Chapter 5 - The Man in Handcuffs
Serena did not remember the drive to her parents' house.
She remembered Adrian sitting beside her.
She remembered saying nothing.
She remembered thinking that her last words to her father had been accusations.
True accusations.
But still.
Last words.
By the time they arrived, the estate glowed beneath police lights.
Reporters gathered beyond the gates.
Nolan sat in the back of a patrol car.
His black suit was stained with blood.
Serena stopped several yards away.
His eyes found hers through the window.
He shook his head.
She did not know what to believe anymore.
A detective approached.
“Ms. Vale?”
“Yes.”
“Detective Lena Brooks.”
“Where's my mother?”
“Inside.”
“Is she hurt?”
“No.”
Serena exhaled.
“What happened?”
Brooks studied Adrian.
“This needs to be private.”
Adrian looked at Serena.
Her decision.
“Stay.”
Brooks frowned.
“He stays.”
The detective nodded.
“Your father suffered a gunshot wound.”
Serena's knees almost weakened.
Adrian's hand hovered near her elbow.
He did not touch her until she reached for him.
Then his hand steadied her.
“Was Nolan here?”
“Yes.”
“Did he shoot him?”
“We don't know.”
“What does Nolan say?”
“He received a message from your mother asking him to come.”
“My mother?”
“She denies sending it.”
The spoofed calls.
Again.
Serena looked toward the house.
“Where was Charles Pierce?”
“That's interesting.”
Brooks opened a small notebook.
“Mr. Pierce claims he was at home.”
“He wasn't.”
Brooks's gaze sharpened.
“You saw him?”
“I heard him on a phone call from this house less than an hour ago.”
“Can you prove that?”
Adrian answered.
“My team recorded the call.”
Brooks looked at him.
“Your team records calls?”
“When threats are made.”
That answer apparently satisfied her enough for the moment.
Serena entered the house.
The foyer smelled of flowers and antiseptic.
A dark stain marked the marble near her father's office.
She looked away.
Evelyn sat in the living room wrapped in a blanket.
Camille sat beside her.
Serena rushed forward.
Her mother stood.
They embraced.
Serena did not know whether she was forgiving her.
She only knew her father was dead and her mother was alive.
Sometimes the body chose before the mind.
“What happened?” Serena whispered.
Evelyn trembled.
“Charles came after you called.”
“He was already here when you spoke to me.”
“Yes.”
“Dad too.”
“Yes.”
“Tell me.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“Victor and Charles argued.”
“About what?”
“You.”
Serena pulled back.
“Me?”
“Victor wanted to confess.”
Serena stared.
“Confess what?”
“Everything.”
“Why tonight?”
“Because Nolan's speech ruined their plan.”
Of course.
Nolan's humiliation had broken something larger.
“Charles didn't want him talking.”
“No.”
“What happened?”
“Victor told Charles he was finished. He said he would give you the company and cooperate with investigators.”
Serena felt grief twist.
A good decision made too late did not erase the bad ones before it.
But it mattered.
“What did Charles do?”
“He laughed.”
Evelyn began crying.
“He said Victor had grown weak.”
“And then?”
“I went upstairs to get my coat. Victor told me we were leaving.”
“Where?”
“He didn't say.”
“What happened when you came down?”
“I heard the gunshot.”
Serena swallowed.
“And Nolan?”
“He came through the front door seconds later.”
“So he didn't shoot Dad.”
“I didn't see the shooting.”
“But he arrived afterward.”
“Yes.”
“Nolan found Victor?”
Evelyn nodded.
“He tried to stop the bleeding.”
That explained the blood.
Serena looked toward the window.
Nolan had destroyed her engagement.
But he might not be a murderer.
“What happened to Charles?”
“He was gone.”
“How?”
“The rear door.”
Adrian spoke.
“He planned it.”
Evelyn looked at him.
For the first time she seemed to truly see him.
“Adrian.”
His expression cooled.
“Mrs. Vale.”
She lowered her eyes.
“I owe you an apology.”
“Yes.”
Serena almost smiled despite everything.
Adrian did not soften uncomfortable truths to make people feel better.
Evelyn nodded.
“You do.”
Serena turned to Camille.
“Where were you?”
“Driving here.”
“Why?”
“Dad called me.”
“When?”
“After we left the ballroom.”
“What did he say?”
Camille looked confused.
“He said he wanted both of us at home.”
Serena frowned.
“He didn't call me.”
Camille's phone buzzed.
She checked it.
Then froze.
“What?”
Camille held up the screen.
An email had arrived.
Sender: Victor Vale.
Subject: FOR MY DAUGHTERS.
“It could be scheduled,” Adrian said.
Serena's heart pounded.
“Open it.”
Camille did.
The message contained only one sentence.
If you're reading this, Charles did exactly what I feared.
Attached was a video.
Detective Brooks joined them before they played it.
Victor appeared on screen.
Alive.
Recorded earlier that day.
Serena's throat closed.
“If this message was sent,” Victor began, “then I failed to stop what I helped create.”
He looked exhausted.
“I lied to my daughters. I lied to my wife. I forged documents. I participated in financial crimes with Charles Pierce. There is no excuse.”
