Chapter 7 – Blood Is Thicker Than Money
Chapter 7 – Blood Is Thicker Than Money
The forensic laboratory confirmed the result twice.
Then a third time.
Detective Laura Hayes stared at the report in silence before sliding it across the conference table.
DNA MATCH: Vanessa Monroe.
Probability of error:
Less than one in nine billion.
Adrian read the report without blinking.
"So she was in Arthur Collins' apartment."
Hayes nodded.
"And she bled there."
Samuel Reeves folded his arms.
"Which means Arthur wasn't the only target."
Harold Bennett looked toward the evidence boxes recovered from the storage unit.
"Or Vanessa wasn't working for Victor anymore."
The thought settled over the room like a storm cloud.
If Vanessa had turned against Victor...
Everything they thought they knew could change.
Hayes looked up.
"We found something else."
She placed another photograph on the table.
It had been taken by a traffic camera two nights before the gala.
A black SUV was parked outside Arthur's apartment building.
Victor sat behind the wheel.
The passenger door was open.
A woman with long blonde hair climbed inside.
Vanessa.
The timestamp read 10:47 p.m.
Arthur Collins had disappeared less than an hour later.
Adrian clenched his jaw.
"They met before Arthur vanished."
"Yes."
Hayes pointed toward the rear seat of the SUV.
"There was someone else in the vehicle."
The image was blurred.
Only a silhouette was visible.
Broad shoulders.
Dark coat.
Face hidden.
Samuel frowned.
"Nicholas?"
"No way to tell," Hayes replied.
"But Victor wasn't acting alone."
Before they could continue, Adrian's phone rang.
The screen displayed St. Matthew's Medical Center.
His heart immediately tightened.
He answered before the first ring ended.
"Mr. DeLuca?"
It was Dr. Melissa Grant.
"Your wife is awake."
Adrian reached the hospital in less than fifteen minutes.
The intensive care unit was quieter than before.
Morning sunlight filtered through the windows.
Machines hummed steadily beside Elena's bed.
She looked pale.
Bruises covered the left side of her face.
Her arm remained in a cast.
But her eyes were open.
The moment she saw Adrian...
She smiled weakly.
"You look terrible."
He laughed softly despite everything.
"So do you."
"I suppose that's fair."
He carefully kissed her forehead.
"I thought I lost you."
"You almost did."
A silence followed.
Neither wanted to remember the staircase.
Finally Elena whispered,
"The baby?"
Adrian's eyes softened.
"Our son is fighting."
"He's strong."
"Just like his mother."
A tear slipped down Elena's cheek.
"I haven't even held him."
"You will."
"I promise."
After a few quiet moments, Adrian noticed her expression change.
She looked toward the door.
"Is anyone outside?"
"Just a police officer."
"No Victor?"
"No."
She relaxed slightly.
Then reached for his hand.
"I need to tell you something."
Adrian pulled his chair closer.
"What is it?"
Elena hesitated.
"The money..."
"It's worse than you think."
"I know about the shell companies."
She slowly shook her head.
"No."
"Those are only the surface."
He frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"I wasn't investigating stolen money anymore."
"I was investigating people."
She closed her eyes for a moment, gathering strength.
"Three months ago..."
"I found a payment that didn't belong."
"A payment to Vanessa?"
"No."
Her voice became almost a whisper.
"It came from a private account."
"There was no company name."
"No signature."
"Only one word."
Guardian.
Adrian remembered Arthur's notebook.
Initials.
Codes.
Hidden accounts.
"Did you trace it?"
"I tried."
"It led nowhere."
"Every transfer disappeared through foreign banks."
"But then..."
She paused, wincing from the pain.
"I found one mistake."
"The account was used once..."
"...to pay hospital bills."
Adrian looked confused.
"Hospital bills?"
She nodded.
"For a little girl."
"What little girl?"
"I don't know."
"The records had already been sealed."
"But someone powerful wanted that child kept alive."
Detective Hayes entered quietly, carrying a notebook.
"I'm sorry."
"I didn't want to interrupt."
Elena managed a faint smile.
"It's alright."
Hayes sat beside the bed.
"I only have a few questions."
Elena nodded.
"I'll answer what I can."
"Did Victor ever threaten you directly?"
"Yes."
"When?"
"The day I confronted him."
"What did he say?"
Elena looked down at the blanket.
"He smiled."
"As though nothing frightened him."
Then she repeated his exact words.
"Money can always be replaced."
"Family cannot."
Hayes frowned.
"What did he mean?"
Elena slowly shook her head.
"I didn't understand then."
"But now..."
"I think he wasn't talking about money at all."
Hayes wrote every word down.
"Did Vanessa ever speak to you?"
"Only once."
"What did she say?"
Elena stared toward the window.
"She apologized."
Adrian blinked.
"Apologized?"
"It was the morning before the gala."
"She stopped me in the garden."
"She said..."
Elena's voice trembled.
"If I disappear, don't trust Victor."
The room fell silent.
Hayes exchanged a quick glance with Adrian.
"Why didn't you tell anyone?"
"I thought she was trying to manipulate me."
"I ignored her."
A tear rolled down Elena's face.
"If I'd listened..."
"Maybe none of this would've happened."
Adrian gently squeezed her hand.
"This isn't your fault."
A soft knock interrupted them.
Dr. Grant stepped inside.
"Your son is stable."
Elena immediately looked up.
"Can I see him?"
"For a few minutes."
The doctor smiled.
"We'll bring the incubator here."
Moments later, a neonatal nurse wheeled a small transparent incubator into the room.
Inside lay a tiny baby wrapped in blue blankets.
His chest rose and fell with determined little breaths.
A feeding tube rested beside his nose.
Elena covered her mouth as tears streamed down her face.
"He's beautiful."
Adrian stood beside her.
"Our son."
The nurse smiled gently.
"He already has a fighter's heartbeat."
Elena slipped one finger through the incubator opening.
The baby's tiny hand wrapped instinctively around it.
For the first time since the nightmare began...
Hope entered the room.
After the nurse left, Elena became serious again.
"There was one more thing."
Adrian immediately noticed the fear in her eyes.
"What?"
"I remembered something while I was unconscious."
Hayes leaned forward.
"What did you remember?"
"The day your father died."
Adrian frowned.
"I wasn't even there."
"No."
"But I was."
Everyone stared at her.
"It was years before Adrian and I married."
"I worked as an intern in the legal department."
"The night Robert DeLuca died..."
"I delivered documents to the mansion."
Adrian's eyes widened.
"You never told me."
"I didn't realize it mattered."
"Until now."
"What happened?"
Elena swallowed.
"I saw Victor arguing with someone in the library."
"Who?"
"I couldn't see clearly."
"But I heard one sentence."
She closed her eyes.
Trying to hear the memory again.
Then she whispered,
"He's still your brother."
The room froze.
Adrian felt the blood drain from his face.
"My father didn't have a brother."
Elena slowly looked into his eyes.
Her expression was filled with certainty.
"Yes..."
"He did."
A long silence followed.
Then she spoke the words that shattered everything Adrian believed about his family.
"Victor isn't the secret."
She took a slow breath.
"The real secret..."
"...is that Nicholas DeLuca wasn't your father's business partner."
Adrian stared at her.
"He was..."
Elena's voice broke.
"...your father's older brother."
The monitor beside her bed continued its steady rhythm.
No one moved.
No one spoke.
Because if Nicholas DeLuca was truly Robert's brother...
Then the war tearing the DeLuca family apart had never been about stolen millions.
May you like
It had always been about blood.
End of Chapter 7
