Chapter 7 - The Enemy Inside the HouseClaire told Adrian everything.
His house was empty.
His phone switched off.
His car was found at Midway Airport.
But no record showed him boarding a flight.
Grant denied knowing anything.
Claire was not surprised.
Adrian’s team discovered that Arthur had quietly transferred four million dollars to an account in the Cayman Islands forty-eight hours before Claire was thrown from the car.
Payment.
Or escape money.
Either possibility pointed directly toward Grant.
Claire spent three days studying every document connected to her estate.
The deeper she looked, the worse it became.
Her grandfather’s trust had been hidden behind layers of legal language.
Grant had convinced her to grant Arthur broad authority after her parents died.
Arthur then used that authority to restructure holdings, redirect dividends, and bury reports.
Claire had been wealthy for years without knowing it.
Meanwhile, Grant told her they needed to “budget carefully.”
The absurdity made her physically sick.
She remembered apologizing for buying a $300 coat.
Grant had stolen millions from her.
Then made her feel guilty for buying clothes.
Claire sat surrounded by files at Adrian’s dining table.
“I was so stupid.”
Adrian looked up sharply.
“No.”
“I signed things without reading them.”
“You trusted your husband and attorney.”
“That was stupid.”
“It was human.”
Claire looked at him.
“You don’t trust anyone.”
“No.”
“Is that better?”
Adrian considered.
“Safer.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
He looked away.
“No. It isn’t better.”
For the first time, Claire understood that Adrian’s strength had a cost.
He lived behind guards.
Armored glass.
Encrypted phones.
He knew where every exit was.
He never sat with his back to a door.
She had thought it was power.
Now she saw the prison inside it.
A security man entered.
“Mr. Vale.”
Adrian immediately stood.
“What?”
“We found Keane.”
Claire’s chair scraped backward.
“Where?”
“Not Keane exactly.”
The guard placed a phone on the table.
A photograph filled the screen.
Arthur’s watch.
His wallet.
A bloodstained handkerchief.
All lying on concrete.
Claire went pale.
“Is he dead?”
“We don’t know.”
“Where was this taken?”
“An old Bennett Construction site near the river.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“Who sent it?”
“Unknown number.”
Claire stared at the image.
Then she noticed something.
“Zoom in.”
The security man enlarged the photograph.
Behind Arthur’s wallet was part of a yellow sign.
Only three letters visible.
M-R-O.
Claire’s breathing quickened.
“I know that place.”
Adrian looked at her.
“Where?”
“Grant owned a storage company before Bennett Development.”
She pointed.
“Monroe Storage.”
Adrian immediately picked up his phone.
Within fifteen minutes, they found it.
Monroe Industrial Storage.
Closed four years earlier.
Still owned by one of Grant’s shell companies.
Police obtained a warrant.
At 2:13 a.m., they entered.
Arthur Keane was alive.
Barely.
Someone had beaten him.
He was bound to a chair inside an office.
The room had been stripped.
Computers removed.
Files burned.
But whoever had done it had worked too quickly.
Investigators found a hidden compartment beneath the floor.
Inside were seventeen flash drives.
Three ledgers.
And a handwritten notebook.
Arthur woke in the hospital the next morning.
He asked for Claire.
She refused.
Then he said the words that changed her mind.
“I know who ordered Samuel Reed killed.”
Claire went.
Adrian insisted on coming.
Claire insisted he wait outside.
Arthur looked twenty years older than he had three days earlier.
His face was swollen.
Two ribs broken.
One eye nearly closed.
Claire stood beside his bed.
“You lied to me for years.”
Arthur’s lips trembled.
“Yes.”
“You stole from me.”
“Yes.”
“You forged my signature.”
He closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
Claire wanted to hate him.
Instead she felt exhausted.
“Why?”
Arthur began to cry.
“Grant had evidence against me.”
“What kind?”
“Tax fraud. Years ago. Small at first.”
“He blackmailed you.”
“I helped him change one trust document. Then another.”
Arthur swallowed.
“After that, he owned me.”
“No.”
Claire’s voice hardened.
“You kept choosing him.”
Arthur looked away.
“That matters.”
He nodded.
“Who killed Samuel?”
Arthur whispered, “Grant.”
“Did he do it himself?”
“No. He ordered Dominic Price.”
Claire recognized the name.
Grant’s head of security.
“What about you?”
Arthur trembled.
“Dominic attacked me too.”
“Why?”
“I told Grant I was done.”
Claire almost laughed.
“When?”
“After I saw what he did to you.”
“You knew?”
Arthur’s eyes filled.
“Grant called me after leaving you in the street.”
Claire went still.
“What did he say?”
Arthur’s voice cracked.
“He said the problem had been handled.”
A chill moved through her.
“And Samuel?”
“Samuel threatened to go to police.”
“So Grant had Dominic kill him.”
“Yes.”
Claire leaned closer.
“What’s on the flash drives?”
Arthur looked toward the door.
“Enough to destroy him.”
Claire felt her pulse jump.
“Where did they come from?”
“I kept copies.”
“Why?”
“Insurance.”
Of course.
Cowards collected insurance against other cowards.
Claire straightened.
“Will you testify?”
Arthur closed his eyes.
“If they protect my daughter.”
“From Grant?”
“From Dominic.”
Claire stared.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
Arthur opened his eyes.
“Grant isn’t the most dangerous man in this.”
Claire frowned.
Arthur whispered.
“Dominic stopped working for Grant six months ago.”
“That’s impossible. He’s still Grant’s security chief.”
“Officially.”
“Then who does he work for?”
Arthur’s voice fell to almost nothing.
“Someone inside Vale Holdings.”
Claire stopped breathing.
Outside the room, Adrian was waiting.
Arthur grabbed her wrist weakly.
“Don’t trust everyone around Adrian.”
Claire pulled away.
“Who?”
Arthur shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
“Who?”
“I only heard Dominic call him Mr. V.”
Claire stared.
Adrian Vale.
His uncle Victor Vale.
His cousin Vincent Vale.
Several senior executives.
Too many names.
Arthur continued.
“Grant thought he was using Dominic.”
He laughed painfully.
“But Dominic has been using Grant.”
“For what?”
Arthur looked terrified.
“To get Adrian killed.”
Claire stepped backward.
Suddenly this was no longer only about her husband.
May you like
Someone had turned Grant’s obsession into a weapon.
And Adrian might already be surrounded by the person holding it.
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