Chapter 4 - The Grandmother Who Came SmilingHelena Vale arrived at the hospital wearing pearls.
Her first thought was Lucy.
She jerked upright.
Pain shot through her body.
“Lucy!”
“She’s here.”
Emily turned.
Rachel sat beside the hospital bed.
Lucy was asleep on a couch, curled beneath a gray blanket.
Emily exhaled.
Then she noticed the room.
Private hospital suite.
Flowers.
Medical monitors.
Glass windows overlooking downtown.
Her face tightened.
“Where are we?”
“Vale Medical Center.”
Emily went completely still.
“No.”
“Em—”
“No.”
She ripped the pulse sensor from her finger.
Rachel stood.
“You collapsed.”
“I’m leaving.”
“You can barely stand.”
“I said I’m leaving.”
The door opened.
Adrian Vale stepped inside.
Emily froze.
For twenty-two years, she had imagined seeing him again.
In most versions, she screamed.
In some, she slapped him.
In a few, she simply walked away.
She had never imagined meeting him weak, barefoot, and attached to an IV.
Adrian closed the door.
“Hello, Emily.”
Her eyes burned.
“You.”
Lucy stirred.
Emily immediately lowered her voice.
“You need to get out.”
“I need answers.”
“You don’t get to ask me for anything.”
Adrian absorbed the words.
“Why do you hate me?”
Emily laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“You really are good.”
“At what?”
“Pretending.”
Rachel stepped between them.
“Not here.”
Emily looked toward Lucy.
Her anger softened.
“You’re right.”
Adrian followed her gaze.
“I can arrange somewhere private.”
“You’ve arranged enough.”
Emily swung her feet toward the floor.
She nearly collapsed.
Adrian caught her elbow.
She tore herself away.
“Don’t touch me.”
Lucy woke.
“Mom?”
Emily immediately smiled.
“Hey, baby.”
Lucy ran into her arms.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
Adrian watched the lie.
Emily saw him watching.
Her eyes warned him not to expose her.
Lucy turned.
“Mr. Vale saved you.”
Emily’s body stiffened.
“He helped.”
“And he knows Dad.”
Silence.
Emily looked at Adrian.
He said nothing.
Lucy continued excitedly.
“He said the bike was his brother’s.”
Emily closed her eyes.
The moment she had spent eight years avoiding had arrived.
“Sweetheart,” she said gently, “go with Aunt Rachel and get something to eat.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Lucy.”
The girl knew that tone.
She reluctantly followed Rachel outside.
Once the door closed, Emily looked at Adrian.
“Do not involve her.”
“She may be my brother’s daughter.”
“She is my daughter.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“It’s the only answer you need.”
Adrian moved closer.
“My mother called me.”
Emily’s face changed.
“She knows I found you.”
Fear crossed Emily’s expression.
Not anger.
Fear.
“Then you need to get Lucy away from here.”
“Why?”
“Because Helena Vale destroys anything that threatens the story she created.”
Adrian stared at her.
“What story?”
“That Daniel abandoned your family.”
“He did.”
“No.”
Emily’s voice broke.
“He tried to come home.”
Adrian felt the room tilt.
“What?”
Emily turned toward the window.
“Daniel and I met when we were seventeen. I worked at a coffee shop near his school. He came in every afternoon because he hated going home.”
Adrian remembered.
Daniel had disappeared for hours.
Adrian assumed parties.
Trouble.
Girls.
He had never known about Emily.
“He didn’t tell you because your mother hated anyone she couldn’t control,” Emily continued. “When she discovered us, she offered me money to disappear.”
Adrian’s mouth went dry.
“How much?”
“Enough to change my life.”
“And?”
“I threw the check in her face.”
Despite everything, Adrian almost smiled.
That sounded like someone Daniel would love.
Emily continued.
“Two weeks later, Daniel told me he was leaving Boston. He wanted me to come.”
“Where?”
“Chicago. Then maybe California.”
“Daniel never told me.”
