Chapter 4 — The Midnight Invitation
1936 Words
I spent the entire night staring at the message on my phone.
If you want to know who your mother really was, come to Saint Aurelia Cathedral tomorrow at midnight.
Come alone.
I read the words again and again.
Someone knew about my mother.
Someone knew about Project Aurelia.
And someone knew enough about me to understand exactly which secrets would make me follow.
But there was one problem.
I didn't trust the person who sent it.
I trusted Adrian even less.
Yet somehow, I trusted him more than I had before.
That terrified me.
I had entered this marriage with a plan.
Use Adrian.
Enter the Vale family.
Find evidence.
Discover who killed my father.
Leave.
Simple.
But nothing about Adrian Vale was simple anymore.
He had secrets.
I had secrets.
And now we had the same enemy.
Or perhaps the same enemy had deliberately placed us against each other.
I turned toward him.
Adrian was standing beside the window, looking out into the dark garden.
“You're thinking too loudly.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“You've been staring at your phone for twenty minutes.”
I quickly locked the screen.
“I'm tired.”
“You're lying.”
I sighed.
“Do you ever believe anything I say?”
“No.”
“At least you're consistent.”
He turned toward me.
His eyes narrowed.
“Someone contacted you.”
My heart skipped.
“How do you know?”
“Because you've been avoiding eye contact since we returned.”
I looked away.
He walked closer.
“What did they say?”
“Nothing important.”
“Aurelia.”
I hated the way he said my name.
It made lying difficult.
“I said nothing.”
He stared at me.
Then his phone rang.
He answered.
“Yes?”
His expression changed.
“What?”
He listened for several seconds.
“Lock the gates.”
My stomach tightened.
“What happened?”
He ended the call.
“Someone broke into the estate.”
“Who?”
“We don't know.”
“Was anything stolen?”
His eyes met mine.
“The archive.”
My blood ran cold.
“What?”
“The person who broke in didn't steal money or jewelry.”
He stepped closer.
“They stole your file.”
My heart stopped.
“My file?”
“Yes.”
“The one containing my medical records?”
“Yes.”
“Why would anyone want that?”
“I don't know.”
I stared at him.
But I knew.
Someone was afraid I would discover something.
And whoever they were had just taken away the evidence.
---
The next morning, the Vale mansion was surrounded by security.
Adrian doubled the guards.
Every entrance was monitored.
Nobody was allowed into the west wing.
I sat at the breakfast table across from Victoria's empty chair.
Her bloodstained dress still haunted my thoughts.
She had known something.
She had looked at me before dying.
She knows.
Who was she talking about?
Damien?
Adrian?
Me?
I picked up my coffee.
A voice interrupted my thoughts.
“You're enjoying your first morning as a Vale?”
I looked up.
Damien.
He sat across from me without asking.
“I wouldn't call it enjoyable.”
He smiled.
“Most women would be thrilled to become a Vale.”
“I'm not most women.”
His eyes narrowed.
“No. You're not.”
I set my cup down.
“Where were you last night?”
His smile faded.
“Why?”
“I'm curious.”
“That's becoming a dangerous habit of yours.”
“So I've been told.”
He leaned closer.
“Be careful who you ask questions about.”
“Are you threatening me?”
“I'm warning you.”
“Why?”
Damien looked around the room.
Then he lowered his voice.
“Because Adrian isn't protecting you from the family.”
I stared at him.
“What does that mean?”
“He's protecting the family from you.”
Before I could respond, he stood.
“Enjoy your breakfast, Mrs. Vale.”
He walked away.
I watched him disappear.
A minute later, Adrian entered.
His eyes immediately went to Damien.
“What did he say?”
I looked at him.
“Nothing.”
“Aurelia.”
“Why does everyone in this family think I'm lying?”
“Because you are.”
I stood.
“Then perhaps you should start telling me the truth.”
He stared at me.
“I've been trying.”
“No. You've been protecting me.”
“There's a difference?”
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
I stepped closer.
“Protection without honesty is just another form of control.”
His expression softened slightly.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then he spoke quietly.
“Where are you going tonight?”
My heart stopped.
“Nowhere.”
“You're going to the cathedral.”
I froze.
He knew.
“How?”
“I saw the message.”
My stomach dropped.
“You went through my phone?”
“No.”
“Then how?”
“The security system recorded the notification when you entered the west wing.”
I stared at him.
“You monitor everything.”
“I have to.”
“You don't trust anyone.”
“No.”
“Not even me?”
He looked directly into my eyes.
“I'm starting to.”
That answer hurt more than I expected.
“Then let me go.”
“No.”
“Adrian.”
“It's a trap.”
“I know.”
“Then why would you go?”
“Because the person who sent it knows about my mother.”
