleton.
“Why erase it?”
“Because Eleanor was pregnant.”
Elena’s voice became quiet.
“With whose child?”
Cross looked at her.
“No one knows.”
A distant alarm echoed through the tunnels.
Red lights appeared along the ceiling.
Cross rose with difficulty.
“Kessler has opened the flood gates.”
Water surged around their ankles.
“We need to move,” Elena said.
They carried the ring and recorder, leaving the skeleton on a raised stone platform. Cross promised they would return with authorities, though none of them trusted the promise to survive the night.
The tunnel sloped upward.
Water followed them.
Julian remained silent for several minutes.
Finally, he asked, “Was the man who raised me Sebastian Kessler?”
“Yes.”
“And Thomas Kessler is my uncle?”
“Biologically, perhaps.”
“What does that mean?”
Cross did not answer.
Julian grabbed his shoulder.
“What does that mean?”
“Sebastian was incapable of having children.”
Julian released him.
The water reached their knees.
Elena understood the implication.
“Then Julian’s father was not the man Eleanor presented as Adrian Vale.”
“No.”
“Who was he?”
Cross looked at Elena again.
“That answer may be why your mother died.”
They reached an iron ladder leading to a circular hatch.
Cross climbed first.
The hatch opened into a storage building near the river, beyond the mansion’s outer gardens.
Snow blew through broken windows.
Elena checked the timer on her phone.
09:58:31
More than two hours had passed since the succession lock began.
Dozens of missed calls filled her screen.
One came from Detective Marcus Shaw, the officer who had investigated Sofia’s death.
He had left a voicemail.
Elena played it.
“Ms. Marquez, I don’t know what you’ve started, but Eleanor Vale’s attorneys are pressuring the department to reopen your mother’s case with you listed as a suspect. Do not return to your hotel. Do not trust local police. Call me when you are alone.”
Julian listened.
“She’s trying to arrest you?”
“She tried once before.”
Cross examined the recorder.
“The water damaged the external controls. It may still connect to the chamber network.”
Elena’s phone rang.
The caller ID showed Eleanor Vale.
Julian and Elena exchanged a look.
Elena answered on speaker.
Eleanor’s voice remained calm.
“You have something that belongs to me.”
“A dead man’s ring?”
Silence.
So Eleanor already knew.
Elena continued.
“We found Adrian Vale.”
Julian watched the phone.
Eleanor said, “You found bones and accepted Gabriel’s interpretation.”
“The body was chained.”
“Gabriel chained him.”
Cross closed his eyes.
Elena asked, “Was Mateo Marquez your husband?”
A longer silence followed.
Julian looked toward Cross.
Eleanor finally answered.
“Yes.”
Elena felt the truth land inside her without finding a place to settle.
“Why did you erase him?”
“I did not erase Mateo. He erased me.”
“What does that mean?”
“Bring me the ring, and I will tell you who Julian’s father was.”
Julian stepped closer to the phone.
“Tell me now.”
Eleanor’s voice softened.
“My darling, you are surrounded by people who need you confused. Come back to the ballroom.”
“Why?”
“Because the board is voting to remove you as chief executive.”
Julian laughed once.
“The company accounts are frozen. The board has no authority.”
“They have enough authority to blame you.”
Eleanor paused.
“And Elena should know that the police have discovered blood in her hotel room.”
Elena touched the scratch on her cheek.
Eleanor continued.
“The blood belongs to Thomas Kessler.”
“That’s impossible. He attacked me here.”
“Security footage shows you entering his apartment yesterday.”
“I’ve never been to his apartment.”
“The footage is convincing.”
“You’re framing her,” Julian said.
“I am offering both of you a final opportunity.”
“For what?” Elena asked.
“To survive this family.”
The call ended.
May you like
A gunshot shattered the storage window.
Cross fell.
