Chapter 3 - The Secret Their Parents Buried
Adrian's father, Vincent Vale, had died fourteen years earlier.
Officially, it had been a heart attack.
Unofficially, everyone in Adrian's world knew he had enemies.
But Adrian had never suspected his father had left behind a hidden trust.
Not until the old raven symbol appeared again.
He took Cassia to the private archive beneath the Vale estate.
The underground room had no windows.
Shelves covered every wall.
Old ledgers.
Contracts.
Photographs.
Legal documents.
Cassia stared.
“Your family kept all this?”
“My father kept everything.”
“You said he died fourteen years ago.”
“He did.”
“Then why have you never found this?”
Adrian looked at the locked cabinet.
“Because I didn't know what I was looking for.”
He placed a key into the lock.
Inside were boxes labeled by year.
He opened 2008.
Nothing.
Nothing.
Nothing.
Then he found a box marked with one word.
BENNETT.
Cassia stopped.
“My family?”
Adrian opened it.
Inside was a photograph of her mother.
Lucia Bennett.
Alive.
Smiling.
Standing beside Vincent Vale.
Cassia picked it up with trembling hands.
“When was this taken?”
“Fourteen years ago.”
“She died twelve years ago.”
Adrian looked at her.
“Maybe she didn't.”
Cassia's breath stopped.
“My mother died of cancer.”
“That is what the record says.”
“My father told me.”
“Your father has lied about almost everything else.”
Her hands trembled.
Adrian pulled out another document.
A trust agreement.
The beneficiaries were:
Cassia Bennett.
Adrian Vale.
And a third name blacked out.
Cassia frowned.
“Why is my name on this?”
“I don't know.”
She read the date.
It had been created six months before they met.
“So our parents knew each other.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Adrian found a letter.
Vincent had written to Lucia.
Cassia read it.
I promised I would protect your daughter if anything happened to you.
Below that:
Harlow cannot be allowed to know about the second trust.
Cassia stared.
“Second trust?”
Adrian found another folder.
Inside was an old birth certificate.
Her name.
Another birth record was attached.
Same birthday.
Same mother.
Different child.
Male.
Name:
Elias Bennett.
Cassia stared.
“My mother had another child.”
Adrian's face hardened.
“Your twin.”
Silence.
“I was an only child.”
“So was I.”
“Why would they separate us?”
The answer came from a voice behind them.
“Because your father was trying to kill him.”
They turned.
Mara stood in the doorway.
Cassia frowned.
“You knew?”
Mara nodded.
“I knew your mother.”
“How?”
“I worked for Vincent.”
Adrian stared.
“You knew?”
“I knew pieces.”
“What happened?”
Mara looked at Cassia.
“Lucia discovered Graham's organization was stealing from the Vale family.”
“My father?”
“Yes.”
“She tried to expose him.”
“Your mother tried to protect both children.”
“Where is Elias?”
Mara shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Cassia closed her eyes.
“Then who does?”
Adrian opened another folder.
A photograph showed a young boy leaving a hospital.
At the bottom was one word.
ROCHESTER.
They drove there that afternoon.
The old hospital had been renovated.
Most records were digital.
But an elderly administrator remembered Lucia.
“She came here with two babies.”
Cassia's heart broke.
“What happened to them?”
“You were taken home.”
“And Elias?”
The administrator looked uncomfortable.
“Your mother asked us to tell everyone he died.”
“Why?”
“She believed someone was watching the hospital.”
“Who?”
“She never said.”
“Did she leave anything?”
The woman nodded.
“A letter.”
She handed Cassia an envelope.
Inside was her mother's handwriting.
My darling Cassia,
If you are reading this, Elias survived.
I had to separate you because your father discovered him.
He would use him to control me.
Do not search for him until Graham is gone.
Protect yourself.
Protect the trust.
And never tell Adrian that the second trust exists until you know whether Vincent kept his promise.
Cassia looked at Adrian.
“What promise?”
He read the last line.
Protect my son.
Adrian felt the words like a physical blow.
“My father knew.”
“Yes.”
“And your mother trusted him.”
“Yes.”
Cassia folded the letter.
“Why did you never tell me?”
“I never knew.”
She looked at him.
“Then why did you leave me?”
Adrian looked away.
“Because five years ago Vincent's enemies believed you were the key to the trust.”
“And you thought leaving me would protect me.”
“Yes.”
“But you knew nothing.”
“I knew enough to be afraid.”
Cassia whispered, “Fear ruined five years of our lives.”
Adrian looked at her.
“I know.”
Then the lights in the hospital corridor flickered.
A nurse screamed.
Glass shattered.
Gunfire.
Adrian grabbed Cassia and pulled her behind the wall.
Marco and two security men rushed forward.
A figure ran through the parking lot.
Adrian chased him.
He caught the man beside a black sedan.
The attacker fought.
Adrian pinned him against the hood.
“Who sent you?”
The man smiled.
“Harlow.”
Adrian's face hardened.
“Where is he?”
“You're too late.”
“Where?”
The man laughed.
“Ask your sweetheart.”
Adrian frowned.
“What?”
The man looked past him.
Toward Cassia.
“Ask her who her father really is.”
Then he bit down.
Adrian pulled him away.
Too late.
The man was dead.
Cassia stood in the hospital doorway.
“What's he talking about?”
Adrian didn't answer.
Because the attacker's final words had planted the worst possibility.
May you like
Maybe Graham Harlow was not simply Cassia's father.
Maybe he had been connected to the Vale family long before Adrian ever met her.
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