Chapter 2 - The Interrogation at Pier 14By 2:00 AM, the Vale Estate on Long Island was locked down beneath an impenetrable shield of private security.
High iron gates were sealed with steel chains, infrared cameras scanned every inch of the perimeter, and forty armed operators patrolled the manicured lawns under a heavy, freezing rain.
Inside the high-security holding facility beneath the estate’s private boathouse on the Hudson River, three men sat bound to heavy steel chairs.
Sitting behind the interrogation table, wearing an immaculate black suit with his collar unbuttoned, holding a silver sidearm, was Adrian.
Standing beside his shoulder, holding little Lucas securely in my arms after a safe, clean feeding, was me. I refused to leave Adrian's side. The memory of my own daughter Grace dying three weeks ago had forged an unshakeable, fierce maternal armor inside my soul—I wasn't going to let anyone touch this baby again.
The three bound men were:
Dr. Arthur Vance — The secondary estate physician who had brought the formula bottles into the room.
Marcus — The head estate manager who handled private grocery deliveries.
Evelyn — The sister of Adrian’s late wife, Isabel, who had lived in the west wing of the estate since Isabel’s death.
Evelyn wept hysterically, her expensive silk gown ruined, her mascara running down her cheeks. "Adrian! How can you hold me here?! I am Isabel’s sister! I loved her! I love Lucas!"
Adrian didn't look at Evelyn. He looked at Dr. Arthur Vance, whose hands were sweating profusely against the steel armrests.
"The blue powder was hidden inside the rubber teat of the secondary feeding bottle, Arthur," Adrian spoke quietly, his baritone smooth, cold, and razor-sharp. "A bottle that was delivered to the kitchen ten minutes before Hannah prepared breakfast."
"I... I didn't put it there, Don Adrian!" Dr. Vance stammered, his eyes darting frantically toward Evelyn. "I received the package from Miss Evelyn's private courier at the front gate!"
Evelyn froze. Her high-pitched weeping died instantly into a pale, sickening silence.
Adrian slowly turned his dark gray eyes toward his sister-in-law.
"Evelyn," Adrian whispered softly. "Why would your private courier deliver a feeding bottle to my estate?"
Evelyn’s jaw twitched. The pathetic, grieving aunt mask completely withered away, revealing a cold, toxic, desperate glare.
"Because that child shouldn't exist!" Evelyn screamed, her voice cracking in wild, frantic rage. "Isabel died giving birth to that little monster! My family sacrificed everything for your syndicate, Adrian! And then you bring this... this common bakery girl into Isabel’s house to raise him?!"
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My hands tightened around Lucas's blanket as the horrific truth echoed through the concrete room.
Evelyn hadn't just tried to poison Lucas because she hated me. She had done it because under the Isabel Rowan Trust, if Lucas died without a direct male heir, the sixty-million-dollar maritime estate defaulted entirely to Evelyn.
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