Chapter 5 - Vanessa Carlisle)
Vanessa Carlisle learned about Noah Reed at 10:17 that morning.
Adrian Vale had summoned her to his penthouse.
She found him standing beside the windows with a drink in his hand despite the early hour.
"What's wrong?"
Adrian turned.
"Grace had a son."
Vanessa laughed.
Then she saw his face.
"You're serious."
"His name is Noah."
"How old?"
"Fifteen."
"Where has he been?"
"Hidden."
"By Eleanor?"
"Apparently."
Vanessa removed her gloves.
"And why do you care?"
Adrian placed a document on the table.
Vanessa read the first page.
By the third paragraph, she understood.
"Twenty-six percent?"
"Yes."
"That can't be legal."
"It is."
"If the boy attends the ball?"
"The shares transfer."
"And if he doesn't?"
"They remain frozen until he's eighteen."
Vanessa considered that.
"Then he shouldn't attend."
Adrian watched her.
"I'm glad we're in agreement."
Vanessa poured herself water.
"Does Eleanor know you know?"
"No."
"Who told you?"
Adrian did not answer.
Vanessa looked at him.
"Adrian."
"A friend."
"You don't have friends. You have employees and people you're planning to betray."
He smiled.
"One reason I love you."
"Who told you?"
Adrian finally said, "Someone who worked with my father."
Vanessa froze.
"Victor?"
"Before he died."
"No. Someone who worked with him."
Vanessa studied Adrian.
"There are things you're not telling me."
"There are always things I'm not telling you."
She walked closer.
"That stops when we get married."
Adrian touched her face.
"No, darling. That's when it becomes more important."
Vanessa pushed his hand away.
"What do you want me to do?"
"Nothing."
She laughed.
"You called me here because you want nothing?"
"I want you to enjoy the ball."
"Adrian."
"If a scholarship boy happens to enter a room full of people who believe status matters, I suspect someone will remind him where he stands."
Vanessa's eyes narrowed.
"You want him humiliated."
"I want him gone before the trust announcement."
"You could simply remove his invitation."
"Margaret Hale would intervene."
"Then embarrass him until he leaves."
Adrian smiled faintly.
"Now you're thinking."
Vanessa turned toward the window.
She knew how elite rooms worked.
People claimed they valued kindness.
What they actually valued was permission.
If one powerful person laughed, others laughed.
If one powerful person treated someone as worthless, the room adjusted.
"Who is he coming with?"
"Possibly alone."
Vanessa smiled.
"Even better."
Across the city, Noah had no idea the conversation was taking place.
He was studying Grace's old files with Eleanor.
They discovered records linking Victor Vale to Richard Carlisle.
Payments.
Real estate.
Offshore corporations.
One company appeared repeatedly.
Ashcroft Maritime Holdings.
Noah pointed at the page.
"Lake Ashcroft."
Eleanor frowned.
"The company was created six months before Grace disappeared."
"Who owns it?"
"Officially, nobody connected to us."
"But?"
"The original attorney was Marcus Shaw."
Noah sat back.
"Marcus created it?"
"According to this."
His phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
He answered.
"Noah?"
Marcus.
"Where are you?"
"At the Vale house."
"I told you not to go there."
"I don't take orders from men who disappear for seven years."
Marcus sighed.
"Fair."
Noah lowered his voice.
"Did you create Ashcroft Maritime?"
Silence.
"Marcus?"
"Who told you?"
"I found the records."
"Listen carefully. Do not show those records to anyone."
"I'm with Eleanor."
Marcus cursed.
"Leave."
"Why?"
"Because Ashcroft Maritime wasn't Victor's company."
Noah looked toward Eleanor, who was speaking with Margaret across the room.
"Then whose was it?"
Marcus answered quietly.
"Grace's."
Noah stopped.
"My mother's?"
"She created it to catch the thief."
"How?"
"By setting a trap."
"What kind of trap?"
Before Marcus could answer, the call went dead.
Noah tried back.
Nothing.
Across the room, Eleanor noticed his expression.
"What happened?"
"Marcus says Ashcroft belonged to Mom."
Eleanor went still.
"That's impossible."
"He says she was setting a trap."
Margaret walked over.
"For whom?"
Noah looked at the files.
"I think that's the question everyone has been avoiding for seven years."
He picked up another document.
A signature authorization form.
Grace's name appeared at the bottom.
But above it, someone else had signed as witness.
Richard Carlisle.
Vanessa's father.
May you like
At that exact moment, Vanessa was standing in front of her bedroom mirror choosing between two pairs of red heels.
She picked the sharper pair.
