Chapter 10 - The Person Behind Victor
The warehouse stood beside the river, abandoned for years.
Adrien found the hidden room before Victor did.
Inside was a steel cabinet.
The key Marcus had given him opened it.
There was no money.
No weapons.
Only documents.
Bank transfers.
Photographs.
Old contracts.
And one name repeated across twenty years.
Richard Vale.
Adrien's uncle.
The man who had raised him after his father's death.
The man who had always told Adrien he was protecting the family.
Adrien read silently.
Richard had been paying informants.
Richard had been moving money.
Richard had arranged for Elias's ledger to disappear.
And Victor had been working for him.
But there was one thing that made the entire story worse.
The documents showed Richard had recently begun paying someone inside Adrien's household.
Marcus wasn't the person.
Someone else had access.
Someone close enough to watch me.
Adrien looked at me.
“Who has access to every room?”
I thought.
“House management.”
“Security?”
“Both.”
“Anyone else?”
I hesitated.
“One person.”
“Who?”
I whispered the name.
“Mrs. Dalton.”
The longtime house manager.
Adrien closed his eyes.
May you like
She had served his family for twenty-four years.
The person they had all trusted most was now the person they needed to question.
