Chapter 8 - Mia Vale Was Not Her Name
Nathan locked the stairwell door behind them.
Vivienne’s men hammered against it.
“Move,” he said.
Mia held the registry page in one hand and Harper in the other.
“What is this?”
“Later.”
“The baby is named Mia Vale.”
“Mia, we have seconds.”
“That photograph was taken thirty-three years ago.”
“I know.”
She looked at him.
“How?”
Nathan led them down two flights of stairs.
“Because Father kept a copy in his safe.”
“Dominic told me my parents died in a car accident when I was two.”
“The people who raised you died.”
The words nearly made her fall.
Nathan caught her.
She shoved him away.
“Do not touch me.”
The stairwell door above them broke open.
Nathan continued downward.
Mia followed because Harper could not survive if she stopped.
They exited onto the second floor and entered a linen room.
Nathan pushed a cabinet aside, revealing a narrow servant staircase.
“Where does it go?”
“To the kitchen.”
“Vivienne will guard the exits.”
“We are not leaving.”
Mia stared.
“We have to.”
“Dominic is coming. If we run, Mother controls the story.”
“She plans to kill me.”
“She plans to kill all of us once she has the estate.”
Nathan opened the hidden door.
Mia did not move.
“Tell me who I am.”
Nathan looked exhausted.
“I do not know the whole truth.”
“Tell me what you know.”
Harper tugged Mia’s sleeve.
“Mommy, they’re coming.”
Footsteps descended the stairs.
Nathan pulled them into the passage and closed the cabinet.
They moved in darkness.
“My father had an affair before Vivienne became pregnant with Dominic,” Nathan whispered. “The woman gave birth to a daughter.”
“Me?”
“Possibly.”
“You saw the photograph.”
“I saw a photograph of a baby named Mia Vale. Father wrote that the child had been placed with another family.”
“Why?”
“Because Vivienne threatened to expose the affair and destroy the company.”
“That does not explain the registry.”
“The Blackthorne covenant did not follow male succession. It followed age.”
Mia understood before he finished.
“If I am Julian’s oldest child…”
“You may outrank Adrian, Dominic, and me.”
The passage seemed to tilt.
Mia thought of her childhood.
Her mother’s refusal to discuss relatives.
The sealed box of documents that vanished after the accident.
The scholarship that paid for her university education without a named donor.
Her first meeting with Dominic at a charity auction arranged by the St. Orison Trust.
Nothing had been chance.
“Did Dominic know when he married me?”
Nathan’s silence terrified her more than an answer.
“Did he?”
“I don’t know.”
“You are lying.”
“I know Dominic investigated your family after you became engaged.”
“That is normal for people with his wealth.”
“He found something.”
“What?”
“He sealed the report.”
Mia stopped.
“You think he knew.”
“I think our father designed your lives to cross.”
Harper looked between them.
“Is Daddy Mommy’s brother?”
Mia felt sick.
“No,” Nathan said quickly. “Julian may not be her biological father.”
“But you said—”
“The registry could be false. Julian manipulated records constantly.”
Mia touched the page.
“Then why is Vivienne afraid of it?”
“Because the trustees accept it as authentic.”
The passage opened behind the kitchen pantry.
Nathan checked the room.
Empty.
He led them inside.
The manor seemed unnaturally quiet.
“Where are the staff?” Mia asked.
“Dismissed.”
“By whom?”
“Mother.”
They crossed the kitchen.
Nathan opened a drawer and removed a small radio.
He turned it on.
Static.
“Security frequencies are blocked.”
Mia placed Harper beneath the central island.
“Stay down.”
The child held the recorder tightly.
Nathan noticed.
“Give me the device.”
“No.”
“We need to copy it before Mother takes it.”
“You tried to steal it in the tunnel.”
“I was trying to keep it from her.”
“You also discussed keeping me hidden.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
“That recording does not contain everything.”
“Then tell me what came after.”
He looked toward the door.
“My voice said, Keep Mia hidden until Dominic signs the estate over to her.”
Mia stared.
“To me?”
“Yes.”
“Why would you hide me if you were helping me?”
“Because if the trustees saw you before the signature, they would suspend the vote and investigate your bloodline. Mother would have time to destroy the registry.”
“Your plan was to trick Dominic into giving me the estate.”
“To protect Harper.”
“From Vivienne?”
“From the fourth claimant.”
Mia held up the page.
“I am the fourth claimant.”
“No.”
Nathan’s answer came too quickly.
“Then who is?”
A telephone rang in the hallway.
All three froze.
The manor landline rang again.
Nathan moved toward it.
Mia caught his arm.
“It could be Vivienne.”
“It could be Dominic.”
Nathan answered.
“Hello?”
Dominic’s voice came through the receiver.
“Nathan.”
Mia lunged for the phone.
Nathan held it away.
“Dom, listen to me.”
“Where are they?”
“With me.”
“Put Mia on.”
Nathan looked at Mia.
She took the receiver.
“Dominic?”
Silence.
Then his breath.
“Mia.”
Tears filled her eyes.
“I have Harper. We are alive.”
“Are you hurt?”
“I’m all right.”
She was not.
But there was no time.
“Your mother is here.”
“I know.”
“There is a registry inside Eleanor’s portrait. It names another heir.”
Dominic’s voice changed.
“What did you see?”
“A photograph of a baby named Mia Vale.”
Nathan reached for the phone.
Mia stepped away.
“Dominic, did you know?”
A long pause followed.
Too long.
“Did you know who I was before you married me?”
“Mia, I need you to take Harper and leave the house.”
“Answer me.”
Footsteps entered the hallway.
Nathan looked toward the door.
Dominic said, “I knew your adoption records were false.”
Mia’s knees weakened.
“How long?”
“Before our wedding.”
“You lied to me.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“From what?”
The kitchen door opened.
Vivienne stood there holding a pistol.
Dominic’s voice continued through the phone.
“From the reason my father chose you.”
May you like
Vivienne aimed at Nathan.
“Put down the receiver.”
