Chapter 3 - THE WOMAN WHO KNEW MY MOTHER
Z
Elena Vale was not Victor's wife anymore.
They had separated eight months earlier, after a marriage the tabloids described as elegant, glamorous, and unusually private.
I'd met Elena only twice.
Both times, she was kind to me.
The first was at a charity fundraiser where I was serving drinks.
She gave me a generous tip and asked whether I was in school.
The second was at the hospital, two weeks before Adrian proposed.
She'd been visiting a children's ward.
When she learned my mother was receiving treatment on the oncology floor, she accompanied me upstairs and spent twenty minutes talking with her.
At the time, I thought she was simply compassionate.
Now I remembered something else.
She'd asked whether my mother still collected ceramic birds.
My mother laughed and told her she'd given away the last one years earlier.
Elena had said she remembered them from childhood.
I didn't question it.
I was too exhausted.
But now the memory bothered me.
"How did Elena know my mother when she was younger?" I asked.
Adrian frowned.
"I didn't know she did."
"She knew about the birds."
Rebecca studied the photograph.
"That could be significant. It doesn't establish Elena's involvement, but we should tell the investigators."
I nodded.
Then remembered something.
"Elena gave me her number."
I searched my contacts.
There it was.
Elena V.
I called.
She answered on the second ring.
"Claire?"
Her voice was frightened.
"Elena. Where are you?"
A pause.
"Why?"
"My mother is missing."
Silence.
Then Elena whispered, "Oh, God."
"Do you know anything?"
"Claire, please listen carefully."
I gripped the phone.
"Where is she?"
"I don't know where Victor took her."
I stopped breathing.
"You knew he would?"
Elena began crying.
"I knew he was planning something. I didn't know he'd go this far."
"Then why didn't you tell me?"
"Because he threatened my son."
I stared.
Elena had a seven-year-old boy named Nicholas.
He was Victor's child.
My voice softened despite my fear.
"Is Nicholas safe?"
"With my sister. For now."
Adrian leaned closer.
"Elena, it's Adrian."
She gasped.
"Adrian?"
"We're working with investigators. Tell us what you know."
Her breathing became ragged.
"Victor has been meeting Marcus Velez for months. They were discussing your grandfather's succession provisions."
Adrian's expression tightened.
"Go on."
"Marcus said a marriage would complicate the council challenge. Then he said they could make the marriage look fraudulent."
My stomach dropped.
"How?"
Elena swallowed.
"By proving Claire accepted money in exchange for pretending to be your wife."
I closed my eyes.
The contract.
The medical trust.
The five million dollars.
Every provision intended to protect us could be twisted into a weapon.
"But our marriage is real," I whispered.
Elena was silent.
Then said, "Victor doesn't care what's real."
Elena agreed to meet investigators through her attorney.
She provided messages and records of conversations with Victor that she had retained during their separation.
The material suggested Victor had been gathering information about Adrian's marriage, medical trust, and corporate authority.
She also described Marcus's role in drafting the marriage agreement.
But when asked about my mother's location, Elena broke down.
"I don't know."
I believed her.
Not because I was certain she was innocent.
Because she looked like someone who had spent too long living under threats.
I recognized that exhaustion.
The way fear could become a routine.
The way surviving one day at a time could make everything else feel impossible.
That evening, Adrian asked to speak with me alone.
We sat in the library.
The suitcase was still beside the door.
My stained gown lay folded over a chair.
The diamond ring he'd removed the previous night remained on his desk.
He looked at it.
Then looked at me.
"Claire, I need to tell you something."
My stomach tightened.
"What?"
"Victor was partly telling the truth at the gala."
I went cold.
"About your fiancée?"
Adrian nodded.
Her name was Vivienne Hart.
She had been engaged to him when the highway attack occurred.
I knew she'd left afterward.
But I didn't know why.
Adrian looked toward the window.
"After the accident, Vivienne told me she couldn't handle the change in our lives."
I swallowed.
"That's horrible."
He shook his head.
"There's more."
I waited.
"She was receiving money from Victor."
My heart dropped.
"What?"
"Investigators later found payments between companies connected to Victor and Vivienne's business interests. I never established what they were for."
I stared.
"Did she know about the attack?"
"I don't know."
He looked ashamed.
"And I was too angry to keep asking."
For a moment, the room was silent.
Then Adrian said, "After she left, I decided affection was unreliable."
I looked at him.
"So you offered me a contract."
"Yes."
His voice tightened.
"I thought if everything was written down, nobody could pretend there had been promises that weren't made."
I felt tears rise.
"Adrian."
He continued.
"I thought money could make expectations clear. I didn't understand what it would feel like to fall in love with someone who had every reason to believe I'd purchased her presence."
I sat beside him.
"Then why did you ask me that question last night?"
He looked at me.
"Because you were leaving."
His voice broke.
"And I realized I didn't care about the council anymore."
I took his hand.
He looked startled.
I said quietly, "I would stay married to you even if the five million disappeared tomorrow."
His eyes filled.
"Claire."
"But I won't stay if you use fear or money to control me."
He nodded immediately.
"I understand."
I leaned closer.
"And I'm not afraid of your wheelchair."
He swallowed.
"I know."
"I'm afraid of losing you."
For the first time, Adrian Vale looked like he might cry.
Then the library doors opened.
Gabriel stood there.
His face was grim.
"Sir, we've located the medical van."
I stood.
"My mother?"
Gabriel hesitated.
"The van is empty."
The room went cold.
Then he added, "But somebody left her hospital bracelet in the back."
May you like
And attached to it was a note bearing Victor's handwriting.
COME ALONE, OR SHE DOESN'T SEE MORNING.
