CHAPTER 3 — JASON'S SECOND LIFE
CHAPTER 3 — JASON'S SECOND LIFE
At 2:17 a.m., Jason Carter stopped being my fiancé.
He became a suspect.
I sat across from Elena in the dark hotel suite, staring at the screen where his name appeared inside a corporate database.
Not Jason Carter.
Not the man who had kissed me goodnight for two years.
Not the man who had stood beside me at the altar only hours earlier and promised to build a future with me.
The database showed another name.
JONATHAN VALE.
I read it twice.
Then a third time.
"No."
Elena didn't answer.
I looked at her.
"Tell me that's a mistake."
"It isn't."
"Then why is my fiancé listed under a different legal identity?"
"That's what we're trying to determine."
I stood so quickly the chair scraped across the floor.
"How long have you known?"
"I found the record twenty minutes ago."
"You should have called me immediately."
"I wanted to verify it."
I stared at the screen.
The photograph attached to the file was unmistakable.
Jason.
Same face.
Same eyes.
Same scar near his eyebrow.
But the date of birth was different.
The address was different.
And the name was different.
Jonathan Vale.
Born in Boston.
Mother: Evelyn Vale.
Father: Thomas Vale.
I swallowed.
"Vale."
Elena nodded.
"That's what I was afraid of."
"The same Vale Systems?"
"Yes."
The room seemed to tilt.
The company my mother had mentioned.
The company that had supposedly been trying to acquire mine for eighteen months.
The company that had somehow been connected to documents my parents were preparing behind my back.
And now my fiancé had a Vale identity.
I whispered:
"Jason has been lying to me from the beginning."
Elena looked at me.
"Probably."
I closed my eyes.
"No."
She frowned.
"No?"
"Not from the beginning."
I remembered our first meeting.
A coffee shop.
A broken laptop.
His stupid joke about technical support.
The way he'd asked what I did for work.
I'd told him I worked in "technology."
He hadn't asked another question.
At the time, I thought that meant he respected my privacy.
Now I wondered whether he'd already known exactly who I was.
I opened my laptop.
"Find everything."
By sunrise, we had a second Jason.
Or rather, we had discovered that the Jason I knew had been living a second life for nearly six years.
His real name was Jonathan Michael Vale.
He had attended a private university under that name.
He had graduated with honors.
He had worked for three companies connected to Vale Systems.
Then, six years ago, every record disappeared.
A new identity appeared.
Jason Carter.
New apartment.
New phone number.
New employment history.
New social-media accounts.
A clean life.
A clean man.
A clean story.
Too clean.
I stared at the timeline.
"When did I meet him?"
"Three years ago."
"What happened six years ago?"
Elena zoomed in.
"That's the interesting part."
A corporate investigation had begun against Vale Systems.
Several executives had been accused of manipulating acquisition targets.
One executive disappeared.
Another committed suicide.
And a third became a federal witness.
Jonathan Vale vanished at exactly the same time.
I looked at Elena.
"Why?"
"We don't know."
"Find out."
She nodded.
A moment later, another file opened.
Jonathan had been involved in a merger.
The target company had been a small cybersecurity firm.
My company.
I stared at the screen.
"No."
Elena looked at me.
"Your company was originally called Carter Security."
My stomach dropped.
"After my father."
"Yes."
"And Vale Systems tried to acquire it."
"Before you became CEO."
I shook my head.
"That isn't possible."
Elena turned toward me.
"You've always believed your father left the company to you."
"He did."
"He did."
She paused.
"But he may not have been the only person involved."
I stared at her.
"You're saying Jason entered my life because of my company."
"I'm saying we need to prove it."
At 7:42 a.m., Jason called.
I watched his name appear on the screen.
JASON
I almost answered.
Then I remembered the second identity.
I let it ring.
He called again.
Then again.
On the fourth call, I answered.
"Hello?"
His voice was exhausted.
"Meline."
"Where are you?"
