Chapter 3 - Dangerous Curiosity
1214 Words
Victoria was still staring at the city from her balcony when her phone rang.
She glanced at the screen.
Damian.
Of course.
She answered.
“What?”
“Good morning to you too.”
“Damian.”
His amusement faded.
“Right. The message.”
Victoria looked back at the message still open on her phone.
“Can you find where it came from?”
“I’ll try.”
“Quietly.”
“Obviously.”
“And Damian?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t involve anyone else yet.”
There was a pause. “You think it’s someone inside?”
“I think someone knows too much.”
“I’ll look into it.”
“Good.”
She ended the call. That was enough at least for now.
Victoria slipped her phone into her bag and turned toward the mirror.
The woman staring back at her looked perfectly composed.
No fear, no cracks. Just Victoria Vale.Billionaire. Philanthropist. Heiress. The woman the city adored.
She picked up her coat and walked out of her room, leaving her penthouse and heading down to the SUV waiting for her downstairs.
By noon, Victoria was standing in front of three hundred people at the opening of the new pediatric wing at Vale Children’s Hospital.
Cameras flashed as she stepped onto the stage.
She smiled and the crowd applauded.
“People often ask me why I continue to invest in healthcare when there are so many other places my money could go.” She paused.
Her gaze moved across the crowd.
“My answer is simple.”
A little girl sitting in the front row caught her eye. Victoria smiled at her. A genuine smile that reached her eyes.
“Because money is only valuable when it can change someone’s life.”
The crowd applauded again and Victoria waited for the noise to settle.
“No child should have to wonder whether their family can afford to keep them alive.”
The words weren’t rehearsed. They never were.She had spent years building hospitals, funding treatments and paying medical bills for families who would never know where the money came from.
The cameras loved her for it.The public loved her even more but Victoria didn’t do it for them.
She did it because she remembered what it felt like to sit beside a hospital bed and realize money couldn’t fix everything.
After the ceremony, a woman approached her.
She was crying.
“My son wouldn’t be here without you.”
Victoria gently took her hands.“You don’t owe me anything.”
“I do.”
“No.” The woman shook her head firmly.
Victoria smiled. “Just take care of him.”
The woman nodded through her tears. Victoria squeezed her hands once, handing the woman a tissue before letting go.
Across the lobby, someone was watching. Adrian Cross.
Their eyes met. His expression was unreadable. Victoria excused herself and walked toward him.
“You’re following me now?”
“I prefer to call it research.”
“Research usually involves a notebook.”
He lifted his phone.
“Technology.”
Victoria glanced at it. “Were you recording me?”
“Would you prefer I wasn’t?”
“Yes.”
“Then I wasn’t.”
She narrowed her eyes. “You’re lying.”
“Probably.”
Despite herself, Victoria smiled.It was small, barely there.
But Adrian noticed. “You smile.”
“Occasionally.”
“I was beginning to think it was physically impossible.”
“Don’t get used to it.”
He slipped his phone into his pocket. His face getting serious. “I came to ask you something.”
“Of course you did.”
“Your foundation paid for twelve surgeries this month.”
Victoria’s expression remained calm. “Yes.”
“You didn’t announce any of them.”
“No.”
“Why?”
She looked at him. “Because they’re not advertisements.”
Adrian was quiet for a moment, his eyes moving from Victoria to the hospital around them. “You didn’t have to do any of that.”
Victoria frowned. “Do what?”
“Pay for those surgeries. Stand here. Talk to the families.”
She studied him. “Are you questioning my motives?”
“I’m trying to understand them.”
“Why?”
“Because people like you don’t usually do anything without a reason.”
Victoria’s expression hardened. “People like me?”
“People with that much money. That much influence.” He paused.“People who can change a life with a phone call.”
“And that bothers you?”
“No.”
His gaze settled on hers. “It scares me.”
That caught her off guard. Adrian continued before she could respond. “Because I don’t know what you want in return.”
Victoria’s eyes narrowed. “Perhaps I don’t want anything.”
“I don’t believe that.”
“That’s your problem.”
“Maybe.”
He looked toward the hospital doors where the woman she’d spoken to earlier had disappeared. “She believed you.”
Victoria’s expression softened. “She had no reason not to.”
“That’s what I mean.”
He looked back at her. “You make people trust you.”
“Is that a crime?”
“No.”His voice lowered. “But it makes me wonder what happens when someone doesn’t.”
Victoria held his gaze. “What do you think happens?”
“I think you make sure they regret it.”
Silence settled between them. For once, Victoria didn’t immediately have an answer.
Adrian took a step closer.“I spent years thinking you were just another billionaire hiding behind charity galas and carefully chosen headlines.”
“And now?”
“Now I’m not so sure.”
“Disappointed?”
“Confused.”
Victoria gave him a faint smile. “That’s unfortunate.”
“For me, maybe.”
His eyes remained on hers. “But it makes you more interesting.”
She should have walked away. Instead, she asked, “Is that why you’re still here?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
Adrian hesitated.It was the first time she had seen him genuinely struggle for an answer.“Because every time I think I’ve figured you out,” he said quietly, “you give me another reason to question everything I thought I knew about you.”
Victoria looked away.She wasn’t accustomed to being looked at like that.Not as Victoria Vale, the billionaire.Not as the philanthropist.Not as the woman whose name opened doors. Just Victoria.
A woman someone was trying to understand and somehow, that felt more dangerous than any accusation he’d made.
“You should go,” she said.
“Why?”
“Because you’re starting to ask questions that don’t concern you.”
“Everything about you concerns me.”
The words slipped out and neither of them moved.
Adrian seemed to realize what he’d said a second too late.
Victoria’s heartbeat quickened. “That sounds personal.” She says trying to regain some kind of control.
“Maybe it is.” He said smiling. Then he stepped away.
“I’ll see you around, Victoria.”
She watched him leave.She shouldn’t have watched him. But she did.
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