Chapter 8 - THE WOMAN IN THE FRONT PEWMarcus vomited into the kitchen sink.
Nobody commented.
The revelation landed differently on him than it had on Adrian.
Adrian had discovered his father was alive.
Marcus had discovered his mother might be responsible for destroying nearly everyone around them.
Claire stood near the fireplace watching snow collect against the windows.
Victor Vale spread documents across the table.
“Helena inherited Daniel’s network after his death.”
Marcus wiped his mouth.
“My mother can barely use email.”
Victor almost smiled.
“She convinced you of that too?”
Marcus turned.
“She raised me.”
“Yes.”
“She was there when Dad died.”
“Yes.”
“She cried for six months.”
Victor’s expression darkened.
“Your father’s stroke was probably not natural.”
Marcus stared.
“No.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Stop saying things like that!”
Marcus swept a stack of papers onto the floor.
“Everyone in this family speaks about murder like weather.”
Adrian looked at him.
“Because in this family, it often is.”
Marcus laughed bitterly.
“And you’re better?”
Adrian didn’t answer.
Marcus stepped toward him.
“You’ve killed people.”
Claire stiffened.
Adrian’s face remained unreadable.
“Yes.”
“You’ve threatened families.”
“Yes.”
“You built half your reputation on fear.”
“Yes.”
“Then why exactly should I care whether you keep the throne?”
The word throne hung in the room.
Adrian approached his cousin.
“You shouldn’t.”
Marcus blinked.
Adrian continued.
“This stopped being about who runs the Vale organization the moment my mother died.”
He looked at Victor.
“I want the Circle destroyed.”
Victor nodded.
“Then tomorrow you lose.”
At nine the next morning, Vale Tower was surrounded by reporters.
The story had leaked overnight.
ADRIAN VALE UNDER INVESTIGATION AFTER FUNERAL OUTBURST.
VALE HEIR DETAINED COUSIN FOLLOWING MOTHER’S DEATH.
QUESTIONS SURROUND BILLION-DOLLAR CORPORATE EMPIRE.
Claire watched coverage from a secure apartment.
Emma sat beside her with a blanket around her shoulders.
“You slapped him?”
Claire closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
“At his mother’s funeral?”
“Yes.”
“In front of three hundred people?”
“Yes.”
Emma considered this.
“Was it a good slap?”
Claire looked at her.
Emma shrugged.
“I almost died yesterday. Let me have something.”
Claire laughed despite herself.
Margaret entered carrying coffee.
“Adrian wants you at the tower.”
Claire stopped smiling.
“Why?”
“He says Evelyn started this with you and he intends to finish it with you present.”
Emma stared.
“That is either romantic or deeply unhealthy.”
Claire threw a pillow at her.
The Vale Holdings boardroom occupied the fifty-eighth floor.
Twenty-two directors sat around a polished table.
Government lawyers stood near the wall.
Helena Vale sat at the far end.
She wore black.
Elegant.
Maternal.
Devastated.
The perfect grieving sister-in-law.
Marcus entered first.
Helena stood.
“My baby.”
Marcus stopped.
She opened her arms.
He did not move.
Pain crossed her face so convincingly Claire almost doubted everything.
Then Adrian entered.
Flashes exploded outside the glass doors.
He wore a dark suit.
No visible emotion.
Victor Vale remained hidden.
That was the plan.
Helena looked at Adrian.
“My poor boy.”
Adrian nearly smiled.
“Don’t.”
She lowered her hands.
The board chairman cleared his throat.
“Adrian, serious allegations have been raised.”
“I read them.”
“Regarding misuse of corporate resources, unlawful surveillance, intimidation—”
“Boring.”
Several directors shifted.
The chairman reddened.
“We are also concerned about your emotional stability following Evelyn’s death.”
Adrian looked toward Helena.
“Are you?”
Helena lowered her eyes.
“I loved your mother.”
“Apparently everyone did.”
Claire watched Helena carefully.
No reaction.
The chairman presented the motion.
Temporary removal.
Marcus installed as interim executive chairman.
Adrian listened.
Then said, “Fine.”
The room froze.
Even Helena looked surprised.
Marcus turned.
The chairman blinked.
“You agree?”
“Yes.”
“Without contest?”
“Yes.”
Adrian stood.
“Marcus can have the company.”
Helena’s eyes narrowed.
Adrian continued.
“He can have my office, my voting authority, my board seat.”
The chairman looked confused.
“And your shares?”
“No.”
Helena immediately spoke.
“The emergency agreement requires—”
There.
Adrian turned.
“You know the agreement well.”
Helena smiled.
“I reviewed it.”
“With whom?”
“Counsel.”
“Which counsel?”
She hesitated.
One second.
Too long.
Adrian smiled.
Victor’s voice came through a hidden audio channel in Claire’s earpiece.
“She knows.”
Claire’s pulse raced.
The trap was working.
Marcus sat in Adrian’s chair.
Helena approached him.
For one terrible moment, he looked like a frightened child.
She touched his shoulder.
“I’m proud of you.”
Marcus stared at her.
“Did you poison Aunt Evelyn?”
The room went silent.
Helena’s hand froze.
“What?”
Marcus stood.
“Answer me.”
“Marcus, you’re upset.”
“Did you?”
Her face softened.
“Oh, sweetheart.”
Marcus flinched as if she had struck him.
That was Claire’s answer.
Not the words.
The tone.
The same patronizing tenderness Evelyn had described in those phone calls.
Marcus whispered, “You did.”
Helena’s face changed.
Only slightly.
The mask slipped.
“You were supposed to be stronger than this.”
Marcus stepped backward.
Adrian stared at her.
Helena sighed.
Then all pretense vanished.
“You truly are Evelyn’s son.”
The board members erupted.
Federal lawyers moved.
Then the elevators shut down.
The lights flickered.
Victor Shaw’s voice came over Adrian’s radio.
“Security breach.”
Adrian looked at Helena.
She smiled.
“You thought this was your trap?”
Gunmen appeared behind the frosted glass doors.
Claire’s stomach dropped.
Adrian looked at her.
“Floor.”
The doors exploded inward.
Gunfire shattered glass.
Directors screamed.
Adrian pulled Claire behind the conference table.
Marcus tackled his mother to the ground as bullets struck the chair behind her.
Victor Shaw returned fire.
Two attackers fell.
Smoke filled the room.
Claire crawled toward an injured board member.
Adrian grabbed her ankle.
“Where are you going?”
“He’s bleeding.”
“So?”
“I’m a hospice social worker, not a decorative hostage.”
She pulled free.
Adrian muttered something obscene and covered her.
Marcus held Helena behind a stone column.
“Stop them!”
She laughed.
“They’re not mine anymore.”
Marcus stared.
“What?”
“They work for him.”
“Who?”
A voice came from the doorway.
“Enough.”
Every surviving gunman stopped.
Adrian froze.
Victor Vale stepped through the smoke.
Claire stared.
The older man held a pistol.
But it was not aimed at Helena.
It was aimed at Adrian.
Helena smiled.
Marcus whispered, “Uncle Victor?”
Victor Vale looked at his son.
“I’m sorry.”
May you like
Adrian’s face went empty.
Then Victor pulled the trigger.
