Chapter 4 - The Fortune in My NameRebecca didn’t sleep.
I learned that later.
At the time, all I knew was that my husband had walked out of our home because Serena Keller snapped her fingers.
What I didn’t know was why.
Serena had called from Room 1807.
She was barefoot when Adrian entered.
Blood covered one sleeve of her dress.
A man lay unconscious near the balcony.
And Serena was holding a gun.
“Close the door,” she said.
Adrian didn’t.
Instead, he looked at the body.
“Who is he?”
“Matteo Rinaldi.”
That name changed everything.
Rinaldi worked for Adrian’s uncle, Victor Vale.
Victor was Carlo Vale’s younger brother and the last man in the family who still believed Adrian had stolen something that belonged to him.
Power.
Adrian crouched beside Matteo.
Alive.
Barely.
“What happened?”
“He attacked me.”
“Why?”
Serena laughed once.
“You know why.”
Adrian stood.
“No.”
“He wanted Northstar.”
For six years, Adrian had kept Elena far away from conversations involving Northstar Holdings.
That had been intentional.
He remembered the night he created it.
Elena had been twenty-six.
Barefoot in their kitchen.
Eating strawberries directly from the carton.
Trusting him completely.
He had brought papers home and told her they concerned estate planning.
She signed where he pointed.
He hated himself for that lie more with every passing year.
But at the time, he believed ignorance would keep her safe.
Now ignorance might get her killed.
Serena wiped blood from her wrist.
“Matteo said Victor knows Elena controls the company.”
Adrian’s head snapped toward her.
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who else knows?”
“Apparently everyone who matters.”
Adrian’s phone buzzed.
He ignored it.
Serena looked at him.
“Aren’t you going to answer?”
He glanced down.
A message from Marco, his security chief.
Mrs. Vale left the penthouse.
Adrian stared at the screen.
A second message arrived.
Service elevator. We lost her at 10:31.
The room suddenly seemed smaller.
“Elena left.”
Serena’s expression changed.
“Good.”
Adrian looked at her.
“What did you say?”
Serena lowered the gun.
“I said maybe that’s safer.”
“You don’t get to decide what is safer for my wife.”
Something sharp passed across her face.
“I’m the reason you knew Victor was making his move tonight.”
“And I’m grateful.”
“Grateful.”
“Don’t start.”
“I called because a man tried to kill me, Adrian.”
“And I came.”
“Yes.”
Serena stepped closer.
“Even after she told you she was pregnant.”
He went still.
“How do you know that?”
Serena’s eyes widened slightly.
Too late.
The atmosphere changed.
Adrian took one step forward.
“I asked you a question.”
“I assumed.”
“No.”
He spoke softly now.
Which was when people who knew Adrian Vale became most afraid.
“You didn’t assume.”
Serena looked toward the unconscious man.
“Matteo told me.”
“How would Matteo know?”
Silence.
Adrian’s stomach turned.
He grabbed his phone.
Called Elena.
Straight to voicemail.
Again.
Nothing.
He called Marco.
“Find her.”
“We’re already—”
“Find my wife before Serena does.”
Serena stiffened.
“That’s insulting.”
Adrian disconnected.
Then he turned toward her.
“Give me the gun.”
“No.”
“Serena.”
“You think I threatened Elena?”
“I think someone knew about my child four seconds after I did.”
For the first time, Serena looked frightened.
Not offended.
Not angry.
Frightened.
Adrian noticed.
“Tell me what you know.”
“I can’t.”
He laughed without humor.
“That phrase is getting old.”
“There are things your father put in motion before he died.”
“My father has been dead eight years.”
“That doesn’t mean his plans died with him.”
Adrian stared.
Serena walked toward the window.
“When Carlo learned you were building Northstar, he became obsessed with taking it.”
“He failed.”
“Yes.”
“Because Elena owns it.”
“Yes.”
Serena turned.
“And because of the succession clause.”
Adrian felt ice spread through his chest.
“What succession clause?”
Serena looked almost sorry.
“You never read all the amendments, did you?”
He didn’t answer.
Rebecca Sloan had handled the final corporate structure.
Adrian had trusted her because Elena trusted nobody in his world.
“What clause?”
“If Elena dies, Northstar transfers according to her estate.”
“I know.”
