Chapter 6 - The Best Man’s Real Name
Emergency lamps illuminated the tunnel.
Julian appeared on a security monitor mounted above the archive door.
He had removed his tuxedo jacket.
A bandage covered one hand.
Behind him sat Celeste’s brother Ethan.
He was tied to a chair inside the estate’s old surveillance room.
“Release him,” Celeste said.
“When Adrian opens the drive.”
Adrian held it up.
“What did my father call you?”
Julian smiled.
“Not Julian.”
A birth certificate appeared on the monitor.
The name printed across it was JULIAN RICHARD VALE.
Father: Richard Vale.
Mother: Helena Cross.
Adrian stared at the screen.
Helena Cross had served as Richard’s executive assistant for twenty years.
She died in a boating accident when Julian was sixteen.
Julian had later entered Adrian’s life under his mother’s surname.
He became his college roommate.
His business partner.
His best man.
“You are my brother,” Adrian said.
“Half brother.”
“The distinction mattered greatly to Richard.”
“Did he know who you were?”
“He knew.”
“He paid for my education.”
“He gave me employment.”
“But he refused to acknowledge me publicly.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“That is why you tried to poison me?”
Julian’s smile disappeared.
“That is why I tried to expose him.”
“Your father built his empire using technology stolen from my mother.”
“When she threatened to reveal the truth, he arranged her death.”
Nora looked toward the police report in her hand.
Her father had investigated Helena’s accident.
A handwritten note appeared in the margin.
H. CROSS DEATH CONNECTED TO VALE TRUST.
Julian continued.
“Michael Bennett found the connection.”
“Richard promised to testify.”
“Then Richard changed his mind.”
“He protected the company.”
“My father refused to stop.”
“Both men died.”
Nora’s grip tightened around the report.
“Who killed them?”
Julian leaned closer to the camera.
“Open the drive.”
Adrian inserted it into an archive terminal.
A password screen appeared.
ENTER RICHARD VALE’S FINAL STATEMENT.
Adrian looked toward Dr. Pierce’s file.
Celeste whispered.
“I heard Julian say the words once.”
“What were they?”
“He said your father looked directly at him.”
“And said, ‘You were never supposed to survive.’”
Adrian typed the sentence.
The drive unlocked.
A video filled the screen.
Richard Vale sat in a hospital bed.
Dr. Pierce stood beside him.
Julian was visible near the door.
Richard looked weak but fully conscious.
May you like
Then he spoke.
“Julian, you were never supposed to survive the boat.”
