Chapter 10 - The BreadMarcus took the bread from Noah.
“Don't eat anything else.”
Adrian's chest tightened.
“Do you think it's poisoned?”
“I think we don't assume anything.”
Noah began crying.
“Am I sick?”
Adrian lifted him.
“No.”
Marcus looked at Adrian but didn't contradict him.
“We're going to the hospital.”
Vivian stepped forward.
“Adrian—”
“Don't.”
He wrapped Noah tighter.
“You're done making decisions about him.”
They left Sterling Manor through the same ballroom doors Adrian had burst through earlier.
Rain had weakened to a cold drizzle.
An ambulance met them outside.
Adrian rode with Noah.
Marcus joined.
Scarlett insisted on following.
Richard stayed behind with security and police, who had finally been called despite Vivian's objections.
At St. Matthew's, Noah was examined immediately.
Blood tests.
Toxicology screening.
Warm blankets.
Fluids.
Adrian sat beside him.
Noah looked tiny inside the hospital bed.
“Daddy?”
“Yeah?”
“I didn't like Grandma's party.”
Adrian almost laughed.
“Neither did I.”
“Can we never go again?”
“Deal.”
Noah looked at him.
“Is Aunt Scarlett really my mom?”
Adrian's stomach tightened.
“She isn't Claire.”
“I know.”
“Claire raised you. Claire loved you before you were born and every day she was alive.”
Noah nodded.
“But Scarlett helped make me?”
Adrian closed his eyes briefly.
“Biologically, maybe.”
“What's biologically?”
Marcus, standing nearby, almost smiled.
Adrian sighed.
“That's a longer conversation.”
Noah considered this.
“Is she family?”
“Yes.”
That answer seemed enough.
Twenty minutes later, Scarlett entered.
She had changed out of her red dress and into borrowed hospital scrubs from a friend in administration.
Noah looked at her differently now.
Curious.
Scarlett stopped near the door.
“I can leave.”
Noah shook his head.
“Did you know me when I was a baby?”
Scarlett's eyes filled.
“No.”
“Would you have?”
She swallowed.
“If I'd known?”
Noah nodded.
“Yes.”
Adrian looked at her.
Scarlett sat carefully.
“I would've wanted to know you.”
Noah smiled faintly.
Then his eyelids grew heavy.
Adrian panicked.
Marcus checked him.
“He's tired.”
“You're sure?”
“His vitals are stable.”
An hour later, preliminary tests came back.
No known toxin.
No dangerous drug.
No evidence of poisoning.
Adrian finally breathed.
“What made his stomach hurt?”
“Cold, stress, hunger, possibly eating stale bread.”
Marcus held up the bagged piece.
“Lab will still test it.”
Noah slept.
Scarlett sat beside Adrian in the hallway.
Neither spoke for several minutes.
Then she said:
“I'm sorry.”
“For what?”
“Existing, apparently.”
Adrian looked at her.
She gave a broken laugh.
“I spent thirty-four years wondering why my mother hated talking about my father.”
“You thought he was dead?”
“She told me he left.”
“He did.”
“Not exactly.”
Adrian nodded.
Scarlett looked through the glass at Noah.
“If Vivian used my eggs…”
“We'll confirm it independently.”
“And if it's true?”
Adrian looked at her.
“You're still his aunt.”
Her eyes filled.
“And genetically…”
“I know.”
“It shouldn't have happened.”
“No.”
“He could have health risks.”
“Yes.”
“You don't hate me?”
Adrian stared.
“Why would I?”
“Because every time you look at me, you're going to remember what she did.”
Adrian shook his head.
“No.”
He looked toward Noah.
“I'm done blaming innocent people for choices someone else made.”
Scarlett cried quietly.
At 4:13 a.m., Adrian's phone rang.
Richard.
“Police found something.”
“What?”
“Samuel Pike.”
Adrian stood.
“Where?”
“Not him.”
Richard corrected himself.
“Evidence he was here.”
“What evidence?”
“His fingerprints in Vivian's office.”
Adrian's pulse accelerated.
“Recent?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“A coat from the service hallway. Rain still wet.”
“So he's nearby.”
“Police are searching.”
Adrian looked through the window at Noah.
“Why was he inside?”
“Edmund thinks Pike wanted the red file.”
“Why?”
“Because it contains proof Richard Sr. was his father.”
Adrian frowned.
“Why care after all these years?”
“Succession.”
Adrian went cold.
“Pike is a Sterling descendant.”
“Yes.”
Older than Catherine's Lucas?
Adrian did the math.
Likely.
If Pike was Richard Sr.'s son, then he sat inside the trust line.
Potentially ahead of everyone depending on the codicil.
This wasn't just revenge.
It was inheritance.
“How old is he?”
“Seventy-two.”
“Children?”
Silence.
Adrian felt dread.
“Dad.”
Richard answered:
“One.”
“Who?”
“We don't know.”
“Find out.”
“I already asked Edmund.”
“And?”
“He says Pike had a daughter.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
“Name?”
“Changed after adoption.”
“Original name?”
Richard hesitated.
“Evelyn.”
Adrian's breath stopped.
“No.”
Scarlett looked up.
“What?”
Adrian stared at her.
Richard continued.
“Samuel Pike's daughter was Evelyn Pike.”
Scarlett stood slowly.
“My mother.”
The hallway became silent.
Adrian could still hear Richard through the phone.
“If the records are accurate, Evelyn Vale was Samuel Pike's daughter.”
Scarlett looked physically ill.
Which meant Richard had unknowingly had a relationship with his father's illegitimate granddaughter.
And Scarlett—
Scarlett's Sterling blood ran through both sides.
Adrian looked toward Noah.
The family tree had become a trap.
Richard whispered:
“There's more.”
Adrian almost laughed.
“Of course there is.”
“Police found a photograph on Pike's coat.”
“What photograph?”
“Scarlett.”
Scarlett stepped closer.
Richard continued.
“Taken yesterday.”
Adrian's stomach tightened.
“Why is he watching her?”
Richard answered:
“Because he believes Scarlett—not Lucas, not Noah—is the rightful heir.”
Scarlett shook her head.
“I don't want it.”
Adrian repeated it into the phone.
Richard's answer was quiet.
“I don't think Samuel Pike cares what she wants.”
Then a nurse approached quickly.
“Mr. Sterling?”
Adrian turned.
“Yes?”
“Someone just tried to access your son's room using family authorization.”
His pulse exploded.
“Who?”
“We stopped him at the nurses' station.”
Adrian looked down the corridor.
Security officers were running.
A tall elderly man stood at the far end.
White hair.
Dark coat.
Gold lion ring.
Samuel Pike looked directly at Scarlett.
May you like
Then smiled.
“Hello, granddaughter.”
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