Evelyn sobbed.
Victor continued.
“Nolan Pierce knew about portions of the fraud but did not participate in its creation. He did, however, conceal evidence after discovering the truth.”
Serena looked toward the patrol car outside.
Victor took a breath.
“Serena's marriage was intended to preserve my control of her voting shares.”
There it was.
No ambiguity.
“Nolan's feelings for Camille made him useful. I knew about them.”
Serena closed her eyes.
Even that.
Her father knew.
“I believed Serena would be safe with him because guilt made Nolan easy to control.”
Serena felt physically sick.
Adrian's hand remained near hers.
Not touching.
Available.
Victor continued.
“Charles became more dangerous after he learned Serena's grandfather left evidence somewhere in the old warehouse. I spent years preventing anyone from finding it.”
Serena stared at the screen.
“I told myself I was protecting Serena. The truth is uglier. I was protecting myself.”
Evelyn covered her face.
Victor leaned closer to the camera.
“Serena, I stole your choices from you because I was afraid of what you would do with them.”
Her eyes burned.
“If there is any part of me worth remembering, remember this: the moment I finally understood what love required, it was too late.”
The video ended.
Silence.
Serena cried then.
Quietly.
Not because Victor had redeemed himself.
He had not.
She cried because he had almost understood.
Almost.
And now there would never be enough time.
Detective Brooks took the recording.
Nolan was released from the patrol car an hour later.
Not cleared.
But no longer treated as the primary suspect.
He approached Serena.
Adrian remained twenty feet away.
He gave them privacy.
Nolan stopped.
“I'm sorry.”
Serena looked at him.
“For tonight?”
“For everything.”
“That's a lot.”
“I know.”
She waited.
Nolan looked exhausted.
“I did love you.”
She shook her head.
“Don't.”
“I need you to know.”
“No, Nolan. You need yourself to know.”
He flinched.
She continued.
“You cared about me.”
“Yes.”
“You may have loved parts of our life.”
“I loved you.”
“But every time choosing me cost you something, you chose someone else.”
He looked down.
“Camille.”
“My father.”
“Yes.”
“Your father.”
His face tightened.
“Yes.”
“The company.”
“Yes.”
“And finally yourself.”
He looked at her.
“That doesn't mean none of it was real.”
“No.”
She nodded.
“That's what makes it worse.”
Nolan's eyes filled.
“I don't expect forgiveness.”
“Good.”
He almost smiled.
A broken one.
“I'll cooperate.”
“With police?”
“With everyone. Auditors. Prosecutors.”
“Why?”
“Because your father was right about one thing.”
“What?”
“It was already too late for him.”
Nolan looked toward the house.
“It doesn't have to be too late for me.”
Serena nodded.
That was enough.
Not reconciliation.
Not absolution.
A beginning of accountability.
Nolan turned to leave.
Then stopped.
“Serena.”
“What?”
“Room 814.”
She stiffened.
“What about it?”
“Camille wasn't the only person there.”
Camille stood from the couch.
“What?”
Nolan looked at her.
“You left before the second meeting.”
Camille frowned.
“What second meeting?”
Nolan faced Serena.
“Charles came afterward.”
“Why?”
“He gave me a contract.”
“What contract?”
“To marry you on schedule.”
Serena stared.
“Why would he need a contract if we were already engaged?”
“Because he knew I planned to cancel the wedding.”
“What did he offer?”
Nolan's shame returned.
“Five million dollars.”
Serena laughed once in disbelief.
“And?”
“I refused.”
“Why should I believe you?”
“Because that's when he showed me something else.”
Nolan reached inside his jacket.
Detective Brooks immediately tensed.
He slowly withdrew a folded photograph.
He handed it to Serena.
The image showed Serena asleep.
In her bedroom.
Taken through a window.
Her blood went cold.
“When?”
“Last month.”
Nolan's voice dropped.
“Charles said if I didn't marry you, people would start disappearing.”
Serena looked at Camille.
Then Evelyn.
Then Adrian.
Nolan continued.
“He wasn't trying to keep control of your shares anymore.”
“What did he want?”
“He wanted you married and out of the way before the annual board meeting.”
“When?”
“Tomorrow morning.”
Serena frowned.
“Why?”
Nolan stared at her.
“Because at 9:00 a.m., your thirty-one percent automatically becomes active.”
“What?”
“Your grandfather's final clause.”
Henry had not mentioned that.
Perhaps he did not know.
Serena's phone rang.
Henry.
She answered immediately.
“Uncle Henry?”
His voice was weak.
“Serena, listen carefully.”
“I'm listening.”
“I made a mistake.”
“What?”
“The music box isn't the key.”
Her heart sank.
“Then what is?”
“The music box contains a name.”
“What name?”
A door slammed somewhere on Henry's end.
He inhaled sharply.
Then whispered:
“Your grandmother.”
The call cut off.
Serena stared at the phone.
Adrian's expression darkened.
“What did he say?”
Before Serena could answer, every light in the Vale mansion went out.
May you like
The backup generator failed to start.
Then, from upstairs, came the slow sound of a music box beginning to play.
