Chapter 7 - Marlo’s Mother Knew His Name
The man stepping from the elevator was Victor Sloane.
Nico slammed him against the wall.
Victor did not resist.
“I can take you to Maria.”
Marlo stepped forward.
“Then start talking.”
Victor confessed.
Cassian's older brother Adrian had survived the explosion everyone believed killed him fifteen years earlier.
Their father had hidden him after discovering Adrian was involved with Dr. Vale.
Together, Adrian and Vale had manipulated medications to control powerful people without obvious poisoning.
Illness looked natural.
Heart failure looked unfortunate.
Death looked clean.
Maria discovered the scheme.
Cassian's father tried to protect her.
He failed.
But Maria survived the attempt on her life.
Pell helped hide her under another identity.
Marlo stared at him.
“You knew she was alive?”
“For a while.”
“You let an eighteen-year-old bury a stranger.”
“I was trying to keep you alive.”
Marlo slapped him.
Nobody stopped her.
Pell accepted it.
“Where is she?” Marlo asked Victor.
“Old Desert Mercy Hospital.”
Cassian knew the building.
His family had owned it decades earlier.
They drove there before sunrise.
Inside, generators hummed.
Marlo found Maria in a former patient room.
Alive.
Frail.
Terrified.
For thirteen years Marlo had imagined everything she would say if given one more minute with her mother.
When the moment came, she could say only one word.
“Mom?”
Maria began sobbing.
Marlo crossed the room.
They held each other.
No mystery mattered for several minutes.
No Cassian.
No mafia.
No tea.
Just a mother and daughter who had each believed the other belonged to a life that could never be recovered.
Finally Maria whispered, “I’m sorry.”
Marlo held her tighter.
“Later.”
Maria looked over her shoulder.
“You shouldn't be here.”
“Neither should you.”
“He'll come.”
“Adrian?”
Maria froze.
That answered enough.
Cassian approached.
Maria looked at him with sorrow.
“You became your father.”
Cassian's jaw tightened.
“I spent my life trying not to.”
“I didn't mean the business.”
“What did you mean?”
“You trusted the wrong brother.”
A gunshot sounded downstairs.
Nico radioed his men.
No answer.
Another shot.
Closer.
Maria grabbed Marlo.
“He doesn't want Cassian dead.”
Cassian stared at her.
“Then why poison me?”
“To make you weak enough to sign.”
“Sign what?”
Maria looked toward the hallway.
“The Black Lantern.”
Cassian understood.
Ownership transfers.
Medical incapacity.
A criminal empire stolen through paperwork instead of bullets.
Maria reached beneath her mattress.
She removed an envelope.
“I kept the original.”
“Original what?”
“Your father's final will.”
Cassian took it.
Before he could open it, footsteps stopped outside.
The handle moved.
Maria whispered one name.
May you like
“Adrian.”
The door began to open.
