Chapter 2 - The Second Copy
The baby’s heartbeat was the loudest sound Elena had ever heard.
Strong.
Fast.
Alive.
She closed her eyes as the fetal monitor continued its steady rhythm.
Beside the hospital bed, Adrian rested his forehead against their joined hands.
“The obstetrician says there’s no sign of placental separation,” he said quietly. “They want to monitor you overnight because of the contractions, but she thinks the baby is okay.”
Elena nodded.
Her hip was badly bruised, her shoulder strained, but nothing was broken.
She should have felt relieved.
Instead she kept seeing Serena’s hands.
Not the push.
The moment before it.
Serena looking around to make sure they were alone.
“Elena.”
She opened her eyes.
Adrian looked wrecked.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For hesitating.”
She understood immediately.
In the foyer, when she had said Serena pushed her, Adrian had looked between them.
Only for a moment.
But it had happened.
“You’ve known her your whole life,” Elena said.
“That doesn’t make it better.”
“No.”
He swallowed.
“I should have believed you before the video.”
Elena looked toward the monitor.
“What matters is what you do after seeing it.”
His fingers tightened around hers.
A knock interrupted them.
Detective Lena Park entered with a uniformed officer.
She introduced herself, asked how Elena was feeling, then requested permission to take a formal statement.
Elena described the argument preceding the push.
Serena had confronted her about the nursery renovation.
At first the dispute had seemed ridiculous.
Serena claimed Elena was changing too much of Ravenwood.
Elena had reminded her that Adrian co-owned the house under their father’s estate arrangement.
Then Serena had said something strange.
“You think a nursery makes you permanent.”
Elena had asked what she meant.
Serena had refused to explain.
Minutes later, she pushed her.
Detective Park listened carefully.
“Your husband mentioned a recording.”
Elena handed her the phone.
“I want you to preserve the original before anyone can claim it was altered.”
“That’s exactly what we’ll do.”
Elena also showed her the administrator-access notification.
Park frowned.
“Who was still at the house?”
“Serena. Two deputies. Our house manager, Margaret. And someone was in the study.”
Adrian looked up.
“Marcus.”
“Marcus who?” Park asked.
“Marcus Dane. General counsel for Vale House Group. He came to Ravenwood earlier this evening for a meeting with Serena and me.”
Elena turned toward him.
“You never told me Marcus was there.”
“I thought he’d left.”
“What was the meeting about?”
Adrian hesitated.
“Our quarterly financing.”
Elena watched his face.
“That isn’t all.”
“No.”
He stood and walked toward the window.
“Serena wanted me to sign a temporary voting proxy.”
Elena stared.
“For what?”
“She said the banks wanted one person speaking for the family because of the restructuring.”
“And did you sign?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because you came downstairs before we finished.”
Elena remembered.
Serena had followed her upstairs afterward.
The argument had begun ten minutes later.
Detective Park made a note.
“What exactly is Vale House Group?”
Adrian explained that the company owned six historic luxury hotels, two resort properties, and several commercial buildings. Their father, Malcolm Vale, had built the group over four decades.
When he died eighteen months earlier, Serena became chief executive.
Adrian retained a significant minority interest but had stepped away from daily operations years before.
“And the inheritance mentioned in the recording?” Park asked.
“I have no idea.”
That answer sounded impossible even to Elena.
Park studied him.
“You’re saying your sister referenced an inheritance connected to the birth of your child, but you know nothing about one?”
“Nothing.”
The detective closed her notebook.
“We’ll need to speak with your estate attorneys.”
“Marcus handled most of my father’s affairs,” Adrian said.
Elena looked at him.
“The same Marcus who was inside Ravenwood when someone tried to access the cameras.”
Silence.
Detective Park’s expression sharpened.
“We recovered the computer from the study before leaving.”
Adrian turned.
“You did?”
“One of the deputies saw Mr. Dane attempting to log into the security portal. He claimed he was checking whether footage had been uploaded.”
Elena felt cold.
“Why?”
“That’s what we intend to ask.”
Park handed Elena a form authorizing a forensic copy of the video.
“Do you know whether the camera stores footage anywhere besides your phone?”
“Yes. Local encrypted storage in the renovation contractor’s hub. And cloud backup.”
Park nodded.
“Good.”
After the detective left, Adrian stood at the foot of Elena’s bed.
“My father never told me about another inheritance.”
“Maybe he told Serena.”
“Why only her?”
“Maybe she wasn’t supposed to know either.”
Adrian sat again.
For several minutes neither spoke.
Then Elena’s phone rang.
The caller was Margaret Holloway, Ravenwood’s house manager.
Elena answered.
“Margaret?”
The older woman sounded frightened.
“Mrs. Vale, I’m sorry to call so late.”
“What happened?”
“There’s something you need to know.”
Adrian leaned closer.
Margaret lowered her voice.
“Mr. Malcolm left instructions after he died. Instructions about what should happen if you ever became pregnant.”
Adrian went completely still.
“What instructions?”
Margaret hesitated.
“I don’t know everything. But six months before his death, he gave me a sealed envelope and told me never to give it to Serena.”
Elena’s pulse accelerated.
“Where is it?”
A long silence followed.
Then Margaret whispered:
“It was in my safe.”
“Was?”
“I checked ten minutes ago.”
May you like
Elena gripped the phone.
“The envelope is gone.”
