Chapter 7 - The Woman Who Came Back From the Dead
Lena refused to stay at the hospital.
Adrian refused to let her leave.
They argued for twelve minutes.
Lena won.
“You gave birth three days ago.”
“And Richard tried to kill my daughter three days ago.”
“You can barely walk.”
“Then get me a wheelchair.”
“No.”
“Adrian.”
“No.”
She stared at him.
Twenty minutes later, Adrian personally pushed her wheelchair through the Voss estate.
Victor wisely said nothing.
Richard Voss waited in the old study.
He was sixty-three, silver-haired, immaculate, and disturbingly calm.
His wrists were restrained.
Four armed guards surrounded him.
Richard smiled when Lena entered.
“Grace's daughter.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“You address her by name.”
Richard looked amused.
“There he is. Alexander's temper.”
Adrian's jaw tightened.
Lena touched his wrist.
Not because Richard deserved protection.
Because Adrian deserved not to become the monster Richard expected.
“Why did you want me here?” she asked.
Richard studied her.
“To correct a misunderstanding.”
“You tried to have us killed.”
“I tried to recover stolen property.”
“My mother's evidence?”
“Yes.”
“You shot up a hospital.”
Richard shrugged.
Adrian moved.
Lena caught his hand.
“Don't.”
Richard smiled.
“You see? She already controls you.”
“No,” Adrian said quietly. “She reminds me who I choose to be.”
Richard's smile faded.
Lena leaned forward.
“Did you kill Alexander?”
“No.”
Adrian stared at him.
Richard continued.
“I betrayed him. I stole from him. I sold information. But I did not order his murder.”
“Grace's files say—”
“Grace's files show financial transactions. They show betrayal. They do not show murder.”
“Then who killed him?”
Richard looked toward the doorway.
“Ask Grace.”
Lena froze.
Adrian's entire body became still.
“What did you say?”
Richard smiled.
“Your mother isn't dead, Lena.”
Lena stood too quickly.
Pain shot through her abdomen.
Adrian caught her.
“That's impossible.”
“No. Grace survived.”
“Where?”
“I'll tell you after you destroy the drive.”
Adrian laughed once.
Coldly.
“You're negotiating from handcuffs.”
Richard's expression changed.
“You think you've won because you have documents?”
He leaned forward.
“You have no idea what your father discovered.”
Suddenly, a gunshot cracked.
Richard jerked backward.
Blood spread across his chest.
Chaos exploded.
Adrian threw himself over Lena.
Victor's men searched the windows.
The shot had come from outside.
Richard gasped.
Lena crawled toward him.
“Where is my mother?”
Richard coughed blood.
“Saint… Catherine…”
“What?”
“Tell Grace…”
His breathing became shallow.
“…I kept one promise.”
Then Richard Voss died.
Saint Catherine referred to a former convent in Vermont.
Adrian found property records connecting it to a private foundation.
They traveled north two days later.
Lena insisted.
Emma remained at the hospital under twenty-four-hour protection, stable and gaining weight.
The convent stood beside a frozen lake.
An elderly woman opened the door.
When Lena gave her name, the woman's face changed.
“She’s been waiting.”
Lena couldn't breathe.
“For how long?”
“Seventeen years.”
They crossed a quiet corridor.
At the final room, Lena stopped.
Adrian stood beside her.
“You don't have to go in.”
“Yes, I do.”
She opened the door.
A woman sat beside a window.
Gray streaked her dark hair.
Her hands trembled.
But Lena recognized her immediately.
“Mom?”
Grace Park turned.
The coffee cup fell from her hand.
“Lena?”
Seventeen years disappeared.
Lena crossed the room.
Grace caught her daughter in her arms.
Both women collapsed into tears.
Adrian turned away, giving them privacy.
Eventually Grace saw him.
Her face drained.
“Alexander?”
Adrian stiffened.
“No.”
Grace stared.
“Adrian.”
“Yes.”
She covered her mouth.
“You look like him.”
Adrian entered slowly.
“You knew my father.”
Grace nodded.
“He saved Lena.”
“How?”
“The night Alexander died, Richard wasn't the only traitor.”
Adrian's expression hardened.
“Who else?”
Grace looked frightened.
“The man who ordered Alexander's murder was somebody he trusted more than Richard.”
“Name him.”
Grace looked toward Lena.
Then back at Adrian.
“Victor Hale.”
Silence.
Lena's blood went cold.
“No.”
Adrian didn't speak.
Grace whispered:
“Victor killed your father.”
And hundreds of miles away in Manhattan, Victor entered the neonatal intensive care unit.
He smiled at the nurse.
May you like
Then looked through the glass at Emma Park-Voss.
“I'm here for my goddaughter.”
