The Forgotten King

Chapter 2: The Dark Truth

Adrian sat in the small coffee shop near Sterling Corporation, nursing a black coffee he barely tasted. His phone sat on the table, displaying the mysterious message. Before he could decide whether to respond, the door chimed, and a woman in her fifties entered, looking around nervously.

She spotted Adrian and made her way over. "You're Adrian Kane?" she asked, sitting down without waiting for an invitation.

"Who are you?" Adrian asked, studying her face. There was something familiar about her features, though he couldn't place it.

"My name is Helen. I was your mother's nurse during her final days." The woman's hands trembled slightly as she wrapped them around her coffee cup. "Before she died, she asked me to find you and tell you something. I've been trying to locate you for three years."

Adrian's heart rate increased. His mother had died from complications related to a rare blood disease. It had been sudden and unexpected. He had been devastated, and the only thing that had helped him through was Victoria's support—or what he had thought was support.

"What did she want to tell me?" Adrian asked.

Helen leaned forward, her voice dropping to barely a whisper. "Your mother didn't die from natural causes, Adrian. She was poisoned. And before she died, she told me that someone close to you had done it."

The coffee cup slipped from Adrian's fingers, shattering against the floor. Several people looked over, but Adrian barely noticed. "That's impossible. Why would she say something like that?"

"Because she knew who it was," Helen said, pulling a small, worn notebook from her purse. "Your mother was a brilliant woman. She was a chemist, did you know that?"

Adrian nodded slowly. His mother had worked in a pharmaceutical company for most of her life. He had always been proud of her intelligence and dedication.

"She figured out that someone was adding small amounts of a toxic compound to her daily supplements," Helen continued. "It was gradual, designed not to raise suspicion. But your mother was smart. She tested it herself. That's how she knew."

"Who?" Adrian demanded. "Who did it?"

"She wouldn't tell me the name. She said she wanted to protect you from the truth until you were strong enough to handle it. But she wanted you to know that you would inherit something very important from her. Something that would help you understand everything."

Helen placed the notebook on the table. It was worn and filled with handwritten notes, chemical formulas, and what appeared to be a detailed account of her mother's investigation.

"What is this?" Adrian asked, opening the notebook carefully.

"Your mother's last gift to you. She documented everything—the poison, how it was administered, when it started. And at the very end, she left instructions for you. She said you would know what to do when the time came."

Adrian's hands shook as he flipped through the pages. His mother's handwriting was precise and clinical, exactly as he remembered her. And there, near the end of the notebook, was a single sentence that made his blood run cold:

*"If you're reading this, Adrian, then I am gone. The person who did this to me is closer to you than you know. Trust no one until you have all the facts."

"There's more," Helen said quietly. "Before she died, your mother asked me to give you this." She placed a USB drive on the table. "She said it contains evidence. Medical records, bank transfers, everything. But she also said it was dangerous. That the person who did this to her would stop at nothing to keep their secret safe."

Adrian stared at the USB drive, his mind racing. Victoria had been at his side when his mother died. She had been supportive, loving, and present. Or had she?

He thought back to that time. Victoria had been unusually interested in his mother's medical treatments. She had even offered to pick up his mother's supplements once. Adrian had thought it was sweet at the time. Now, he wasn't so sure.

"Why are you telling me this now?" Adrian asked.

"Because I'm dying," Helen said simply. "I have maybe six months left. Before I go, I need to make sure your mother's truth comes out. I need to make sure whoever did this to her is held accountable."

Adrian closed the notebook carefully. "Did you tell anyone else about this?"

"No. Your mother made me promise not to." Helen stood up to leave. "Be careful, Adrian. Whoever poisoned your mother did it carefully and methodically. They're intelligent. They're ruthless. And they might be planning to do the same to you."

After Helen left, Adrian sat alone with the notebook and the USB drive. His marriage had just fallen apart. His wife—or the woman he thought was his wife—wanted him gone. And now he was learning that his mother's death might not have been an accident at all.

He pulled out his phone and stared at the USB drive. Every instinct told him to plug it in immediately and see what was on it. But Helen's words echoed in his mind: *Be careful.

Adrian made a decision. He couldn't risk accessing the drive on any device that could be traced back to him. He needed to think strategically, the way his mother would have.

He got up, left cash on the table, and walked out into the street. As he walked, he noticed a black car following him. It had been there when he left Sterling Corporation. It was there now.

Someone was watching him. But who? And how much did they already know?