Chapter 2 - BLOOD ON WHITE MARBLE
Adrian wanted Elena transferred immediately to a private hospital suite.
Elena refused.
“The doctor said the baby is stable.”
“He also said you need observation.”
“I can be observed here.”
“This house may not be secure.”
“Then make it secure.”
Her voice remained calm, but Adrian recognized the stubbornness behind it.
Elena had grown up in places where panic was treated as weakness.
Her father had been a respected federal judge.
Her mother had managed a national legal-aid foundation.
Elena had spent her childhood watching powerful people enter their home with polished smiles and hidden motives.
She had learned early that danger rarely announced itself honestly.
Adrian sent half the household staff home with full pay.
The remaining employees were moved into the west wing while Marcus searched the estate.
Every exterior door was checked.
Every employee access card was suspended.
Every security file from the previous forty-eight hours was copied to an independent server.
By midnight, Marcus had identified the login used to disable the cameras.
It belonged to Daniel Price, a junior security technician who had worked at the estate for six months.
Daniel was gone.
His apartment had been cleared.
His company phone lay smashed beside a highway thirty miles outside the city.
“He was hired through an outside staffing company,” Marcus explained.
“Who approved the placement?” Adrian asked.
Marcus hesitated.
“Nathan Crowe.”
Nathan was Vale International’s chief financial officer.
He was also Adrian’s oldest friend.
They had attended boarding school together.
Nathan had stood beside Adrian at his wedding.
Adrian looked toward Elena, who was resting on the sofa with one hand over her stomach.
“Call him.”
Nathan answered on the second ring.
His voice sounded irritated rather than concerned.
“Adrian, it is after midnight.”
“A security technician you authorized disabled the cameras in my home.”
There was a pause.
“I approve hundreds of contractor requests.”
“This one disappeared tonight.”
“What are you accusing me of?”
“I am asking a question.”
“And I am telling you I do not personally investigate every technician.”
Nathan exhaled.
“Victoria called me.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“What did she want?”
“She is furious.”
“She attacked Elena.”
“She says there was confusion.”
“There was no confusion.”
“She believed Elena was staff.”
“That makes it worse.”
Nathan was silent.
“Do you understand what canceling this agreement will do?” he finally asked.
“My wife was threatened with scissors.”
“And twelve thousand employees may lose their jobs if the financing collapses.”
Adrian stepped away from Elena.
“You sound as though you have chosen a side.”
“I am choosing the company.”
“The company belongs to me.”
“No,” Nathan said quietly.
“The company belongs to its shareholders.”
The line went dead.
Adrian stared at the phone.
Elena had heard every word.
“Nathan knew what Victoria would do,” she said.
“You cannot know that.”
“No.”
She sat upright carefully.
“But he knew what she was capable of, and he still defended her.”
Adrian walked toward the window.
Outside, rain had begun to fall across the gardens.
The estate looked sealed from the world.
Yet someone had reached inside it easily.
At one in the morning, two detectives arrived to take statements.
Victoria had already contacted the police through her attorneys.
She claimed Elena attacked her first.
According to Victoria, the scissors had been used only to free fabric caught around Elena’s wrist.
The cut was accidental.
The shove never happened.
“She is saying I fell?” Elena asked.
Detective Brooks shifted uncomfortably.
“She states you lost your balance.”
“And threatened my baby?”
“She denies making any threat.”
Adrian placed both palms on the desk.
“My wife’s blood is on those scissors.”
“Ms. Ashford does not dispute the injury,” Brooks said.
“She disputes intent.”
The second detective, Lena Ortiz, watched Elena carefully.
“Was anyone else present?”
“No,” Elena said.
“The staff had left the hall.”
“Any recording?”
“The cameras were disabled,” Adrian answered.
Ortiz’s expression sharpened.
“That is convenient.”
“For Victoria,” Adrian said.
“Or for anyone trying to create a false accusation,” Brooks replied.
Adrian took one step forward.
Ortiz raised her hand.
“We are not making conclusions tonight.”
Elena reached for Adrian’s wrist.
He stopped.
After the detectives left, Elena asked Marcus to bring the household schedule.
She studied the printed pages for several minutes.
“Victoria requested privacy from the staff between six and six-thirty,” she said.
Marcus nodded.
“She said she wanted to rehearse her announcement for the dinner.”
“What announcement?” Adrian asked.
No one answered.
Elena looked at the seating plan.
At the top of the page, beneath Victoria’s name, were three printed words.
FUTURE VICE CHAIRWOMAN.
Adrian took the paper.
“I never approved this.”
“She believed the partnership was already complete,” Elena said.
“No.”
“She believed more than that.”
Elena turned the page.
Attached to the seating plan was a draft press release.
It announced that Victoria Ashford would become vice chairwoman of Vale International immediately after the merger.
It also stated that Adrian would temporarily step away from daily leadership for family reasons.
“What family reasons?” Adrian asked.
Elena’s face went pale.
A paragraph near the bottom provided the answer.
Adrian Vale will focus on supporting his wife during a medically complicated pregnancy.
“They planned to use me as the excuse to remove you,” Elena said.
Adrian read the document again.
The press release had been prepared two days earlier.
It contained a quotation attributed to Nathan Crowe.
A quotation he had never shown Adrian.
Marcus’s phone rang.
He listened, then looked toward them.
“We found Daniel Price.”
“Where?”
“In a motel near the state line.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
Adrian released a breath.
“But he is not alone,” Marcus continued.
“He is with Lucas.”
Elena stared at him.
May you like
Lucas Vale was Adrian’s younger brother.
And according to the hotel registry, Lucas had paid for the room in cash.
