Chapter 5 - THE WOMAN IN THE PRIVATE CLINIC
They found Elena on a Thursday evening.
Not in New York.
Not in a hospital.
In a small private rehabilitation facility outside Albany, where patients lived under restricted identities and visitors required special authorization.
Raymond had been paying the facility through a charitable foundation.
The same foundation had received millions from Vale Meridian over the previous decade.
Adrian stood outside the entrance for several minutes.
Claire watched him.
“Are you ready?”
“No.”
She took his hand.
“Then we go anyway.”
The director tried to refuse them entry.
Adrian placed the court documents on his desk.
“You've been receiving money from my family for eleven years to keep a woman hidden. I suggest you reconsider your next sentence.”
The director swallowed.
“Ms. Elena Cross has been under our care for a long time.”
“Is that her real name?”
“I can't discuss—”
“Then get someone who can.”
A nurse eventually escorted them upstairs.
Elena was sitting beside a window, watching the rain.
She looked older than the woman in the photograph, but her face was unmistakable.
Dark hair.
Soft eyes.
A small scar near her left eyebrow.
When she saw Adrian, she stopped breathing.
He stood in the doorway.
For several seconds, neither moved.
Then she whispered his name.
“Adrian?”
He stepped forward.
“It's me.”
Elena began to cry.
He approached slowly, as if afraid she might disappear.
“I'm sorry,” she whispered.
He shook his head.
“You don't apologize to me.”
“I tried to find you.”
“I know.”
“They told me the boys were dead.”
Adrian knelt in front of her.
“I believed them.”
Elena touched his face.
“You have your father's eyes.”
He looked down.
“Tell me about my sons.”
Her expression changed.
“Daniel and Michael.”
“Where are they?”
“Daniel was taken first. Raymond said he would be raised by family. Michael was placed with another family.”
“Which family?”
Elena shook her head.
“I was unconscious when they moved me. When I woke up, they told me one baby had survived and the other hadn't. Then they threatened to have me committed if I tried to contact you.”
Claire felt tears running down her cheeks.
Elena noticed her.
“Who is she?”
“Claire. My wife.”
Elena looked at Adrian's hand resting near Claire's.
“Your wife?”
“Yes.”
A fragile smile appeared.
“Then perhaps there is still some happiness left in this family.”
Adrian introduced Claire properly.
Elena listened to the story of their marriage, the contract, and the pregnancy.
When Claire mentioned the baby, Elena began crying again.
“Another grandchild.”
Adrian looked at her.
“Mother, did you know about my medical diagnosis?”
Elena's smile vanished.
“What diagnosis?”
“The doctors said I couldn't have children.”
Elena stared at him.
Then she shook her head.
“No.”
“Dr. Hayes said—”
“Samuel?”
Adrian nodded.
Elena looked suddenly ill.
“Samuel Hayes was Raymond's friend. He came to see me twice after the boys were born.”
“Why?”
“He told me that if I ever spoke about the twins, he would make sure I was declared unstable.”
Claire felt cold.
“Did he treat Adrian?”
Elena looked at her.
“I don't know. But he took blood samples from my babies.”
“Why?”
“He said they needed additional testing.”
Adrian rose.
“Where are those records?”
“I don't know.”
Elena reached for his hand.
“But there's something you need to understand.”
“What?”
“Raymond didn't take the boys because of the inheritance.”
Adrian frowned.
“What are you saying?”
“He was afraid of what your grandfather would discover.”
“What?”
Elena's eyes filled with tears.
“Your father had another son.”
Silence.
Adrian stared at her.
“My father?”
“Yes.”
“That's impossible.”
“No, Adrian. Your father had a child before he married your mother. Raymond knew about him. And he knew that if the truth came out, the entire succession agreement could collapse.”
Claire felt the pieces shifting.
The trust.
The twins.
The medical lie.
The missing child.
“Who was your father's other son?” she asked.
Elena looked toward Adrian.
“I never knew his name.”
She reached beneath her pillow and pulled out a small photograph.
It showed a young man standing beside Raymond.
The young man looked twenty-five or twenty-six.
He had Adrian's dark hair.
His jawline.
His eyes.
On the back was a handwritten message.
The real heir.
Adrian stared at the photograph.
“Where did you get this?”
“Raymond sent it to me shortly before I was transferred here. He wanted me to understand that the boys would never be safe if I tried to find them.”
Claire studied the young man's face.
Then she noticed something.
The photograph was not eleven years old.
It was dated just eighteen months earlier.
The young man was still alive.
And he was standing beside Raymond Vale.
Adrian took the photograph.
“Marcus.”
His security chief answered immediately.
“Sir?”
“I want a name. The man standing beside my uncle in this photograph.”
Marcus paused.
“Send it to me.”
Adrian did.
Ten minutes later, his phone rang.
Marcus sounded shaken.
“Sir, we have a match.”
“Who?”
“His name is Nicholas Vale.”
Adrian frowned.
“Never heard of him.”
Marcus swallowed.
“That's because your uncle has been using a different surname for years.”
“Who is he?”
“Your cousin.”
Adrian looked at Claire.
May you like
Marcus delivered the final blow.
“Raymond's son. And according to the records we just recovered, your grandfather legally adopted him before his death.”
