Chapter 4 - THE WOMAN WHO STAYED
The foyer doors locked with a mechanical click. Julian looked toward the sound, then at Miles.
“Is that necessary?” he asked.
“Tonight, yes,” Miles replied.
Adrian watched his brother carefully. Julian had aged, but the old habits remained: the quick smile, the restless fingers, the way he tilted his head when he believed someone was lying. He had been the boy who stole Adrian's car keys and then blamed the gardener. He had been the teenager who broke their mother's favorite vase and bought her a more expensive one before she could discover the truth. He had also been the young man who cried at their father's funeral.
Adrian had once believed that grief had changed him.
Now he wondered whether he had ever known him at all.
“Where have you been?” Adrian asked.
“Everywhere.”
“You let us bury you.”
“You let me believe I was nothing to this family.”
“You disappeared before the funeral.”
“Because I knew you would never share the company.”
Julian's eyes shifted toward the wheelchair. “And look at you now. You have a second chance, and you use it to stage a little theater.”
Adrian ignored the insult. “Why did you arrange the crash?”
Julian looked almost bored. “I didn't arrange anything. I asked for a delay. The driver panicked.”
“Thomas is dead.”
“Thomas made his choice.”
“He was loyal to our family.”
“He was loyal to your paycheck.”
Adrian felt Miles tense beside him. “You don't get to rewrite what happened.”
Julian shrugged. “The board will decide what happened. Tomorrow they will see a medical report, a chairman who cannot perform his duties, and a brother who has returned to restore confidence. Your recovery stunt won't change the vote.”
“Unless the board sees the evidence.”
“What evidence?”
Adrian nodded toward the wall monitor. A red indicator glowed above the recording icon.
Julian's expression changed. He looked at the camera, then back at Adrian.
“You recorded this?”
“Every word.”
Julian laughed. “You think a recording will frighten me? You think people will believe a man who pretended to be paralyzed?”
“People will believe the truth when they hear it.”
“Truth?” Julian stepped closer. “You have no idea what truth is. You were always Father's favorite. You got the lessons, the title, the second chance. I got told to be grateful.”
Adrian wanted to answer, but a movement behind Julian caught his eye. Vanessa had slipped toward the hallway.
“Stop,” Miles ordered.
Vanessa froze.
Julian glanced at her. “Go.”
She looked at Adrian. For a moment, her face seemed to ask for rescue. He remembered the woman who had once promised to stand beside him through anything. He also remembered her leaving him alone in the hospital and laughing when he struggled to lift a glass.
“You chose your side,” he said.
Vanessa's eyes hardened. “I chose survival.”
“You chose money.”
“And what did you choose? To pretend you were helpless so you could test the people around you?”
The accusation struck its target.
Adrian had no clean answer. He had wanted evidence. He had wanted to know who was loyal. But he had also allowed Emma to believe he was still unable to walk. He had watched her sacrifice sleep and comfort for him while keeping the truth hidden.
“I made a mistake,” he said.
Vanessa looked surprised.
Julian seized the moment. “There. Even he admits it.”
A security officer entered and whispered to Miles. The north perimeter had been breached by a second vehicle. Miles ordered the staff to secure the east wing.
Adrian turned to Julian. “Who else is with you?”
Julian smiled. “People who understand that Blackwood Holdings needs a stronger leader.”
“Names.”
“Ask Walter.”
Adrian's phone vibrated. A message from Emma appeared.
I found something in the medical file you left in the study. Call me.
He immediately dialed her number.
She answered after one ring. “Adrian, I need you to listen.”
“Are you safe?”
“That's not the point. Your file has a discharge summary from three months ago. It says you regained independent movement. But there's another page. A note from the surgeon says the original injury may have been caused by a second impact after the car stopped.”
Adrian went cold.
“What second impact?”
“I don't know. But the report says someone moved you before the ambulance arrived.”
He looked at Julian.
His brother's smile was gone.
Emma continued. “Adrian, who was at the crash site before the paramedics?”
May you like
Adrian stared at the man who had supposedly been dead for six years.
“Julian,” he whispered.
