Chapter 14 - DR. VALEMercy Ridge Children’s Clinic looked harmless.
Bright walls. Painted animals. Receptionists with soft voices. A fish tank in the waiting room where children pressed their fingers against the glass and forgot for a moment why they were there.
Grace hated that place now.
Because Lily had laughed there.
Because doctors had smiled at her there.
Because someone inside had been feeding information to the people who wanted her daughter erased.
Nathan walked beside Grace through the clinic doors with two attorneys behind them and Mason trailing close.
The receptionist recognized Grace instantly.
“Ms. Miller—”
“Bennett,” Grace said.
The woman blinked.
Nathan placed his ID on the counter.
“We need Dr. Vale.”
The receptionist paled.
“He’s not in today.”
Mason leaned forward. “Then call him.”
A voice behind them said, “That won’t be necessary.”
Dr. Martin Vale stood near the hallway entrance.
He was in his early sixties, silver-haired, calm, with the kind of face that made frightened parents trust him before he said a word.
Grace stepped toward him.
“You accessed Lily’s file.”
Dr. Vale looked at her with sadness.
“Yes.”
Nathan moved in front of Grace.
“Why?”
The doctor studied him.
“You look like your mother.”
Nathan stiffened.
“My mother is not relevant.”
“She is more relevant than you think.”
Nathan’s voice dropped. “Where is Samuel Reed?”
Dr. Vale glanced toward the security cameras.
Then he said, “Not here.”
“Victoria?”
The doctor’s face hardened.
“Victoria is a symptom. Not the disease.”
Grace shook her head. “Stop talking in riddles. My daughter is sick, and everyone around her keeps hiding things.”
Dr. Vale’s expression softened.
“Lily is sick because Charles Cole made a choice thirty-five years ago.”
Nathan went cold.
“What choice?”
Dr. Vale opened a door behind him.
“My office.”
Inside, he locked the door, closed the blinds, and removed a file from a wall safe.
He handed it to Nathan.
The first page was a genetic report.
The second was a photograph of a baby boy.
Adrian.
Nathan’s older brother.
Dr. Vale spoke quietly.
“Adrian was born with the same immune disorder Lily has.”
Grace gasped.
Nathan stared at him.
“My brother is alive.”
Dr. Vale looked away.
“Yes.”
“Where?”
The doctor’s jaw tightened.
“Charles gave him away.”
Grace covered her mouth.
Nathan’s voice became dangerously calm.
“To whom?”
“To the Ashfords.”
Silence.
Dr. Vale continued. “Elizabeth Ashford wanted a child. Charles wanted Adrian gone because a sick heir was bad for the Cole image. So they made a deal.”
Nathan’s knees nearly gave out.
“The Ashfords raised my brother?”
“No,” Dr. Vale said.
Nathan looked up.
“They experimented on him.”
Grace whispered, “What?”
The doctor’s voice broke for the first time.
“They used Adrian’s condition to develop private treatments for wealthy families. Unapproved therapies. Genetic trials. Lily’s condition is linked because she carries the same inherited marker.”
Nathan felt every part of him turn cold.
“Is Adrian alive?”
Dr. Vale nodded.
“Then where is he?”
Before the doctor could answer, his office window shattered.
A bullet struck the wall behind him.
Grace screamed.
Nathan pulled her down.
Mason returned fire.
Dr. Vale fell to the floor, blood spreading across his white coat.
Nathan crawled toward him.
The doctor grabbed his sleeve with shaking fingers.
“Find… the boy… in the lake house…”
His eyes rolled back.
Nathan shouted for help.
But Grace had already seen the note clutched in the doctor’s hand.
May you like
Three words.
ASHFORD LAKE ESTATE.
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