"I need to see you."
"Why?"
"I can explain."
"You've been saying that for twenty-four hours."
"I know."
"Who is Jonathan Vale?"
Silence.
There it was.
No denial.
No confusion.
Just silence.
I closed my eyes.
"Jason?"
"I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"Everything."
"That's not an answer."
"I never wanted this to happen."
"What did you want?"
Another pause.
"You."
I laughed bitterly.
"That's the problem."
"No."
"You entered my life under a false name."
"I had reasons."
"You worked for Vale Systems."
"Not anymore."
"You knew about my company."
"Yes."
"You knew my parents."
"Yes."
"You knew about the loan."
"Yes."
My heart felt strangely calm.
That was worse than anger.
"Did you know about Sydney?"
Silence.
"Jason?"
"No."
"You're lying."
"I'm not."
"You knew about the loan. You knew about my parents. You knew about the company. You knew about the documents."
"I didn't know about Sydney."
I believed him.
That was the most frightening part.
Because it meant the conspiracy was bigger than Jason.
"Where are you?"
"I can't tell you."
"Then we're done."
"Meline—"
"No."
"I can prove I wasn't trying to destroy you."
"How?"
"I can show you who ordered me to marry you."
My breath caught.
"You were ordered?"
"Yes."
"By whom?"
"I'll tell you in person."
"Where?"
He hesitated.
"Your father's old office."
I froze.
"My father hasn't used that office in twelve years."
"I know."
"Then why there?"
"Because that's where they kept the original file."
"What file?"
He whispered:
"Yours."
The line went dead.
I didn't tell Elena everything.
Not because I didn't trust her.
Because I needed to know whether Jason was telling the truth.
We arrived at my father's old office at 9:16 a.m.
The building had been abandoned for years.
Dust covered the lobby.
The elevator didn't work.
We climbed six flights of stairs.
At the top, the hallway smelled like old paper and rain.
My father's office door was locked.
Elena looked at me.
"You have a key?"
"No."
I took out my phone.
"Security override."
She smiled.
"Of course."
I entered the access code.
The lock clicked.
The door opened.
Inside, everything had been left untouched.
My father's desk.
His old computer.
A bookshelf.
A framed photograph of our family.
And on the wall—
a painting I had never seen before.
A woman holding a baby.
I stepped closer.
The woman was my mother.
The baby was me.
But there was something written beneath the frame.
PROJECT M — PHASE ONE
I felt sick.
Elena walked toward the desk.
"There."
A folder sat inside the top drawer.
My name was written on it.
MELINE VALE — CONFIDENTIAL
I opened it.
The first page was a birth record.
The second was a medical report.
The third was a photograph.
I turned it over.
And froze.
My mother was standing beside a man.
The same man from the photograph in the previous file.
But this time I knew his name.
Thomas Vale.
Jonathan's father.
Jason's father.
My stomach dropped.
"Elena."
She looked up.
"Yes?"
"Jason's father knew my mother."
"Apparently."
I kept reading.
Thomas Vale had been my father's business partner.
The two men had built Carter Security together.
Then something had happened.
A lawsuit.
A missing patent.
A secret acquisition attempt.
And then Thomas had died.
The file ended with one handwritten note:
Meline must never learn that she is a Vale heir.
I stopped breathing.
"Heir?"
Elena read the sentence.
Then looked at me.
"Now we know why they wanted your company."
"No."
I shook my head.
"They don't want the company."
"What do they want?"
I looked at the file.
"The trust."
A noise came from the hallway.
We both turned.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Someone was approaching.
Elena reached for her weapon.
The footsteps stopped outside the door.
Then Jason walked in.
His face was bruised.
His shirt was torn.
There was blood on his collar.
I stared.
"Who did this to you?"
He locked the door behind him.
"People who don't want you to know the truth."
Elena raised her weapon.
Jason stopped.
"I didn't come to hurt her."
"Then talk."
