Chapter 6 - The Woman I Called Mother Was Still Alive
I had spent seven years grieving a woman who might have been alive.
I couldn't process it.
“Where is she?”
Arthur smiled.
“Safe.”
Adrian's gun remained raised.
“If you're lying—”
“You'll kill me.”
“Yes.”
Arthur didn't seem frightened.
“Then perhaps we should talk.”
He revealed the truth.
Rebecca had been living under another identity.
She had hidden because people were still searching for Nora.
She had watched from a distance.
Every year.
Every birthday.
Every Christmas.
She had never approached because Adrian's enemies were still looking.
“Why didn't she tell me?”
Arthur looked at me.
“Because she believed you were safer believing she was dead.”
I shook my head.
“That isn't protection.”
“No.”
“It is abandonment.”
Arthur said nothing.
Adrian stepped closer.
“Where is she?”
Arthur gave him an address.
A small house in Delaware.
We drove before sunrise.
When the door opened, I knew her immediately.
Older.
Thinner.
Gray threaded through her hair.
But the eyes were the same.
My mother.
I couldn't speak.
She whispered my name.
“Nora.”
I walked forward.
Then stopped.
“Why?”
She started crying.
“Because I was afraid.”
“You let me think you were dead.”
“I know.”
“I cried for you.”
“I know.”
“You missed everything.”
“I know.”
I turned away.
Adrian stood outside.
Rebecca looked at him.
Her face broke.
“Adrian.”
He nodded.
“Mrs. Bennett.”
She laughed through tears.
“You still call me that.”
“I don't know what else to call you.”
She opened her arms.
He hesitated.
Then hugged her.
I watched.
And realized my brother had been grieving her too.
Rebecca explained everything.
Elena had discovered Gabriel's hidden organization.
She had found out that several families planned to overthrow him.
Rebecca helped her create an escape route.
But Gabriel found out.
Elena disappeared.
Rebecca escaped with me.
Adrian survived because his mother had hidden information in the frame.
The cheap wooden frame was actually part of a system.
The photograph concealed a code.
The code led to evidence.
Evidence that could expose Gabriel's surviving network.
“Where is Elena?”
I asked.
Rebecca looked down.
“She died.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
“She died protecting us.”
He didn't cry.
But I knew he wanted to.
Rebecca gave him another envelope.
“Your mother left this for you.”
Inside was a letter.
Adrian read it.
His hands shook.
I watched his face change.
“What does it say?”
He gave it to me.
My son,
If you are reading this, you survived.
That is enough.
Do not become your father.
Protect Nora.
She is not your weakness.
She is your reason to remain human.
Adrian looked at me.
For the first time, I understood him completely.
He had spent his entire life believing power could protect people.
His mother knew better.
Love could.
But only if it was freely chosen.
We returned to Philadelphia.
The city had changed.
News reports said several major companies connected to the Vale organization were being investigated.
Arthur disappeared.
Caroline disappeared.
And then Adrian discovered something worse.
His legitimate companies were being seized.
Someone had forged transfer documents.
Someone had made it look as though Adrian had voluntarily signed everything away.
I examined the paperwork.
“There's a signature here.”
“Yes.”
“That's not yours.”
“It looks like mine.”
“Exactly.”
I looked at the paper again.
The ink pattern.
The spacing.
The handwriting.
I realized something.
“My mother taught me forensic handwriting analysis.”
Adrian frowned.
“She did?”
“She worked with legal documents.”
I pointed.
“This signature is a copy.”
“Can you prove it?”
“Yes.”
We had one day.
I worked through every document.
I found inconsistencies.
The fake signature appeared on twelve transfers.
All twelve had been prepared by the same law firm.
That law firm represented Caroline's father.
We had our evidence.
But before we could act, the mansion was attacked.
Explosions shook the windows.
Security guards shouted.
Adrian grabbed me.
“Down!”
We hid behind the marble counter.
Gunfire erupted outside.
Then a voice echoed through the house.
“Nora!”
I froze.
I knew that voice.
It was Arthur.
“Come out.”
Adrian raised his weapon.
“You're not taking her.”
Arthur laughed.
“I don't want her.”
A pause.
“I want what she carries.”
I looked at Adrian.
“The frame.”
Arthur knew.
The photograph.
The code.
The evidence.
Adrian grabbed my hand.
“Run.”
We escaped through the underground tunnel.
The frame stayed with me.
But Arthur had one thing we didn't know.
He had a second copy.
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And inside it was the final secret about Gabriel Vale.
The secret that could destroy Adrian.
