Chapter 8 - THE LAST LIE
The hospital orderly was identified as Mark Ellison, a former contractor who had worked for Dr. Kline. He had left the hospital months after Adrian's accident and was now employed by a private medical transport company.
Investigators found him at a motel outside the city. He initially denied knowing anything about the crash, but the photograph from the garage changed his story.
Mark admitted that he had been paid to move Adrian after the collision. He said Julian had ordered him to lift Adrian from the passenger side and place him near the driver's door, making it appear that Thomas had been responsible for the wreck. During the transfer, Adrian's back struck the edge of the damaged frame.
“Did you know you were making his injury worse?” an investigator asked.
Mark looked at his hands. “I knew he was hurt. I didn't know how badly.”
“You were a medical worker.”
“I was a contractor. I had debts.”
Adrian listened to the recorded interview in Miles's office. The words made his stomach turn. He had spent months believing his body had betrayed him. In truth, someone had handled him like an object and left him to live with the consequences.
When the recording ended, Emma switched off the screen.
“You don't have to keep listening,” she said.
“I need to know.”
“You already know enough to understand what they did.”
Adrian rubbed his face. “I used you, too.”
Emma looked at him. “You did.”
“I told myself it was necessary.”
“Maybe it was. But you still made a choice for me.”
He nodded. “I don't expect you to trust me immediately.”
“Good. Because I don't.”
The honesty hurt, but he preferred it to false comfort.
That afternoon, Adrian gave a statement to investigators. He confirmed the hidden rehabilitation, the recovered messages, and the reason he had staged his continued disability. He also admitted that he had concealed the truth from Emma and his staff.
The investigator asked whether he had used company resources to mislead the board.
Adrian said yes.
His attorney advised him not to volunteer more, but he refused to hide behind technicalities. If he wanted the truth to matter, it had to apply to him as well.
By evening, the story had reached the news. Headlines called him the billionaire who fooled his enemies. Others questioned whether he had manipulated the people closest to him. Both were true in different ways.
Vanessa requested a private meeting before her formal interview. Adrian agreed, with Miles present.
She arrived without jewelry and without the confident smile she had worn at the gala.
“Julian told me you would never recover,” she said. “He said your doctors were certain.”
“You knew the accident was planned.”
“I knew the plan was to remove you from the company. I didn't know Thomas would die.”
“You gave Julian my schedule.”
“I thought he would frighten you.”
“Why?”
Vanessa looked at the floor. “Because I wanted the life I thought I deserved. I wanted the house, the money, the position. When you were injured, I saw a future where I would spend every day taking care of someone who could no longer give me the life I wanted.”
“You could have walked away.”
“I was afraid of losing everything.”
“You nearly made me lose everything.”
She began to cry. Adrian did not comfort her. He no longer confused remorse with innocence.
Before leaving, Vanessa said one final thing.
“Julian told me there was another person who approved the plan. Someone you would never suspect.”
“Who?”
She shook her head. “I never met them. He said the person was already inside your company.”
After she left, Adrian looked at Miles.
“Who else had access to the route schedule?”
Miles checked the list.
May you like
One name remained.
Emma Collins.
