Chapter 4 - Adrian's Perfect Family Was Built on a Lie
Adrian didn't speak during the drive.
Mave sat beside him.
The city passed in dark reflections across the windows.
Finally, he said:
"My uncle was supposed to be dead."
Mave looked at him.
"You're kidding."
"No."
"How many dead people are secretly alive in your life?"
He almost smiled.
"Too many."
His uncle's name was Julian Vale.
Officially, he had died when Adrian was nineteen.
Unofficially, he had been running private security networks under different names for years.
And Preston's father had worked for him.
The revelation changed the entire case.
Adrian took Mave to a house outside the city.
His childhood home.
She expected something imposing.
Instead, it was quiet.
Old brick.
Small garden.
A place that looked almost ordinary.
Mave walked inside.
There were photographs everywhere.
Adrian as a boy.
His father smiling.
His mother holding his hand.
Julian standing behind them.
"Your family looks happy."
"They were."
"Was Julian?"
Adrian stared at the photograph.
"I thought he was."
A hidden room was found behind the library.
Inside were financial records.
Medical files.
Photographs.
A wall covered with names.
Mave stepped closer.
Every person who had disappeared after reporting medication fraud was listed.
Her own name was there.
She went pale.
"Adrian."
He turned.
She pointed.
Her name was highlighted.
Beside it was a date.
The same date as her first report.
"What does that mean?"
Adrian's face became hard.
"It means they marked you for removal."
Mave looked at him.
"Because I saw the missing medication."
"Yes."
"How long have you known?"
"I suspected."
"You should have told me."
"I couldn't prove it."
"That isn't good enough."
He nodded.
"You're right."
Mave turned away.
She hated how easy it was to forgive him.
Because unlike Preston, Adrian admitted when he was wrong.
That made him dangerous in a different way.
He could reach places in her heart she had kept locked.
She found another file.
Her brother's name.
Owen Sullivan.
She opened it.
Inside were hospital records.
Dialysis.
Financial hardship.
Insurance problems.
A note.
Potential pressure point.
Mave's hands shook.
"No."
Adrian took the file.
His expression darkened.
"They were planning to use Owen against you."
She stared at him.
"My whole life was a file to them."
He looked at her.
"Not to me."
Mave looked up.
"Then what am I to you?"
He didn't answer immediately.
Then:
"The first person who made me want a life that wasn't built around fear."
Her breath caught.
He reached for her hand.
This time she let him.
They searched the rest of the house.
A hidden safe contained another recording.
Julian's voice.
"You've become sentimental."
Adrian's father's voice answered.
"She's a nurse, not a criminal."
"She knows too much."
"So kill me."
Julian laughed.
"You'd sacrifice yourself for a stranger?"
"I'd sacrifice myself to prevent my son from becoming you."
The recording ended.
Adrian's eyes filled with anger.
Mave touched his arm.
"I'm sorry."
He nodded.
Then he looked at the final file.
Inside was a marriage certificate.
Julian Vale had married the current owner of Vance Medical.
Preston's mother.
Mave understood.
The two families were connected by marriage.
And Preston wasn't simply the spoiled physician who had broken up with her.
He was part of the same structure.
Adrian's phone rang.
His security chief answered.
His face changed.
"Mave."
"What?"
"Owen is missing."
Everything stopped.
They rushed to the dialysis clinic.
The chair was empty.
A nurse said two men had arrived with a transfer order.
Mave demanded to see it.
It was forged.
She almost collapsed.
Adrian caught her.
"They took him."
"Because of me."
"No."
"Because of me."
He held her face gently.
"Look at me."
She did.
"We're getting him back."
"How?"
"By giving them what they want."
"What?"
Adrian looked toward the security cameras.
"They want me."
Mave understood.
"They'll trade Owen."
"Yes."
"Then let them think they won."
Adrian's voice lowered.
"But we're going to choose where they meet us."
Mave nodded.
For the first time, she felt something other than fear.
She felt anger.
Cold.
Clean.
May you like
Useful.
"Then let's bring my brother home."
Related Stories