“But if she dies while carrying your biological child?”
Adrian’s body went cold.
Serena continued.
“The shares go into a trust.”
“For the baby.”
“Yes.”
“Controlled by whom?”
Serena’s silence answered before her words did.
“Victor Vale.”
Adrian crossed the room so quickly Serena flinched.
“That’s impossible.”
“It was inserted into one of Carlo’s original legacy agreements.”
“Northstar didn’t exist then.”
“But several of the assets did.”
Adrian grabbed Matteo by the collar and dragged the semiconscious man upright.
“Wake up.”
Matteo groaned.
Adrian slapped him.
Serena stepped forward.
“Adrian—”
“Stay back.”
Matteo’s eyes opened.
He smiled weakly.
“Congratulations.”
Adrian punched him.
Blood hit the carpet.
“You knew she was pregnant.”
Matteo laughed.
“Victor knew before you did.”
That sentence terrified Adrian more than any gun ever had.
He pulled Matteo closer.
“How?”
Matteo spat blood.
“You powerful men always watch your enemies.”
His smile widened.
“You never think to watch your doctors.”
Adrian released him.
Dr. Helen Morris.
Elena’s obstetrician.
He had selected the physician himself after researching every private practice in Chicago.
Meaning whoever had compromised her had known exactly where Elena would go.
“How long?”
Matteo smiled.
“Long enough.”
Adrian stood.
Serena touched his arm.
He pulled away.
“Do not touch me.”
Her face hardened.
“I just saved you from walking into Victor’s trap.”
“You called me away from my pregnant wife.”
“I didn’t know when she was telling you.”
“Yet somehow you knew four seconds later.”
“I told you—”
“You told me nothing.”
Adrian called Marco again.
“Send men to Dr. Morris. Quietly. Get everything.”
“And Mrs. Vale?”
“Find Rebecca Sloan.”
That made Serena turn.
“Rebecca?”
Adrian noticed.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You know something.”
Serena looked away.
Adrian suddenly understood.
“Elena went to Rebecca.”
Serena’s jaw tightened.
“She might.”
“How would you know?”
“Because Rebecca prepared an exit strategy years ago.”
His chest tightened.
“For Elena?”
“Yes.”
Adrian stared at her.
“When?”
“After your third anniversary.”
The room went silent.
For three years, his wife had apparently possessed an escape route.
And he had never known.
Adrian stepped backward.
Memory after memory attacked him.
Elena waiting alone at restaurants.
Elena waking when he came home at dawn.
Elena smiling whenever Serena entered a room, then growing quiet.
Elena asking, “If I needed you and Serena needed you at the same time, who would you choose?”
He had laughed.
He had told her not to ask childish questions.
Tonight she had received the answer.
And he had given the wrong one.
Adrian looked at Matteo.
“Where is Victor?”
Matteo smiled.
“Already looking for your wife.”
Adrian walked toward the door.
Serena grabbed his arm.
“You can’t go alone.”
“I’m not.”
“You need me.”
That made him stop.
He turned slowly.
“For years you’ve used those three words.”
Serena’s face changed.
“Adrian—”
“You need me.”
He stepped closer.
“Maybe I confused loyalty with dependence.”
“That’s not fair.”
“My wife asked me to stay tonight.”
Serena said nothing.
“And I walked out.”
“You walked into an assassination attempt.”
“I walked away from my family.”
The realization seemed to hurt as he said it.
Adrian opened the door.
Serena called after him.
“She’ll never survive your world.”
He stopped.
Then looked over his shoulder.
“Then maybe my world is what needs to disappear.”
The door shut.
Serena stood alone.
For a moment she did not move.
Then Matteo laughed from the floor.
“You lost him.”
She looked down.
“Shut up.”
“You really thought if you kept calling, eventually he’d choose you.”
Serena raised the gun.
Matteo grinned.
“But he chose her.”
Her finger tightened on the trigger.
Then she lowered it.
“No,” she whispered.
“He hasn’t chosen yet.”
She picked up her phone.
Dialed a number.
Victor Vale answered immediately.
Serena stared at the closed door Adrian had just walked through.
“He knows about the trust.”
Victor was silent.
Then he asked one question.
“Where is Elena?”
May you like
Serena smiled faintly.
“I’m working on it.”
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