Chapter 4 - Victoria’s Signature
Victoria Laurent entered the Vale mansion wearing a cream traveling coat and an expression that changed the moment she saw the police vehicles outside.
She had flown back from Paris twelve hours early.
Conrad Hale walked beside her.
He carried a leather portfolio.
They looked like two people arriving for a business meeting.
They did not look like two names that had just become part of an investigation into Claire Vale’s death.
Adrian watched them through the security monitor.
Victoria looked toward the foyer.
“Where is Lily?”
Conrad answered before anyone else could.
“She’s safe.”
Adrian’s eyes narrowed.
Conrad had not been told there was a problem with Lily.
Victoria stopped walking.
“How would you know?”
Conrad realized his mistake.
“I assumed.”
Adrian stepped into the foyer.
Victoria immediately crossed toward him.
“What happened?”
Adrian did not embrace her.
He watched her face.
“Why are you home?”
“Conrad called.”
Adrian looked at him.
Conrad adjusted his cuff.
“I thought she should be present.”
“For what?”
“The trust review.”
“At eight o’clock at night?”
“It became urgent.”
Adrian’s voice remained calm.
“Why?”
Conrad opened the portfolio.
“Because I received notice this afternoon that Claire’s foundation intends to activate the protective clause.”
Adrian stared at him.
“What protective clause?”
Conrad hesitated.
Victoria looked between them.
“You never told him?”
Adrian turned toward her.
“Told me what?”
Victoria’s expression shifted.
“Adrian.”
“What?”
“Claire’s trust contains an incapacity trigger.”
He looked back at Conrad.
“Explain.”
“If Lily’s primary guardian is found incapable of protecting her interests, temporary authority over Claire’s shares transfers to the foundation board.”
Adrian felt anger rising.
“You wrote that trust.”
“I helped draft it.”
“Who controls the foundation board?”
Conrad remained silent.
Victoria answered.
“Julian.”
Claire’s brother.
The man whose name Claire had written on the back of the photograph.
Adrian looked at Conrad.
“What does any of that have to do with tonight?”
Conrad handed him a document.
“An anonymous complaint was filed this morning alleging Lily is being medically neglected inside this house.”
Victoria stared.
“What?”
Adrian did not move.
Conrad continued.
“The complainant alleges repeated respiratory episodes were ignored.”
The image of Meredith holding Lily’s inhaler flashed through Adrian’s mind.
Someone had filed the complaint before the incident in the foyer.
Before Adrian came home.
Before Lily collapsed.
That meant the event had been planned.
Adrian looked at Conrad.
“When was the complaint filed?”
“Nine fourteen this morning.”
Lily’s attack had happened after three.
Adrian felt the entire structure of the trap forming around him.
Someone had arranged for his daughter to suffer.
Then they had created a record claiming he had failed to protect her.
And if authorities believed it, control of Claire’s trust could move away from him.
Victoria took the document.
“This is absurd.”
Conrad looked at her.
“Is it?”
Her head snapped toward him.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“You recommended Meredith.”
Victoria went still.
Adrian looked at her.
“What?”
Victoria’s face lost color.
“I recommended the agency.”
Conrad opened another document.
“You signed the final placement approval.”
Adrian took it.
Victoria Laurent’s signature appeared at the bottom.
Meredith Sloan.
Senior Governess.
Approved.
Adrian looked at Victoria.
“You told me Grace hired her.”
“No.”
Victoria shook her head.
“I told Grace about the agency.”
“You signed this.”
“I sign dozens of household authorizations when you’re traveling.”
“You specifically signed Meredith’s.”
“I don’t remember doing it.”
Conrad sighed.
“That will be difficult to explain.”
Victoria turned on him.
“You called me back here.”
“Yes.”
“You told me Adrian needed me.”
“He does.”
“You did not tell me you were bringing documents suggesting I hired a woman who harmed Lily.”
Conrad’s expression remained controlled.
“Because I did not know what happened to Lily.”
Adrian watched him.
Again.
Conrad knew too much and too little at precisely convenient moments.
Victoria looked at Adrian.
“Where is she?”
“Safe.”
“Can I see her?”
“No.”
Pain crossed Victoria’s face.
Adrian hated himself for noticing it.
But he could not afford emotion.
“Did you know Meredith before the agency?”
“No.”
“Did you ever speak to her privately?”
“Of course.”
“How often?”
“I don’t know.”
“Think.”
Victoria stared at him.
“Are you interrogating me?”
“Yes.”
She took one step back.
The answer hurt her.
Adrian did not stop.
“Did Meredith ever ask about Lily’s medication?”
Victoria’s mouth opened.
Then closed.
Adrian saw it.
“When?”
“Two weeks ago.”
“What did she ask?”
“She asked whether Lily had always used the same inhaler.”
“Why did you not tell me?”
“Because it did not sound suspicious.”
“What did you say?”
“I said I did not know.”
Conrad watched both of them.
Victoria turned toward him.
“Why are you smiling?”
Conrad’s expression immediately flattened.
“I’m not.”
“You were.”
Adrian looked at him.
Conrad closed the portfolio.
“This situation is becoming emotional.”
“My daughter nearly stopped breathing.”
“That is exactly why you need counsel.”
