Chapter 7 - The Second Heir
“Who is Elias Vale?”
Detective Chen asked.
Adrian could not answer.
He read the report again.
Noah Alexander Vale.
Elias Vale.
Probable biological siblings.
The test was six years old.
Noah had been one.
Adrian had never heard the name Elias.
Hannah stood beside him.
“Could Isabelle have had another child?”
“No.”
“You're certain?”
“I was with her through every pregnancy.”
He stopped.
Every pregnancy.
There had been one miscarriage before Noah.
Isabelle had been five months along.
A boy.
They had never named him Elias.
And a DNA test could not have been performed years later.
Adrian’s thoughts raced.
“Maybe he's my child.”
Chen watched him.
“From another relationship?”
“No.”
Adrian answered immediately.
“Not knowingly.”
Hannah raised an eyebrow.
Adrian ignored it.
Detective Chen examined the report.
“The paternal-marker section appears consistent.”
“So?”
“So both children likely share a father.”
Adrian stared.
“Me?”
“Or another close male relative.”
Adrian’s eyes hardened.
“Malcolm.”
The implication settled over the room.
If Elias were Malcolm’s biological son, he could still appear genetically close to Noah.
But why would Isabelle label the child Vale?
And why hide the report?
Noah wandered into the doorway with a detective assigned to him.
He saw the paper.
“Eli.”
Every adult froze.
Adrian crossed the room.
“You know Elias?”
Noah nodded.
“Where?”
“The walls.”
Adrian’s pulse spiked.
“There was another child?”
Noah frowned.
“No.”
“Then who is Eli?”
“He's older.”
“How old?”
Noah shrugged.
“Big.”
“An adult?”
“Yes.”
Adrian looked at Chen.
“Did you see him?”
“Sometimes.”
“Where?”
“In the blue room.”
“What did he do?”
Noah’s face softened slightly.
“He brought books.”
“Was he one of the people keeping you there?”
Noah thought about it.
“He said he was sorry.”
That did not answer the question.
“What did he look like?”
Noah pointed at Adrian.
“Like you.”
Nobody spoke.
Adrian felt the room tilt.
“Like me?”
Noah nodded.
“But younger.”
Adrian turned toward the photographs covering Isabelle’s wall.
There were hundreds.
Board executives.
Security personnel.
Advisers.
He began scanning faces.
Noah followed.
Then he pointed.
“That’s Eli.”
Adrian stopped.
The man in the photograph stood behind Malcolm at a company retreat.
Twenty-something.
Dark hair.
Tall.
Same jawline.
Same eyes.
Adrian knew him.
“Elliot Mercer.”
Vale Global junior analyst.
Former junior analyst.
He had disappeared four years earlier after supposedly resigning.
Adrian remembered Malcolm describing him as unreliable.
The personnel department said Elliot left for Europe.
Adrian had never thought about him again.
Chen photographed the image.
“You know him?”
“He worked at Vale Global.”
“Family?”
“Not that I knew.”
Hannah pointed toward the back of the picture.
Isabelle had written something.
ELLIOT M. — ASK ABOUT PATERNITY.
Adrian stared at the words.
Chen contacted federal databases.
Elliot Mercer had no current employment records.
No tax filings for four years.
No passport movements.
No death certificate.
He had simply disappeared.
Noah tugged Adrian’s sleeve.
“Eli said he couldn't help me yet.”
“When did he say that?”
“A long time ago.”
“What else?”
“He said Uncle Malcolm watches everybody.”
Adrian crouched.
“Did Eli ever give you something?”
Noah thought.
Then nodded.
“The little recorder.”
Adrian froze.
“You said you found it.”
“I did.”
“In the box?”
“Yes.”
“Who put the box there?”
“Eli.”
Everything shifted.
Elliot Mercer had secretly placed the recording equipment inside the blue room.
Possibly at Isabelle’s direction.
Possibly after her death.
He had given Noah the only weapon a trapped child could use.
Memory.
Evidence.
A voice.
Detective Chen’s phone rang.
The forensic team had decrypted part of Isabelle’s archive.
One file contained financial payments.
Celeste Arden.
Victor Lang.
Gideon Sharp.
And Elliot Mercer.
Adrian’s hope collapsed.
“He was paid too.”
Chen read the ledger more carefully.
“Not exactly.”
“What?”
“The payments to the others came from shell companies associated with Malcolm.”
“The payments to Elliot came from Isabelle’s foundation.”
Adrian stared.
“He worked for her.”
“Looks that way.”
Another decrypted document appeared.
A letter.
Isabelle to Elliot.
If anything happens to me, do not approach Adrian until you can prove everything.
Malcolm will use Adrian’s love for his family against him.
Protect Noah first.
Adrian closed his eyes.
Isabelle had known she was in danger.
She had recruited someone secretly.
Someone Malcolm may never have suspected.
Chen continued reading.
There was another attachment.
Elliot’s birth certificate.
Mother: Rebecca Mercer.
Father: blank.
Rebecca Mercer had worked as an executive assistant for Adrian and Malcolm’s father nearly thirty years earlier.
Adrian remembered her faintly.
Then came the DNA results.
Comparison with a retained genetic sample from their father.
Elliot Mercer was the biological son of Charles Vale.
Adrian’s father.
Adrian slowly sat down.
Elliot was not his son.
He was his half brother.
Another Vale heir.
Malcolm had another brother.
A secret brother.
And Isabelle had discovered him.
Hannah whispered.
“Why would that matter?”
Adrian understood immediately.
“Because my father's private voting agreements divide certain founder shares among surviving biological children.”
“If Elliot proves who he is, Malcolm’s percentage falls.”
“How much?”
“Enough to stop Malcolm controlling the board.”
The entire conspiracy had just gained another motive.
Isabelle had not only discovered embezzlement.
She had discovered a hidden heir capable of disrupting Malcolm’s power.
Malcolm needed Isabelle silent.
Elliot invisible.
Adrian broken.
And Noah controlled.
A detective entered quickly.
“We found Elliot Mercer.”
Adrian stood.
“Where?”
The detective hesitated.
“Technically, he found us.”
“What does that mean?”
“He walked into the Manhattan field office ten minutes ago.”
“Is he alive?”
“Yes.”
“Is he talking?”
The detective nodded.
“He says he'll talk only to Adrian Vale.”
Adrian grabbed his jacket.
Before he reached the door, the detective added something.
“He also brought evidence.”
“What kind?”
“A hospital identification bracelet.”
Adrian stopped.
The detective looked directly at him.
May you like
“It has Noah’s name on it.”
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