Chapter 6 - The Man Damian Called Family
Adrian Vale entered the study smiling.
He was sixty-eight, silver-haired, elegant, and calm in the way dangerous men often were when they had spent a lifetime being obeyed.
His eyes went first to Damian.
Then to Beatrice.
The smile disappeared.
“I thought you were dead,” Adrian said.
Beatrice gripped Tessa’s hand.
“You hoped I was.”
Damian stepped between them.
“Sit down.”
Adrian raised an eyebrow. “You’re giving me orders in the house I helped save for you?”
“This stopped being a family conversation when someone broke into my security system.”
Adrian sighed and sat.
Damian placed Evelyn’s letter on the desk.
For the first time, Adrian looked surprised.
“Where did you get that?”
“Voss.”
The color left Adrian’s face for half a second.
It was enough.
Tessa saw it too.
Adrian recovered quickly. “Malcolm Voss is a frightened old addict who has spent years trying to sell his guilt to whoever will buy it.”
“My sister died under his care,” Tessa said.
Adrian looked at her as though noticing furniture.
“I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Don’t.”
Damian leaned forward.
“What was Rosewood?”
“A private hospice.”
Beatrice laughed bitterly.
Adrian’s gaze snapped toward her.
“What?” Damian asked.
Beatrice spoke slowly. “Ask him why a hospice needed locked research freezers.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“Ask him why patients had numbers instead of names.”
“Beatrice.”
“Ask him why Evelyn tried to call the FDA three days before she died.”
Adrian stood.
“That is enough.”
Damian did not raise his voice.
“Sit down.”
Adrian stared at him.
For the first time in Damian’s life, his uncle looked less like family and more like a man calculating exits.
Then Adrian smiled again.
“You want the truth? Your mother was sick. Not physically. Mentally. She became obsessed with conspiracies. Beatrice fed them.”
Beatrice whispered, “Liar.”
Adrian ignored her.
“Your father was trying to protect the company. I was trying to protect you.”
“From what?”
“From becoming your mother.”
Damian’s face went still.
Adrian walked to the door.
Grant blocked it.
Damian said, “You’re not leaving.”
Adrian turned back.
“Then you should know one thing before you make this worse.”
He pointed toward Beatrice.
“She didn’t just work at Rosewood.”
Damian looked at her.
Adrian’s voice sharpened.
“She signed the patient transfers.”
Tessa slowly let go of Beatrice’s hand.
May you like
Adrian smiled without warmth.
“Ask your precious witness how many people she delivered to that place.”