He stepped closer.
“And that's exactly why it's dangerous.”
“I need answers.”
“So do I.”
“Then come with me.”
He stared at me.
The silence between us stretched.
Finally, he said,
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because they told you to come alone.”
I crossed my arms.
“You actually expect me to go alone?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“I'll be there.”
I frowned.
“But they told me to come alone.”
“You won't know I'm there.”
For the first time that morning, I smiled.
“That's your plan?”
“Yes.”
“Terrible plan.”
“Do you have a better one?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
“I bring a weapon.”
His mouth almost curved into a smile.
“You already have one.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“What?”
“Me.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Don't flatter yourself.”
---
At eleven-thirty that night, I arrived at Saint Aurelia Cathedral.
The same place where I had married Adrian.
The same place where I had promised to become his wife.
Tonight, I returned for answers.
The cathedral was almost completely dark.
Only a few lights remained on around the altar.
I stepped inside.
My footsteps echoed through the empty building.
“Hello?”
No answer.
I checked the time.
11:58 p.m.
Two minutes.
Then the large doors behind me slowly closed.
I turned.
Nobody was there.
My heart began pounding.
“I'm here.”
A voice came from the balcony.
“You came.”
I looked up.
A woman stood above me.
She wore a long black coat.
Her face was hidden beneath a hood.
“Who are you?”
“Someone who knew your mother.”
My throat tightened.
“What was her name?”
The woman slowly removed her hood.
I froze.
She was older, perhaps in her fifties.
But I recognized her.
She had been in one of the photographs from my father's files.
“You worked with my parents.”
“Yes.”
“What happened to them?”
She looked toward the altar.
“Your father discovered the truth.”
“What truth?”
“That your mother never died.”
My heart stopped.
“Where is she?”
The woman looked at me.
“She has been alive all these years.”
Tears filled my eyes.
“Where?”
Before she could answer, a gunshot echoed through the cathedral.
The woman fell.
I screamed.
“No!”
I ran toward her.
Blood spread across her coat.
Someone had shot her from the balcony.
I looked up.
A shadow disappeared behind the pillars.
I reached for the woman.
“Who did this?”
She grabbed my wrist.
Her voice was barely a whisper.
“Your mother…”
I leaned closer.
“Where is she?”
The woman struggled to breathe.
“She's…”
Her eyes moved toward the entrance.
“…closer than you think.”
Then she died.
I froze.
Footsteps suddenly echoed behind me.
I turned.
Adrian stood in the doorway.
His gun was drawn.
“Aurelia!”
He rushed toward me.
“Are you hurt?”
I shook my head.
“No.”
He looked at the dead woman.
Then at me.
“Who shot her?”
“I don't know.”
His eyes scanned the cathedral.
Then he noticed something on the floor.
A small envelope.
He picked it up.
My name was written on the front.
FOR AURELIA.
I took it.
Inside was a single photograph.
My mother.
Alive.
Standing outside a hospital.
And beside her was a little girl.
Me.
On the back was a date.
Three months after your father's supposed death.
My hands trembled.
“She was alive.”
Adrian stared at the photograph.
“Yes.”
“But why did my father tell me she was dead?”
He didn't answer.
Then I noticed something else.
The little girl in the photograph was holding a small stuffed rabbit.
I remembered it.
I remembered that rabbit.
A memory suddenly flashed through my mind.
My mother holding me.
Her whispering into my ear.
“Don't trust the man in the black suit.”
I gasped.
Adrian looked at me.
“What?”
“I remember.”
“What do you remember?”
“My mother.”
“What did she say?”
I looked at him.
Then my blood ran cold.
“She warned me about someone.”
“Who?”
I slowly shook my head.
“I don't know.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“Try to remember.”
I closed my eyes.
The memory returned.
A man's voice.
My mother's frightened expression.
A black suit.
And one name.
“Damien.”
Adrian froze.
“What?”
I opened my eyes.
“Damien was there.”
Silence.
Adrian's expression became terrifyingly cold.
Before either of us could speak, his phone rang.
He answered.
“What?”
He listened.
Then his face changed.
“What do you mean she's gone?”
He looked at me.
“Who?”
Adrian slowly lowered the phone.
“Victoria.”
My heart stopped.
“She's dead.”
“I thought she was already—”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“The body in the hospital morgue isn't Victoria Vale.”
I stared at him.
“Then where is she?”
Adrian's eyes met mine.
“She escaped.”
I looked at the photograph of my mother.
Then at Adrian.
Suddenly, I understood.
Victoria wasn't dead.
My mother wasn't dead.
And someone had spent years making sure I believed both were.
But the biggest question remained.
If both women were still alive…
Why had they been hiding from me?
And why was Damien Vale terrified that I might remember the truth?
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