Chapter 8 - THE PRICE OF BLOOD
Adrian read the note twice.
Then he handed it to Marcus.
“Find her.”
“We're tracking the vehicles leaving the property.”
“Every road. Every camera. Every private airport.”
Michael stepped forward.
“They want me.”
Adrian looked at him.
“They want leverage.”
“No. Raymond has spent eleven years trying to control me. He knows I'll come if he takes Claire.”
Adrian's voice dropped.
“Then we don't give him what he wants.”
Michael shook his head.
“I'm going.”
“Absolutely not.”
“You can't stop me.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“I'm not losing another family member because I failed to protect them.”
Michael's expression hardened.
“You don't get to decide whether I'm family.”
The words silenced Adrian.
Elena approached them.
“Both of you, stop.”
They turned.
She looked at Adrian.
“You cannot protect your family by making decisions for everyone.”
Then she looked at Michael.
“And you cannot undo eleven years by throwing yourself into danger.”
She took both their hands.
“Find Claire. Bring her home.”
Adrian nodded.
Within twenty minutes, Marcus located a vehicle belonging to one of Raymond's private security companies.
It had been seen heading toward the abandoned St. Vincent's medical complex.
The same building where Adrian's children had been taken eleven years earlier.
Adrian drove.
Michael sat beside him.
Marcus followed with a small team.
Inside the abandoned maternity wing, the lights were on.
A strange detail.
The building was supposed to have no electricity.
They entered through the rear corridor.
A speaker crackled.
Raymond's voice echoed through the hall.
“Welcome home, nephew.”
Adrian stopped.
“Where is Claire?”
“Safe. For now.”
“Show me.”
A screen flickered to life.
Claire appeared in a small examination room, sitting on a chair with her hands tied loosely in front of her.
She looked frightened but conscious.
Adrian stepped toward the screen.
“Claire!”
She lifted her head.
“Adrian, don't—”
The picture disappeared.
Raymond's voice returned.
“You see? Still so emotional. Your grandfather was right about you.”
“Release her.”
“Bring me the original trust, Michael's records, and your resignation.”
Michael stepped forward.
“You're not getting anything.”
Raymond laughed.
“You've always been the disappointing one.”
Adrian looked toward the ceiling.
“Where is the control room?”
Marcus pointed to the staircase.
They moved.
But as they reached the upper corridor, a man stepped from the shadows.
Dr. Hayes.
He looked exhausted.
His hands were shaking.
“Adrian, stop.”
Adrian raised his weapon.
“Where is my wife?”
Hayes swallowed.
“Raymond has her in the old maternity ward.”
“Why?”
“Because he needs the child.”
Adrian's expression hardened.
“Why?”
Hayes looked at Michael.
“Because of the DNA.”
Michael frowned.
“What DNA?”
Hayes lowered his voice.
“Your grandfather had a hereditary condition. It affected the family's eligibility under a private trust provision. Raymond believed that if Adrian had a biological child, the child could challenge the succession.”
Claire's voice suddenly came through the corridor speaker.
“That's not what he told me!”
Adrian looked up.
The screen switched on again.
Claire was standing now.
A woman in a white medical coat stood behind her.
“Adrian,” Claire said, “listen to me. The medical records aren't the only thing they changed.”
“What do you mean?”
“The original trust!”
She held up a document.
“Raymond isn't trying to protect the inheritance. He's trying to hide who actually owns it.”
Hayes closed his eyes.
“She's right.”
Adrian turned.
“What?”
“Your grandfather transferred the controlling shares before he died.”
“To whom?”
Hayes looked at Michael.
“Not to Raymond.”
Michael went pale.
The doctor continued.
“Your grandfather left them to the first biological grandson born into the family.”
Adrian stared.
“Daniel.”
Hayes nodded.
“Daniel.”
The room went silent.
Adrian's first son.
The child he had been told was dead.
The child who, according to the trust, legally owned a controlling share of the entire Vale empire.
Raymond's voice suddenly returned.
“Enough!”
The screen went black.
Then a door slammed somewhere below them.
Marcus looked toward the stairs.
“Sir, we need to move.”
Adrian turned toward the maternity wing.
And for the first time in eleven years, he understood why Raymond had been so desperate to keep the truth buried.
Daniel wasn't merely a lost child.
May you like
He was the rightful heir.
And someone had kept him alive for a reason.
