Chapter 11: Caleb's Father
Caleb backed away.
"No.""
Nobody spoke.
Dr. Ward continued through the speaker.
"Caleb, I'm reading the document exactly as it appears.""
"My father is Adrian.""
"The record names Richard Vale.""
"It's fake.""
"It could be.""
"It is.""
Caleb knocked a folder from the table.
Papers scattered across the floor.
"Adrian is my father.""
Julian watched him.
"Did anyone ever prove that?""
Caleb turned sharply.
"Don't.""
"I'm asking.""
"You don't get to question who my father is after discovering your own family is a lie.""
"That's exactly why I'm asking.""
Caleb's anger vanished for half a second.
Fear replaced it.
Julian knew that feeling now.
Hayes ended the call after requesting copies.
"DNA solves this.""
Caleb laughed bitterly.
"Apparently DNA solves everything in this family.""
David searched the files.
"Richard knew Margaret Vale.""
"She was his sister," Julian said.
"If Richard is Caleb's biological father, that creates another connection.""
Caleb stared at him.
"What connection?""
David spoke carefully.
"If Julian is Margaret's son, Richard would be Julian's biological uncle.""
Silence.
"And if you're Richard's son...""
Caleb looked at Julian.
"We're cousins.""
Not uncle and nephew.
Not competing heirs.
Cousins.
Julian rubbed his forehead.
"Then Adrian spent years believing Caleb was his son.""
"Or pretending to," Hayes said.
Julian looked at her.
"You think he knew?""
"I think everyone in this story has known different pieces of the truth.""
A message arrived on Hayes' phone.
Her expression sharpened.
"Forensics unlocked part of Eleanor's dropped phone.""
"Anything useful?""
"Several messages with Adrian.""
She read one.
YOU WERE NEVER SUPPOSED TO TAKE WREN YOURSELF.
Another:
CALEB IS NOT YOUR SON. HE NEVER WAS.
Caleb went pale.
Hayes continued.
Adrian had replied:
YOU'RE LYING AGAIN.
Then Eleanor:
ASK RICHARD.
Caleb turned away.
Julian understood.
"That's why Adrian took Wren.""
Caleb looked back.
"What?""
"He wasn't following the original plan anymore.""
Hayes nodded.
"He was trying to force Eleanor to tell him where you were.""
"And Wren became leverage," Julian said.
Caleb's jaw tightened.
"He used a child.""
"Yes.""
Caleb looked down.
Whatever fantasy he had maintained about Adrian cracked visibly.
Then Julian's phone rang.
Corinne.
Hayes nodded for him to answer.
"Where are you?""
Corinne was crying.
"The mansion.""
"Are police with you?""
"Yes.""
"What happened?""
"There's something you need to see.""
Julian almost ended the call.
Then she said:
"I found the room under your study.""
Julian froze.
"What room?""
"There's a hidden staircase behind the bookcase.""
He looked at Caleb.
"Who showed you?""
"No one. Police found a switch while searching for Eleanor.""
"What is down there?""
Corinne's breathing became uneven.
"Your life.""
They returned to the mansion.
Police had opened a concealed panel behind Julian's study shelves.
Stone stairs descended underground.
Julian had lived in the mansion for fourteen years.
He had never known they existed.
At the bottom was a room.
No windows.
Steel cabinets.
Old videotapes.
Photographs.
A desk.
And a wall covered with pictures.
Julian as a child.
Adrian.
Caleb.
Wren.
Corinne.
Strings connected photographs to dates and documents.
Julian stared.
"This wasn't Corinne's operation.""
Hayes shook her head.
"No.""
Corinne stood nearby under police supervision.
"I didn't know this existed.""
Julian looked at her.
"Why should I believe anything you say?""
"Because Adrian never let me inside your study alone.""
Julian frowned.
"Adrian has been inside my house?""
Corinne nodded.
"Many times.""
"When?""
"When you traveled.""
Julian thought about Wren's words.
The man with your face.
Adrian had been walking through the mansion.
Watching.
Planning.
Julian opened a cabinet.
Inside were videotapes labeled by year.
One read:
JULIAN — AGE 4 — TRANSFER.
Hayes found an old player.
They inserted the tape.
Static filled the monitor.
Then a room appeared.
Young Eleanor stood beside Thomas Ashcroft.
A frightened woman held a little boy.
Julian recognized himself.
Margaret Vale.
His biological mother.
Even through grainy footage, Julian knew.
Her eyes were his.
Margaret hugged four-year-old Julian.
"I want him back.""
Eleanor stood between them.
"You signed the guardianship agreement.""
"Temporary guardianship.""
"You accepted payment.""
"For his medical care!""
Thomas stepped forward.
"Eleanor, enough.""
"No.""
Eleanor's voice was icy.
"He is an Ashcroft now.""
Margaret started crying.
"He's my son.""
Young Julian reached for her.
"Mommy!""
Present-day Julian stopped breathing.
He remembered that voice.
Not clearly.
But somewhere deep inside him, he remembered reaching.
On the tape, Richard Vale entered.
Caleb moved closer to the monitor.
Richard was young.
Angry.
"Give my sister her child.""
Eleanor smiled.
"Careful, Richard.""
Then Adrian appeared.
A boy around eight.
He stood in the doorway.
Watching.
Eleanor noticed him.
Her expression changed.
"Adrian, go upstairs.""
But Adrian didn't move.
He looked at Julian.
Then Margaret.
Then Eleanor.
"You stole him.""
The tape abruptly ended.
Caleb stared at the black screen.
"Adrian knew.""
"Since childhood," Julian whispered.
Hayes opened another tape case.
"There's one labeled Caleb.""
Caleb's face tightened.
They played it.
The date was fifteen years later.
Adrian appeared on screen.
Older.
Alive after his supposed death.
Richard Vale stood opposite him.
Between them was a baby.
Caleb.
Adrian shouted:
"He's mine.""
Richard answered:
"No, Adrian.""
Adrian grabbed the table.
"Catherine told me—"
"Catherine lied.""
Richard lifted the baby.
"Eleanor paid her.""
Caleb stopped breathing.
Richard looked directly toward the hidden camera.
Then he said the sentence that changed everything.
"Caleb is my son.""
The tape ended.
Caleb staggered backward.
Julian caught him.
Then a noise came from behind the wall.
Click.
Everyone turned.
A second hidden door slowly opened.
May you like
And Richard Vale stepped out.
Alive.
