Chapter 15 - the signature on the order that declared him dead
Adrian entered the security office while Nora remained upstairs with the children.
A man stood beyond the iron gates beneath the cold white lights.
He was in his late sixties, with silver hair and a walking cane.
He held no weapon.
When the security guard asked for his name, the man looked directly into the camera.
“Arthur Ashbourne.”
Adrian recognized the name.
Arthur was Lydia’s uncle, former chairman of Ashbourne Holdings.
He had been declared dead twelve years earlier after his yacht disappeared in the Atlantic.
No body had been recovered.
Adrian ordered the guard not to open the gate.
Nora entered the office wearing a robe over her nightclothes.
“Who is he?”
“Lydia’s uncle.”
“I thought the last surviving Ashbourne was Celeste.”
“So did everyone.”
Arthur removed a leather folder from inside his coat and held it toward the camera.
“I have documents concerning the Vale children,” he said through the gate intercom.
Adrian pressed the microphone button.
“You can give them to the police.”
“The police do not know what they are looking for.”
“What do you want?”
“To speak with Nora Bennett.”
Nora stepped toward the console.
“Why me?”
Arthur looked into the camera as though he could see her standing behind it.
“Because Richard Vale did not choose your children by chance.”
Samuel entered the office behind them.
He had been staying in a guarded room on the estate during the ongoing investigation.
When he saw Arthur on the monitor, every trace of color left his face.
“Do not open that gate.”
Nora turned. “You know him?”
Samuel did not answer.
Arthur lifted the folder higher.
Inside the transparent evidence sleeve was an old contract.
Even through the camera, Nora could see Samuel’s name.
She could also see Adrian’s.
“What is that?” Adrian demanded.
Arthur smiled without warmth.
“The agreement that began before Oliver and Clara were conceived.”
Samuel moved toward the security controls.
Adrian blocked him.
“Tell us what he means.”
“He is lying.”
Arthur spoke through the intercom again.
“Ask Samuel why he was selected to marry Nora.”
Nora stared at her husband.
“Selected?”
Samuel shook his head. “He is trying to divide us.”
“We are already divided,” Nora said. “Answer the question.”
Arthur opened the folder and removed a second page.
It was an official death order issued six years earlier.
The document declared Samuel Bennett legally deceased after the warehouse fire.
At the bottom was an authorization signature.
Adrian Vale.
Adrian looked at the screen in disbelief.
“I never signed that.”
Samuel laughed bitterly.
“That is what you said about every order your family issued.”
“I did not know you existed.”
“You knew enough to inherit the company that erased me.”
Nora stepped between them.
“Stop.”
She looked at Arthur on the monitor.
“What do you want from us?”
“The same thing Richard wanted,” Arthur replied. “The children.”
Adrian reached for his phone.
Police units were already being dispatched.
Arthur showed no concern.
“Before you call anyone,” he said, “you should look at the date on Samuel’s death order.”
Nora enlarged the image.
The order had been signed three weeks before the warehouse fire.
Samuel had been declared dead before anyone attempted to kill him.
Beneath Adrian’s signature was the seal of the Vale family office.
But another signature appeared beside it.
Nora leaned closer.
It belonged to Samuel.
“You signed your own death order,” she whispered.
Samuel closed his eyes.
“I can explain.”
Arthur returned the document to the folder.
“No, Samuel. You can explain why Nora was never supposed to survive the birth.”
The security monitors suddenly went dark.
Every lock in the mansion released at once.
Somewhere upstairs, Clara screamed.
Nora ran from the office.
Adrian and Samuel followed.
They reached the children’s room and found Oliver standing beside the open window.
Clara was pointing toward the lawn.
A black vehicle moved away through the trees.
No one had entered the room.
No one had taken the children.
But something had been placed on Clara’s pillow.
A photograph.
It showed Nora in a hospital bed on the night the twins were born.
Samuel stood beside her.
Arthur Ashbourne stood on the other side.
Between them was a document titled MATERNAL TERMINATION AUTHORIZATION.
Nora turned the photograph over.
A message had been written across the back.
Celeste stole your children.
Samuel was hired to choose their mother.
And Adrian was never the intended father.
May you like
Below the message was a date, a location, and one final sentence.
Come to Ashbourne Island if you want to know which child was created to inherit everything.
