Chapter 5 - The Man Richard Buried
Celeste backed deeper into the tunnel.
Adrian followed slowly.
“What man?”
She gripped the flash drive.
“Your father had a second son.”
Adrian stopped.
Nora saw genuine confusion cross his face.
“That is a lie.”
“Richard had one child.”
Celeste shook her head.
“He had twins.”
“One was declared dead at birth.”
“He wasn’t dead.”
“Where is he?”
Celeste looked toward the darkness behind her.
“Closer than you think.”
A gunshot exploded through the tunnel.
The bullet struck the wall beside Celeste.
She screamed and dropped the drive.
Marcus pulled Adrian behind a concrete pillar.
Nora fell beside the archive door.
A man in a security uniform emerged from the guesthouse end of the tunnel.
It was the missing guard who had taken Nora’s phone.
He fired again.
Marcus returned fire.
The guard retreated.
Celeste crawled toward the flash drive.
Nora reached it first.
The metal casing was warm.
A thin line of blood marked one edge.
Celeste stared at her.
“Give it to Adrian.”
“Why should I trust you?”
“You shouldn’t.”
“But Julian will kill everyone in this house before he lets that recording play.”
Marcus’s radio crackled.
The secure interview room had been breached.
Julian was gone.
One guard was unconscious.
The other had vanished.
Adrian looked toward Celeste.
“You said Julian planned everything.”
“He did.”
“Then why help him?”
Celeste’s expression collapsed.
“Because he has my brother.”
Her younger brother, Ethan Wynn, had disappeared four months earlier.
The Wynn family told the press he was undergoing treatment overseas.
According to Celeste, Julian had abducted him after she discovered evidence linking him to Richard Vale’s death.
Julian forced her to continue the wedding.
He ordered her to create a public scandal involving Nora.
The poisoned champagne would incapacitate Adrian.
The forged proxy papers would be signed while he appeared critically ill.
Then Dr. Pierce would confirm Adrian lacked decision-making capacity.
“But why the fake accusation?” Nora asked.
“To make everyone look at you.”
“While Julian’s people moved Adrian upstairs.”
Celeste began crying.
“I thought the drug would only sedate him.”
“I didn’t know Vivian had a second vial.”
Adrian took the drive from Nora.
“What is the password?”
Celeste looked toward his wedding ring.
“Your father’s last words.”
“My father died unconscious.”
“No.”
“He spoke before Dr. Pierce injected him.”
The lights in the basement shut off.
Julian’s voice came through the archive speakers.
May you like
“Richard’s last words were not meant for Adrian.”
“They were meant for me.”
