Chapter 8 - The First Attempt
Three nights before the Winter Charity Ball, someone tried to force Elena’s car off the road.
She had left Nora’s studio after midnight with a restored digital copy of Evelyn’s cassette hidden in her bag.
Rain covered the highway.
A black SUV appeared behind her and remained there through three turns.
Elena called Marcus.
“I think I’m being followed.”
“Where are you?”
She gave him the location.
“Do not go home. Take the next exit and drive toward the police station on Grant Avenue.”
The SUV accelerated.
Elena’s heart pounded as its headlights filled her mirror.
“Marcus.”
“I see you on traffic cameras. Two units are moving toward you.”
The SUV struck the rear side of her car.
Elena gripped the wheel.
The vehicle swerved but stayed inside the lane.
Her first thought was not of herself.
It was of the baby.
“Stay with me,” Marcus said.
“I’m here.”
“Slowly move toward the right lane. Do not brake suddenly.”
The SUV came closer again.
Before it could strike, another vehicle appeared from the entrance ramp and placed itself between them.
A security sedan.
The SUV turned sharply, crossed two lanes, and disappeared down an industrial exit.
Marcus’s team escorted Elena to a private medical clinic.
The baby was unharmed.
Adrian arrived twenty minutes later.
He entered the examination room without a tie, rain still on his coat.
Elena had never seen him so frightened.
He crossed to the bed and placed both hands around hers.
“Who did this?”
“We don’t know.”
“You were carrying something.”
Elena looked at him.
Marcus stood near the door.
“The SUV did not appear until after Mrs. Vale left the studio,” he said. “Whoever followed her may have known what she collected.”
Adrian turned back to Elena.
“What were you doing at Nora’s after midnight?”
The lie she had been building collapsed.
“Restoring a recording.”
“What recording?”
“Your mother’s.”
Adrian’s hands slowly released hers.
Elena told him about the blue door, the hidden room, the medical photographs, and the cassette.
She did not tell him that she had copied the children’s identification numbers.
She did not tell him about the instruction to bring the file to the ball.
She kept those final secrets because Marcus was not alone near the door.
Victor Vale stood in the corridor.
He had arrived moments after Adrian.
Through the narrow opening, Elena saw the silver ring on his hand.
Adrian’s face was pale by the time she finished.
“You found evidence that I had a brother and waited to tell me.”
“I wanted to know whether it was real.”
“You listened to my mother’s final recording.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“By deciding what I was allowed to know?”
The pain in his voice reflected her own accusation from the nursery.
Elena reached for him.
“I was wrong.”
Adrian stepped away before she could touch him.
Victor entered the room.
“This conversation can wait until Elena is safe.”
Adrian turned toward him.
“You knew about Elias.”
Victor did not deny it.
The room seemed to shrink.
Adrian’s voice broke.
“You knew I had a brother.”
“I knew there was another child.”
“Another child?”
Victor looked toward Marcus.
“Leave us.”
Marcus did not move until Adrian nodded.
When the door closed, Victor removed his silver ring and placed it on the table.
“The divided circle was the symbol of Project Winter,” he said.
Elena stared at him.
Adrian’s voice became quiet.
“What did they do to us?”
May you like
Victor looked older than he had an hour before.
“They tried to determine which one of you was worthy to inherit the Vale empire.”
