BILLIONAIRE ARRIVED HOME UNANNOUNCED AND SAW THE MAID WITH HIS SON — WHAT HE SAW SHOCKED HIM
Chapter 4
Adrian thought the man at the gate was lying.
He had to be.
Victoria had been buried four years earlier.
He had stood beside her grave.
He had watched the coffin disappear beneath the ground.
But when the security footage appeared on the monitor, Adrian’s certainty vanished.
The man standing outside was old.
Gray-haired.
Wearing a dark coat.
He held a folder.
And although Adrian didn’t recognize him immediately, Clara did.
She whispered:
“That’s Dr. Samuel Reed.”
Adrian turned.
“Who?”
“Your wife’s physician.”
Adrian remembered the name.
Samuel Reed had treated Victoria during the final months before her death.
But he had disappeared after the funeral.
Adrian ordered security to bring him inside.
The man entered the study.
He placed the folder on the desk.
“I know what you think.”
Adrian stared.
“You’re going to tell me my wife is alive.”
Samuel shook his head.
“No.”
Adrian exhaled.
“But I will tell you something worse.”
He opened the folder.
Inside were medical records.
Victoria’s name.
Her blood type.
Her hospital photographs.
And one document Adrian had never seen.
A death certificate.
The date matched the accident.
But the signature didn’t.
Adrian stared.
“That’s not the doctor’s signature.”
Samuel nodded.
“Because I didn’t sign it.”
Adrian looked up.
“Then who did?”
Samuel pointed to the bottom.
A name was written there.
Adrian recognized it.
Marcus Hale.
Impossible.
Samuel continued.
“Your wife wasn’t killed in an accident.”
Adrian’s hands tightened.
“She was poisoned.”
Clara covered her mouth.
“Why?”
Samuel shook his head.
“Because she discovered the network.”
Adrian stared at the documents.
“How did she survive?”
“She didn’t.”
“Then why did you say worse?”
Samuel placed another photograph on the table.
It showed Victoria entering a private clinic.
Three days before the accident.
Adrian studied it.
“She was trying to escape.”
Samuel nodded.
“She knew someone was following her.”
“Who?”
Samuel looked at Clara.
“She didn’t know.”
Then he turned back to Adrian.
“But she suspected someone inside your house.”
Adrian felt a chill.
“My house?”
Samuel nodded.
“Your wife told me that someone had access to your private office.”
Adrian immediately thought of the security team.
The household manager.
The employees.
But then Ethan walked into the room.
Samuel looked at him.
His expression changed.
“That’s her son.”
Adrian nodded.
Samuel stared at Ethan.
Then whispered:
“He looks exactly like her.”
Ethan stepped closer.
“Did you know my mom?”
Samuel knelt.
“Yes.”
“Did she love me?”
Samuel’s eyes filled with tears.
“She loved you more than anything.”
Ethan smiled faintly.
Then asked:
“Why did she leave me?”
Samuel looked at Adrian.
Adrian couldn’t answer.
Samuel finally said:
“She didn’t.”
Everyone froze.
“What?”
Samuel pointed to the blue box.
“Your mother left instructions.”
“For what?”
“To protect you.”
Adrian’s heart raced.
“What instructions?”
Samuel opened the folder again.
Inside was a handwritten note.
When Ethan turns ten, give him the key.
Adrian looked at his son.
“He’s nine.”
Samuel nodded.
“One year early.”
“Why?”
“Because someone has discovered that Clara is here.”
Adrian looked toward the security monitor.
The cameras had suddenly gone black.
Every screen.
At once.
The estate had lost surveillance.
Then the lights flickered.
Ethan grabbed Adrian’s hand.
“Dad.”
Adrian looked at Clara.
“Get him upstairs.”
Clara nodded.
Samuel stood.
“It’s too late.”
A loud crash came from downstairs.
Someone had entered the house.
Adrian reached for the emergency phone.
Nothing.
No signal.
Then his private office door opened.
A man stepped inside.
Adrian recognized him immediately.
His chief of security.
The man who had worked for him for twelve years.
The man Adrian trusted more than anyone.
He pointed a gun toward Adrian.
“You should have stayed in New York.”
Adrian stared.
“You.”
The security chief smiled.
“Victoria discovered too much.”
Adrian stepped in front of Ethan.
“What did you do to my wife?”
The man’s smile disappeared.
“She wasn’t supposed to leave evidence.”
Clara pulled Ethan backward.
Then the man said something that made Adrian’s blood run cold.
“She wasn’t supposed to have a daughter either.”
Clara froze.
Adrian looked at her.
“What?”
The security chief laughed.
“Ask your maid who the little girl really is.”