“You are my counsel.”
Conrad hesitated.
“Ordinarily.”
Adrian understood.
“You are withdrawing?”
“I may have a conflict.”
“Because of Claire’s trust?”
“Because I sit as independent legal supervisor.”
“Appointed by whom?”
Conrad did not answer quickly enough.
Adrian already knew.
“Julian.”
Conrad nodded.
Victoria laughed bitterly.
“So the man who controls the foundation appointed the man who determines whether Adrian is fit to control Lily’s trust.”
“The structure was created by Claire.”
Adrian’s eyes sharpened.
“Claire did not trust Julian.”
Conrad froze.
It was slight.
But Adrian saw it.
“How do you know that?”
Conrad recovered.
“I didn’t say she did.”
“You reacted as if what I said surprised you.”
“It did.”
“Why?”
“Because Claire loved her brother.”
Adrian stared at him.
“You sound very certain.”
“I knew her for twelve years.”
“So did I.”
Conrad looked away.
A police detective entered the foyer.
“Mr. Vale?”
Adrian recognized Detective Lena Ortiz.
She had been a junior investigator on Claire’s accident case.
Now she led the major crimes unit.
“We found something.”
Conrad stepped forward.
“I represent Mr. Vale.”
Adrian raised one hand.
“Not tonight.”
Conrad stopped.
Ortiz looked between them.
Then she handed Adrian a transparent evidence pouch.
Inside was a torn piece of paper.
“We found this in the passage where Meredith was discovered.”
Adrian read the writing.
It was only half a sentence.
...LAURENT BEFORE THE GIRL TURNS FIVE.
Victoria stared at it.
Her face emptied.
Conrad looked toward her.
Adrian watched both reactions.
“What does it mean?”
Ortiz shook her head.
“We hoped you could tell us.”
Victoria spoke.
“My surname is Laurent.”
“We are aware.”
“I did not write that.”
Ortiz studied her.
“I didn’t say you did.”
Victoria looked at Adrian.
“You believe me.”
It was not a question.
Adrian could not answer.
Her eyes changed.
“That’s what I thought.”
She turned toward the stairs.
Two officers moved slightly.
Ortiz raised her hand.
“She is not under arrest.”
Victoria looked back.
“Then I am going to my room.”
Adrian shook his head.
“You’ll stay in the west guest suite.”
Her face tightened.
“You’re removing me from our bedroom?”
“Until I know who endangered Lily, no one stays near her.”
Victoria stared at him for several seconds.
Then she nodded once.
“Fine.”
She walked away.
Conrad closed his portfolio.
“I should leave.”
Adrian almost laughed.
“No.”
Conrad looked at him.
“You just told Detective Ortiz I no longer represent you.”
“That does not mean I want you gone.”
“Why?”
Adrian stepped closer.
“Because somebody inside this house has spent years manipulating my family.”
He glanced toward Claire’s photograph visible on the security table.
“And I’m beginning to think that person is very afraid of what I’m going to remember.”
Conrad’s jaw tightened.
Ortiz’s phone rang.
She answered.
“Yes?”
Her expression changed.
“When?”
Everyone waited.
Ortiz looked at Adrian.
“We just got the preliminary laboratory result on the second inhaler.”
Adrian’s heart dropped.
“What did they find?”
“It belonged to Claire.”
No one spoke.
Ortiz continued.
“Her DNA is still present.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
Claire had held it.
Claire had tried to use it.
Claire had died without knowing whether anyone would ever understand.
Ortiz’s expression grew darker.
“And there’s another set of prints.”
Adrian opened his eyes.
“Whose?”
“We ran them through the comparison samples collected after Claire’s accident.”
She looked directly at Conrad.
“They belong to you.”
Victoria stopped halfway up the stairs.
Conrad did not move.
Adrian stared at the man who had stood beside him at his wife’s funeral.
Ortiz stepped forward.
“Mr. Hale.”
Conrad’s voice was steady.
“There is an explanation.”
Adrian’s hands curled into fists.
“For your fingerprints on the inhaler that may have been used to kill my wife?”
Conrad looked at him.
“Yes.”
Adrian took one step closer.
“Then I suggest you make it very convincing.”
Conrad swallowed.
“I was the one who found it.”
Adrian froze.
“Where?”
Conrad glanced toward Detective Ortiz.
“In Claire’s car.”
The detective frowned.
“That inhaler was never listed in evidence.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
Conrad’s eyes remained on Adrian.
“Because Claire was still alive when I reached her.”
The foyer seemed to tilt.
Adrian stared at him.
“What did you say?”
Conrad’s face tightened.
“The police report was wrong.”
Adrian moved before anyone could stop him.
He grabbed Conrad by the front of his coat.
“What did my wife say to you?”
Marcus stepped closer.
Ortiz did not intervene yet.
Conrad whispered the sentence that changed everything again.
“She told me the person who wanted her dead was standing inside your house.”
Adrian’s grip tightened.
“And then she gave me that inhaler.”
“Why did you hide it?”
Conrad looked past Adrian.
Toward Victoria.
“Because the name she whispered before she lost consciousness was Laurent.”
Victoria’s hand gripped the staircase railing.
Everyone turned toward her.
May you like
And this time, even she looked terrified.
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