Jason looked at me.
"I was sent to marry you."
I already knew.
But hearing it still hurt.
"Who sent you?"
He swallowed.
"Thomas Vale."
I stared.
"He's dead."
"I know."
"Then how?"
Jason looked toward the folder.
"Because he left instructions."
"What instructions?"
"Everything."
He walked toward me.
"My father knew you were his granddaughter."
I shook my head.
"No."
"He knew your mother was his daughter."
"No."
"He knew your father wasn't your biological father."
I felt the room disappear.
Elena stepped forward.
"Jason, be careful."
He ignored her.
"My father believed the Vale family trust belonged to you."
"Then why did he try to take it?"
"He didn't."
I stared.
"What?"
Jason whispered:
"Your father did."
The silence was unbearable.
"My father?"
Jason nodded.
"Your father stole control of the trust."
"Why?"
"Because he believed Thomas would destroy the family."
I looked at the old photograph.
My father.
Thomas Vale.
My mother.
Three people who had apparently built my entire life on a lie.
"Then why did Jason marry me?"
He looked at me.
"To find the trust documents."
"And when you found them?"
"I was supposed to report back."
"Did you?"
"No."
"Why?"
He hesitated.
"Because I fell in love with you."
I almost laughed.
"That's convenient."
"It's true."
"Then why did you help my parents?"
"I didn't know they were going to use your credit."
"You're lying."
"No."
He stepped closer.
"I thought they were trying to force you to sell the company."
"And you helped them?"
"I thought I could stop it later."
"Later?"
"I was trying to find the trust first."
I stared at him.
"You're unbelievable."
"I know."
"How many lies?"
"Too many."
"How many identities?"
"Two."
"How many women?"
He froze.
"What?"
I stared at him.
"Was I the only woman?"
His silence answered.
I slapped him.
The sound echoed through the office.
He didn't defend himself.
"Tell me."
"I was married before."
My heart stopped.
"To whom?"
Jason looked down.
"My father's business partner's daughter."
I laughed in disbelief.
"You were married?"
"For nine months."
"What happened?"
"She died."
Elena's expression changed.
"How?"
Jason didn't answer.
I stared at him.
"How did she die?"
He whispered:
"She was investigating Vale Systems."
Before I could respond, the office lights went out.
Elena raised her weapon.
A sharp crack came from the window.
Glass exploded.
Jason pulled me to the floor.
Another shot.
Then another.
Someone was trying to kill us.
Elena crawled toward the desk.
"Stay down!"
Jason looked at me.
"Now you understand."
"Understand what?"
"They aren't afraid of your company."
He looked toward the shattered window.
"They're afraid of what you know."
A fourth shot struck the wall above us.
Then silence.
Elena stood carefully.
"Whoever fired those shots is gone."
I looked at Jason.
"Who?"
He shook his head.
"I don't know."
"You do."
"I swear."
I stared at him.
"Then tell me everything."
He looked at the file in my hands.
"There's one thing you haven't seen."
"What?"
He pointed toward the bottom drawer.
"The original photograph."
I opened it.
Inside was a photograph of my mother.
She was much younger.
Beside her stood Thomas Vale.
And in her arms was a baby.
But there was another person in the photograph.
A little girl.
Maybe four years old.
Standing beside Thomas.
I stared at her.
She had my eyes.
My mother's face.
My smile.
I whispered:
"Who is that?"
Jason's expression changed.
"My sister."
I looked at him.
"No."
He nodded.
"Her name is Victoria."
"Where is she?"
He looked toward the broken window.
"Dead."
"How?"
"She was the woman investigating Vale Systems."
I stared at the photograph.
"Then who killed her?"
Jason didn't answer.
I already knew the answer would change everything.
Finally, he whispered:
"Your mother."
The photograph slipped from my fingers.
And for the first time since my wedding day—
May you like
I realized Jason's second life might not be the most dangerous secret in my family.
My mother's might be.