“He was afraid you would stop him.”
Adrian couldn’t deny it.
“I probably would have.”
“I know.”
The words hurt.
Emily sat down again.
“We left in his old car. The bicycle was strapped to the back because Daniel refused to leave it.”
“Why?”
Emily smiled sadly.
“Your father gave it to him.”
Adrian looked away.
Malcolm had been harsh, but he had loved Daniel in his own disastrous way.
“What happened?”
“We made it sixty miles.”
Emily’s hands began trembling.
“A black sedan forced us off the road.”
Adrian stared at her.
“Who?”
“Your mother’s security director. Victor Shaw.”
Adrian knew the name.
Victor had worked for the Vale family for thirty-one years.
“He told Daniel his father had suffered a heart attack because of him.”
Adrian whispered, “Dad never had a heart attack.”
“I know that now.”
Emily’s eyes filled.
“Daniel panicked. He agreed to return. Victor told me I wasn’t welcome. Daniel promised he’d come back for me.”
“And did he?”
“Yes.”
Adrian stopped breathing.
“Three nights later.”
Emily gripped the blanket.
“He showed up at my apartment bleeding.”
“Bleeding?”
“His face was swollen. His ribs were bruised. He said there had been a fight at the Vale house.”
Adrian’s memory exploded.
That night.
He had been away at university.
His mother had called the next morning and said Daniel stole cash and vanished.
Adrian returned home furious.
His father had locked himself in his study.
Nobody explained.
“What did Daniel say?”
“That he discovered something.”
“What?”
“He wouldn’t tell me. He said knowing would put me in danger.”
Emily wiped tears from her cheek.
“He gave me the bicycle. Said if anything happened to him, I should keep it.”
Adrian felt sick.
“Then?”
“He left.”
“Where?”
“To meet you.”
Adrian stared.
“No.”
“He said you were the only person in the family he still trusted.”
“No.”
“He went to meet you at the old Vale train depot.”
Adrian stepped backward.
“I wasn’t there.”
“I know.”
Emily’s voice hardened.
“Because someone sent Daniel a message from your phone telling him to meet there.”
Adrian’s face went white.
His phone had been stolen from his dorm room that week.
He had blamed another student.
Then it mysteriously reappeared.
A meaningless college incident.
Until now.
Emily continued.
“Daniel never came back.”
Adrian could barely speak.
“What did my family tell you?”
“That Daniel changed his mind. That he left the country. And that you had personally told them you never wanted to see him again.”
Adrian stared at her.
“I never said that.”
“I know that now too.”
“Why?”
“Because six months later I received a package.”
Emily reached for her purse on the chair.
From the inside pocket, she removed an envelope yellowed by time.
Adrian recognized the handwriting instantly.
Daniel’s.
His knees nearly failed.
Emily handed it over.
“It was mailed from Buffalo.”
Adrian opened the letter carefully.
Only two sentences were inside.
Emily, they lied to both of us. Don’t trust anyone named Vale until Adrian learns the truth.
And beneath that:
If I don’t make it back, tell my daughter I tried.
Adrian looked up sharply.
“You were pregnant.”
Emily nodded.
“Daniel knew for three days.”
Adrian looked toward the door where Lucy had disappeared.
“She’s his.”
“Yes.”
He sat down.
For the first time since taking over Vale Capital, Adrian Vale looked completely defeated.
Emily studied him.
“You really didn’t know.”
“No.”
Her hatred didn’t disappear.
But something shifted.
Adrian folded the letter carefully.
“What truth was Daniel trying to tell me?”
Emily looked toward the hallway.
“I think it involved your father.”
Before Adrian could respond, the door burst open.
Marcus entered.
His face was pale.
“Adrian.”
“What?”
“Someone just tried to access Lucy’s school records.”
Emily stood.
“Who?”
Marcus hesitated.
“The request came through a Vale family office account.”
Adrian’s expression turned lethal.
“Whose authorization?”
May you like
Marcus looked directly at him.
“Your mother’s.”
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