Chapter 5 - The Seven Women Were Never Here For Marriage
The old church stood near the river.
Abandoned.
Windows broken.
Walls covered in ivy.
Adrian and I entered through the side door.
The inside smelled of dust and damp wood.
I felt strange.
Almost as if I had been there before.
A memory surfaced.
A lullaby.
My mother's voice.
Then I remembered the words.
“Blue river, silver sky, hide the truth where children lie.”
I stopped.
Adrian turned.
“What?”
“I know this place.”
“How?”
“My mother sang about it.”
He looked toward the altar.
We walked forward.
Behind the altar was a wooden compartment.
Inside was another frame.
Identical to mine.
But the photograph had been removed.
Only a folded piece of paper remained.
Adrian opened it.
A list of names.
The seven women.
Caroline.
Vanessa.
Lauren.
Melissa.
Sophie.
Emily.
Rachel.
All seven.
Beside each name was a number.
Adrian's face hardened.
“They're connected.”
“To what?”
He stared at the paper.
“To the original Vale organization.”
“But some are from outside families.”
“Exactly.”
“What does the number mean?”
“Security clearance.”
I frowned.
“They weren't potential wives.”
“No.”
“They were candidates.”
“For what?”
Adrian looked at me.
“For my father's succession.”
He explained.
Gabriel had created seven hidden alliances before his death.
Each family had been offered access to the Vale empire in exchange for loyalty.
But Elena had sabotaged the plan.
She believed Gabriel would eventually kill everyone who stood between him and total control.
The seven women were descendants of those original allies.
They had come to claim what they believed belonged to them.
The diamonds and land were bait.
Adrian had offered them choices to see whether they knew the true purpose of the evening.
But someone had used the event for another purpose.
Caroline wasn't simply a rival.
She was working with someone inside Adrian's organization.
We returned to the mansion.
Caroline was gone.
So was the wounded woman from the gallery.
The security chief reported that both had left under medical supervision.
Adrian didn't believe it.
Neither did I.
We found hidden footage.
Caroline had entered a vehicle belonging to Grant.
I stared at the screen.
“Grant?”
Adrian's expression was unreadable.
“He's my cousin.”
“You trust him.”
“I did.”
That sentence frightened me.
We confronted him in the garage.
Grant didn't deny it.
He simply looked at Adrian.
“I never wanted you dead.”
“You betrayed me.”
“I protected the family.”
“From what?”
Grant looked at me.
“From her.”
My blood went cold.
“Me?”
“You're the reason everything falls apart.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“Don't speak about her like that.”
Grant laughed.
“There he is.”
“Who?”
“The boy Elena raised.”
Adrian froze.
Grant continued.
“She didn't disappear because she was weak.”
“She disappeared because she beat your father.”
He looked at me.
“She got Nora out.”
I whispered, “Why?”
“Because Gabriel ordered both children killed.”
Adrian's face changed.
“Both?”
Grant nodded.
“You were supposed to die too.”
Adrian stared.
“I was seventeen.”
“And Nora was a baby.”
Grant's voice cracked.
“I watched Elena beg.”
“Who stopped him?”
“Rebecca.”
Silence.
“She took Nora and disappeared.”
Adrian's eyes filled.
“Then why did you betray her?”
Grant looked away.
“Because I was afraid.”
Before he could say more, gunfire erupted.
Grant fell.
Adrian caught him.
“Who shot you?”
Grant coughed.
“Caroline.”
Then he died.
Adrian's grief was silent.
He closed Grant's eyes.
I touched his shoulder.
He didn't move.
“I trusted him.”
“I know.”
“I've lost too many people.”
“You haven't lost me.”
He looked at me.
“You promise?”
“Yes.”
For the first time, he hugged me.
Not as a mafia boss.
Not as a protector.
As my brother.
Hours later, we discovered Caroline had escaped.
But she left something behind.
A key.
It belonged to the private vault beneath the Bellford Hotel.
The same hotel where our mothers had worked.
We went there at midnight.
The vault opened with the key.
Inside were records.
Photographs.
And one final document.
An adoption certificate.
Nora Elise Vale.
Adopted by Rebecca Bennett.
The document had been signed by a judge whose name I recognized.
My grandfather.
Or so I thought.
At the bottom was another signature.
Arthur Vale.
Adrian's uncle.
The same man everyone believed had died ten years earlier.
Adrian stared.
“He's alive.”
My stomach dropped.
“Where?”
A voice answered from the darkness.
“Closer than you think.”
Arthur stepped out.
Older.
Gray-haired.
Smiling.
Adrian raised his weapon.
Arthur laughed.
“Put it down.”
“No.”
“Your mother trusted me.”
“My mother died because of you.”
“No.”
Arthur looked at me.
“She survived.”
I froze.
“What?”
“Your mother survived too.”
My breath stopped.
“Rebecca?”
May you like
Arthur nodded.
“She isn't dead.”
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