Chapter 11 - THE MAN BESIDE MY MOTHER’S BED
I enlarged the photograph until Adrian’s face filled the screen.
He looked younger.
His hair was shorter.
But there was no mistake.
He had been in my mother’s hospital room three years before he claimed we first met.
I raised the phone.
“Explain this.”
Adrian’s expression did not move.
Vanessa stepped closer to see.
“That’s you.”
“No,” he said.
“It is,” I replied.
“The image was altered.”
My father took the phone.
He stared at the photograph for a long time.
Then he looked at Adrian.
“Why were you near Catherine?”
“I wasn’t.”
Miriam approached the screen.
“I remember that day.”
All eyes turned toward her.
“You remember him?”
“Not clearly. Catherine had asked me to bring several files to her room. When I arrived, a man was leaving.”
“Did she tell you who he was?”
Miriam nodded.
“She said he worked for someone interested in buying a portion of the family’s holdings.”
My father’s face hardened.
“Catherine never discussed a sale with me.”
“She believed you would refuse.”
“What company did he represent?”
“She didn’t say.”
I looked at Adrian.
“You knew who I was before we met.”
He laughed once.
“You think I spent years planning a marriage to steal a trust you didn’t know existed?”
“Yes.”
The answer came easily.
His smile faded.
Claire moved toward the coffee table.
“There may be another explanation.”
My father turned on her.
“You defended his company during the first acquisition.”
“That was six years ago.”
“After he married Elena.”
“Yes.”
“Did you know he had met Catherine?”
“No.”
“You reviewed Elena’s prenup. You advised me that Adrian posed no financial risk.”
“I believed that at the time.”
“You opened Marcus’s drive and lied about it.”
“I did not open it.”
My father picked up the cloning device.
“Then why was this in your briefcase?”
“I told you, it was planted.”
“By whom?”
Claire looked around the room.
“I don’t know.”
Vanessa spoke quietly.
“Adrian has one like that.”
Adrian spun toward her.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I saw it in your office.”
“It was a network scanner.”
“It copied my phone.”
Vanessa’s voice shook.
“You said it was for security, but after that you knew every message I sent.”
Adrian stepped toward her.
“You were living in my home.”
“My home, you mean?”
I said it quietly.
He looked at me.
The hatred in his face was no longer disguised.
“You have no idea what you’ve done.”
My father moved between us.
“No. You have no idea what she’s about to do.”
I picked up the divorce folder.
My hands no longer trembled.
“Where is the nearest notary?”
My father stared at me.
“Elena, you are not signing those papers.”
“I know.”
I tore the signature page in half.
Then I tore it again.
Adrian lunged.
The security officer forced him back.
I dropped the pieces at his feet.
His face twisted.
“You just destroyed the only document keeping your father alive.”
The room froze.
My father looked at him.
“What did you say?”
Adrian smiled.
It was the smile he wore when he believed he had regained control.
May you like
“You heard me.”
Before anyone could move, the mansion lights went out.
