Chapter 3 - The Dead Mother Who Wasn't Supposed to Have Died
Dr. Elena Voss had been missing for six years.
Adrian's people found her within nine hours.
She was living under another name in Connecticut.
When we arrived, she opened the door and immediately recognized Sophie.
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Oh, God.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“You know my daughter.”
“Yes.”
“Tell me what happened to her mother.”
Dr. Voss looked at me.
Then at Sophie.
“I shouldn't have let them fool you.”
Adrian's voice became cold.
“Who are they?”
“Your wife's death was staged.”
I felt Sophie's hand tighten around mine.
“What does that mean?” I asked.
Dr. Voss took a breath.
“Your wife, Isabella, discovered that someone inside Adrian's organization was selling information.”
“Who?”
“She didn't know.”
“Did she know about Sophie?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
“She believed your enemies weren't trying to kill her.”
Adrian stared.
“They were trying to reach Sophie.”
“Why?”
Dr. Voss hesitated.
“Because of her father.”
“I am her father.”
“No.”
Silence.
“You are her biological father.”
Adrian's expression changed.
“But not the only person connected to her.”
“What are you saying?”
Dr. Voss pulled out a medical file.
“Sophie's mother had a brother.”
Adrian frowned.
“Daniel?”
“Yes.”
“He disappeared years ago.”
“Because he was involved in a research program.”
Adrian looked confused.
“What kind of program?”
“A private neurological study.”
I remembered Sophie signing.
Her deafness wasn't congenital.
Her records had always said she had been born with profound hearing loss.
Dr. Voss shook her head.
“That is false.”
Adrian took a step forward.
“What?”
“Sophie was born hearing.”
I looked at the girl.
Adrian's face lost color.
“Then what happened?”
Dr. Voss looked at Sophie with sorrow.
“The hearing loss was caused.”
Nobody spoke.
“How?”
“Medication.”
“What medication?”
“A compound administered when she was a baby.”
Adrian's hands curled into fists.
“By whom?”
“We don't know.”
“Who ordered it?”
Dr. Voss looked at him.
“That is what your wife was trying to find out.”
I glanced at Sophie.
She had stopped understanding the conversation.
She signed.
Why are they talking about me?
I crouched beside her.
Because your father is trying to learn the truth.
She nodded.
Is it bad?
I hesitated.
Then signed.
Not because of you.
Her shoulders relaxed.
Adrian watched.
“Thank you.”
I nodded.
Dr. Voss continued.
“Isabella kept evidence.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
“What evidence?”
“Proof that someone inside your organization had been funding the research.”
Adrian stared.
“My organization?”
“Yes.”
“What was the research for?”
“The compound was initially designed to reduce neurological sensitivity.”
“And?”
“It was never approved.”
“Why?”
“It had severe side effects.”
“Deafness?”
“In some children.”
I felt sick.
“How many?”
“We don't know.”
Adrian was silent for several seconds.
Then:
“My daughter was a test subject.”
Dr. Voss nodded.
“Yes.”
He looked like someone had struck him.
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“Who had access?”
“Three people.”
“Names.”
“Dr. Marcus Vale.”
Adrian's face hardened.
“I know him.”
“He ran the research division.”
“Who else?”
“Your former chief medical officer.”
“And?”
She hesitated.
“Your brother Nicholas.”
Adrian turned.
“What?”
I remembered Nicholas.
The man who had warned Adrian that he was asking too much.
The man who had looked at me strangely.
Dr. Voss continued.
“I don't know whether Nicholas knew what they were doing.”
Adrian left immediately.
We followed.
Back at the mansion, Nicholas was waiting.
He looked calm.
Too calm.
“You spoke to Voss.”
Adrian stared at him.
“Yes.”
Nicholas sighed.
“I hoped she was dead.”
Sophie froze.
Adrian took a step toward him.
“Did you know?”
“I knew there was a program.”
“Did you know Sophie was involved?”
“I knew a child had been enrolled.”
“Was it her?”
Nicholas did not answer.
Adrian grabbed his collar.
“ANSWER ME!”
Nicholas looked at me.
His expression changed.
“I never wanted her hurt.”
Adrian released him.
“Then tell me who did.”
Nicholas swallowed.
“Marcus Vale.”
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
“Why?”
“Because he believed the compound could be used as leverage.”
“For what?”
“Control.”
The word hung in the room.
Nicholas revealed that Vale had been collecting biological data from children connected to powerful families.
Sophie had been one of them.
Isabella discovered the truth.
She tried to expose it.
Vale poisoned her.
Then staged her death.
Nicholas had known.
But he had been afraid to expose Vale because Vale had threatened his own children.
Adrian looked devastated.
“You let my wife die.”
Nicholas cried.
“I thought I could fix it.”
“You couldn't.”
“No.”
I stepped between them.
“Enough.”
Adrian stared at me.
“He let her die.”
“And killing him won't bring her back.”
“That isn't your decision.”
“No.”
I held his gaze.
“But Sophie is watching.”
He looked at his daughter.
She was crying silently.
Adrian's anger vanished.
He went to her.
Kneeling.
He signed awkwardly.
I'm sorry.
Sophie looked at him.
For what?
He hesitated.
For not knowing how to protect you.
Sophie touched his face.
You tried.
Adrian closed his eyes.
Then she signed something that broke him.
Mom would want you to stop being angry.
His forehead rested against hers.
For the first time, I saw him cry.
That night, Nicholas gave us a storage location.
Isabella had hidden a box.
We found it in an abandoned church.
Inside was a journal.
Pages of handwriting.
Photographs.
Medical reports.
And one final note.
Adrian,
If you are reading this, I failed.
Do not trust the people closest to you.
Sophie was never the target.
She was the proof.
And there is one person who knows where the original evidence is.
Emma Reynolds.
I stared at my own name.
Adrian looked at me.
“What the hell?”
I shook my head.
May you like
“I don't know.”
But for the first time, I wondered whether my meeting with Sophie at 1:37 a.m. had really been an accident.
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