Chapter 6 - THE OTHER VALE CHILD
Vanessa laughed when Julian showed her the photograph.
Not because it was funny.
Because she expected the accusation.
"Adrian was not my father."
"Then explain the note."
"I can't."
"Your father committed my mother."
"My father treated wealthy patients. Adrian knew him."
"Why hide that?"
"Because my father destroyed people's lives for money."
That answer surprised Julian.
Vanessa admitted Douglas Hart had participated in questionable involuntary commitments during the 1990s.
She had cut contact with him years ago.
Julian asked why she never told him.
"Would you have married me if you knew my father helped imprison your mother?"
"I didn't know my mother was alive."
"You would've investigated. You would've blamed me for what he did before I was old enough to understand it."
Again, plausible.
The photograph bothered him more.
Mara studied it.
She remembered Adrian disappearing for days during the year Vanessa was born.
Could he have fathered a child with another woman?
If Vanessa was Adrian's biological daughter, then Julian had nearly married his half-sister.
The possibility horrified everyone.
Vanessa immediately agreed to DNA testing.
She did not hesitate.
The result excluded Adrian as her biological father based on preserved genetic material from prior medical records and Julian's own profile.
The photograph was misleading.
The note remained unexplained.
Vanessa gained credibility.
Mara lost some.
Then Vanessa counterattacked.
Her attorneys released evidence that Mara had used multiple identities over twenty-eight years.
Some were necessary because Adrian controlled her legal status.
Others were not easily explained.
One identity had opened a brokerage account and traded Vale Hospitality stock.
Mara admitted it.
She had been trying to build enough money to hire lawyers and escape.
Vanessa portrayed it as obsession.
The board listened.
Julian remained CEO, but the vote was closer than expected.
He could not afford more uncertainty.
So he turned to the one person everyone feared.
Douglas Hart.
The old man lived alone in Connecticut.
He refused Julian entry at first.
Then Mara stepped from the car.
Douglas's face changed.
"You survived."
Mara stared at him.
"You knew I would."
Inside, Douglas admitted signing the commitment papers.
Adrian paid him.
Eleanor knew part of it.
Thomas Bell later learned everything.
But Douglas denied helping Vanessa manipulate Julian.
"My daughter hates me."
"Does she know what you did?" Julian asked.
"She knows enough."
"Why did Adrian write 'my daughter' on her photograph?"
Douglas looked toward the window.
Then said something none of them expected.
"Because Adrian planned to adopt her."
Mara frowned.
Douglas explained that Vanessa's mother, Claire Hart, died when Vanessa was seven.
Adrian had been close to the family and considered becoming her legal guardian.
He changed his mind.
"Why?"
Douglas's jaw tightened.
"Because Claire left him something."
"What?"
"A recording."
Douglas stood and walked toward an old safe.
It was empty.
He stared inside.
Someone had opened it recently.
Only one object was missing.
A cassette labeled ADRIAN VALE - DECEMBER 1998.
Douglas looked at Julian.
"That recording proves why your mother was really committed."
Then Julian's phone vibrated.
May you like
A message from Vanessa.
STOP DIGGING INTO 1998 IF YOU WANT MARA TO STAY ALIVE.
