Chapter 13 - ADRIAN'S FATHER
Adrian Hartwell was not a Hartwell by birth.
Vivienne had known that.
He had taken her surname after marriage for branding reasons.
She had never known his biological father.
Adrian claimed the man abandoned him before birth.
That man was Thomas Rourke.
Charles Hartwell's former bodyguard.
The man who helped Evelyn survive the first assassination attempt.
The man who vanished afterward.
The man Adrian had spent his entire life believing was dead.
Rourke lowered the gun.
"I tried to keep you away from this family."
Adrian laughed bitterly.
"You disappeared."
"Because Victor owned every part of my life."
"You expect me to care?"
"No."
Rourke looked at Vivienne.
"I expect her to."
He admitted the truth.
After Rebecca Sloan died in Evelyn's car, Rourke discovered Victor's role.
He tried to expose him.
Victor threatened Adrian, then a teenager.
Rourke disappeared to protect his son.
But Victor eventually recruited Adrian anyway.
Not through threats.
Through resentment.
Victor told Adrian the Hartwells had ruined his father.
Adrian became obsessed with entering the family.
Then he met Vivienne.
She thought it was chance.
It wasn't.
Adrian had engineered their first meeting.
Their romance.
Their marriage.
Everything.
Vivienne felt fifteen years of memories collapse.
"Was any of it real?"
Adrian looked at her.
For once, he had no clever answer.
That hurt more.
Police sirens approached.
Adrian grabbed Sloane.
Rourke raised the gun.
"Let her go."
Adrian pressed a blade near Sloane's throat.
"You don't get to give me orders."
Sloane trembled.
Vivienne watched both men.
Father.
Son.
Two lives destroyed by Victor Dane in completely different ways.
Then Daniel Vale woke.
He kicked a metal tray from the bed.
The crash distracted Adrian for half a second.
Sloane drove her head backward.
Adrian stumbled.
Rourke tackled him.
Police flooded the room.
No dramatic execution.
No revenge killing.
Just handcuffs.
Adrian Hartwell went to the floor screaming that everyone had betrayed him.
Vivienne watched quietly.
Outside, Sloane was placed into an ambulance.
Before the doors closed, she looked at Vivienne.
"I'm sorry."
Vivienne said nothing.
Some apologies arrived after the thing they were meant to repair no longer existed.
Ortiz approached.
"We have the confession."
"Good."
"And Rourke surrendered."
"Good."
"But Victor disappeared."
Vivienne turned.
"When?"
"Forty minutes ago."
His house was empty.
Private jet untouched.
Passport still inside.
No sign of forced departure.
Then Evelyn called.
Her voice shook.
"Vivienne."
"What?"
"The board meeting is tomorrow."
"I know."
"No."
Evelyn swallowed.
"Victor didn't cancel it."
Vivienne frowned.
"He's missing."
"His proxy just activated."
"Who has his proxy?"
Evelyn said nothing.
Then a document appeared on Vivienne's phone.
Victor Dane had transferred his voting authority hours earlier.
To Sloane Mercer.
May you like
Vivienne looked toward the ambulance carrying her sister.
And understood that Sloane had one final secret.
