Chapter 3 - The Third Son
The stranger did not enter the stable.
He remained beneath the doorway’s stone arch, tall and still, wearing a dark overcoat with the collar raised. A scar crossed the side of his chin.
Nathan lowered his voice.
“You came too early.”
The stranger looked at Mia.
“You said she had not found the ledger.”
“She was not supposed to.”
Mia’s fingers tightened around the riding crop.
“Adrian?”
The stranger’s expression changed slightly.
Nathan glanced at him.
“She saw the photograph.”
Adrian stepped inside.
Harper remained hidden three stalls away.
Mia prayed the child understood that silence mattered more than fear.
“You are Julian’s son,” Mia said.
Adrian took off his gloves.
“According to Julian, I was his error.”
“Does Dominic know you exist?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Adrian looked toward Nathan.
“Because your brother-in-law decided knowledge was dangerous.”
Nathan’s jaw tightened.
“That was our father’s decision.”
“Our father died twenty-two years ago.”
“And you accepted the money.”
Adrian’s calm broke.
“I was fifteen.”
Mia listened carefully.
Nathan and Adrian did not trust each other.
That weakness might be her only way out.
“What do you want?” she asked Adrian.
“The truth.”
“You came with men who chased my daughter through the rain.”
“I did not bring them.”
Nathan stepped between them.
“This conversation is pointless.”
“No,” Mia said. “It is the first honest conversation anyone has had in this house.”
Nathan turned.
“We are past the point where honesty helps you.”
“Then explain why Dominic must sign the estate over before Friday.”
Nathan’s gaze sharpened.
Adrian looked at him.
“You told her about the deadline?”
“I told her nothing.”
“Harper heard you.”
Nathan looked toward the stalls.
Mia shifted deliberately, drawing his attention back to her.
“What happens Friday?” she asked.
Adrian answered.
“The trustees vote.”
“What trustees?”
“The trustees who control the original Blackthorne covenant.”
Mia had studied portions of the estate documents after marrying Dominic, but she had never heard of a Blackthorne covenant.
Adrian continued.
“The manor was never purchased outright by your husband’s grandfather. It was transferred under conditions. If the Vale bloodline failed to meet those conditions, control of the estate would revert to the oldest eligible descendant named in a sealed registry.”
“Nonsense,” Nathan said.
“Then why are you afraid of the registry?”
“I am afraid of what you will do with it.”
Mia looked between them.
“Who is the oldest eligible descendant?”
Adrian gave a humorless smile.
“Not Dominic.”
A vehicle approached outside.
Headlights swept across the stable windows.
Nathan moved toward the door.
“Who did you call?”
“No one,” Adrian said.
The vehicle stopped.
Doors opened.
Mia heard men shouting near the courtyard.
Nathan took out his phone, but the screen showed no signal.
Adrian looked toward Mia.
“If that is Dominic’s security team, run.”
“Why would Dominic’s team be here?”
“Because I sent him a message.”
Nathan stared at Adrian.
“You contacted him?”
“I told him his wife was in danger.”
“You idiot.”
Nathan rushed forward and struck Adrian.
The blow sent Adrian into the wooden partition.
Mia swung the riding crop at Nathan’s face.
He caught her wrist.
She drove her knee into his stomach.
Nathan staggered.
Mia ran toward Harper’s stall.
The blankets were empty.
Her heart stopped.
“Harper?”
No answer.
She searched the floor.
One small blue slipper lay beside the rear stable door.
It stood open.
Rain blew inside.
Mia ran out into the yard.
“Harper!”
A black vehicle idled near the courtyard.
Two men forced Mrs. Bell into the back seat.
One of them turned toward Mia.
It was the same man Nathan had brought to the chapel.
Mia stepped backward.
Nathan emerged from the stable.
“Where is she?”
“I thought she was with you.”
For the first time, his fear appeared real.
Adrian came out behind him, blood at the corner of his mouth.
A child screamed near the glass corridor.
Mia ran.
Harper stood beneath the covered walkway, held by a man in a brown coat. One arm was wrapped around her waist. His other hand pressed a cloth over her mouth.
Mia reached them before Nathan did.
She seized the man’s hair and drove the metal handle of the riding crop against his temple. He released Harper.
Mia pulled her daughter away.
Nathan struck the man again, knocking him to the ground.
“Who sent you?” Nathan demanded.
The man laughed through bloodied teeth.
“You still think you are in control?”
Nathan grabbed his collar.
“Who?”
The man looked past him at Adrian.
“The heir.”
A second vehicle entered the courtyard.
Its headlights illuminated the manor.
A woman stepped out.
She was in her late sixties, elegant despite the rain, with silver hair and a black cane.
Nathan released the man.
His face became white.
Mia recognized the woman from photographs kept in Dominic’s study.
Vivienne Vale.
Dominic and Nathan’s mother.
The woman who had supposedly died in a clinic in Switzerland eight years earlier.
Vivienne walked toward them.
Her gaze passed over Adrian, Nathan, and Mia before settling on Harper.
“My granddaughter,” she said softly. “You have your grandfather’s eyes.”
Mia held Harper more tightly.
“You are dead.”
Vivienne smiled.
“That has been very useful.”
Nathan stepped toward her.
“You were told never to return.”
Vivienne struck him across the face with her cane.
“You were told never to lose the girl.”
Mia looked at Nathan.
He had claimed to be protecting Harper.
But the terror in his eyes was not fear for her.
It was fear of his mother.
Vivienne held out her hand.
“Bring Harper to me.”
Mia backed away.
“No.”
Vivienne’s smile vanished.
“Then bring me the woman as well.”
The men surrounded them.
Adrian moved beside Mia.
“Do you trust me?” he whispered.
“No.”
“Good. Trust makes people slow.”
He kicked the stable lantern from its hook.
Oil spilled across the wet stones.
A second later, flames rose between Mia and Vivienne.
Adrian grabbed Mia’s arm.
“Run.”
They fled toward the north field while Nathan shouted behind them.
Mia carried Harper through the rain.
May you like
Ahead waited the drainage tunnel.
Behind them, Blackthorne Manor’s bells began ringing though no one had touched the ropes.
