Chapter 5 - A Letter From a Dead Woman
Damian did not open the envelope immediately.
For twenty-nine years, he had imagined every version of his mother’s last words.
None of them had arrived taped to a bleeding man beneath a demolished chapel.
Voss was moved to the medical wing under guard. He had a fractured skull, two broken fingers, and a sedative in his bloodstream.
Someone had wanted him alive.
Someone had also wanted him silent.
Damian finally opened the envelope in front of Tessa and Beatrice.
Inside was a single sheet of paper.
The handwriting was his mother’s.
Damian knew every curve.
Damian,
If Beatrice finds you, believe her before you believe anyone with our name.
Your father has turned Rosewood into something I cannot stop alone. People are being hurt. Records are being changed. If I fail, the proof is beneath the chapel.
Do not trust Adrian.
I am sorry I made you grow up inside a house built on secrets.
Mom.
Damian read the final line three times.
Tessa was the first to speak.
“Adrian who?”
Damian looked up.
“Adrian Vale.”
“My uncle.”
More than an uncle.
Adrian had raised Damian after Evelyn’s death. He had taught him to drive, negotiate, shoot, invest, and distrust strangers. When Damian sold the pharmaceutical division, Adrian had stayed on as chairman of the Vale Family Foundation.
He was also the only person besides Damian who knew where the master biometric key was stored.
Tessa saw the realization on his face.
“He could have used your credentials.”
“Yes.”
Beatrice began to shake.
Damian crouched in front of her.
“Why were you afraid of him?”
“He found me once.”
“When?”
“Three weeks ago.”
“The bus station?”
She nodded.
“He said I had carried guilt long enough. He said he could take it away.”
“What did that mean?”
Beatrice looked toward the window.
“He had a syringe.”
Tessa swore under her breath.
Damian stood and called Grant.
“Find Adrian.”
Grant was silent.
“Sir...”
“What?”
“Your uncle arrived at the front gate ten minutes ago.”
Damian’s eyes hardened.
“Why?”
“He says you invited him.”
“I didn’t.”
Grant lowered his voice.
“He also says he knows Beatrice Mercer is here.”
A second later, the intercom on Damian’s desk lit up by itself.
Adrian’s voice filled the room.
“Damian, open the door.”
May you like
A pause.
“Before that old woman tells you a lie you can never unhear.”
