Chapter 2 - THE MESSAGE THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING
Valyrian had buried his father eleven years earlier.
At least, that was what he'd believed.
The funeral had been private. The casket had remained closed. The official report described a fatal heart attack during a business trip outside Boston.
Now a stranger was threatening to reveal something about that death.
And the threat had been sent to his dying wife.
"Who is this?" he demanded.
Alicia grabbed the phone.
"Nobody."
"Don't lie to me."
She stared at him.
"After everything, you think that's the problem?"
Valyrian lowered his voice.
"Someone is threatening you."
"Someone has been threatening me for months."
The admission silenced him.
Alicia sat on the edge of the bed.
"The first message came in February. They knew about my diagnosis. They knew which hospital I was visiting. They even knew what medication I was taking."
"Why didn't you come to me?"
"I did."
Valyrian shook his head.
"No, Alicia. You didn't."
She opened her phone and scrolled through old messages.
Then she handed it to him.
There were seventeen messages sent to his number.
Valyrian, please call me.
I need to tell you something important.
Someone was outside the hospital today.
Please don't let Caleum intercept this.
Every message showed as delivered.
None had received a reply.
Valyrian stared at the screen.
"I never received these."
Alicia looked away.
"That's what I kept telling myself."
He called his security director.
"Marco, I want a complete forensic review of my phone records. Every message, every forwarded call, every administrative account."
"Right away, boss."
"And don't tell Caleum."
A pause.
"Understood."
Valyrian ended the call.
Alicia watched him carefully.
"You're starting to understand."
He looked at the medical documents.
"Tell me about the hospital."
She hesitated.
"The doctors believe there's still a chance. My first treatment didn't work as well as they'd hoped, but the new team has another approach."
"Then I'll get the best specialists in the country."
"I already have excellent doctors."
"Whatever it costs—"
"Stop."
Her voice cracked.
"Please stop thinking you can fix everything with money."
He sat beside her.
For once, he had no answer.
Alicia's eyes filled.
"I needed my husband. Not your empire."
Valyrian reached for her hand.
She let him hold it.
It was the smallest mercy he'd received in months.
Then she said something that made him go completely still.
"The people threatening me didn't start with your father."
"What do you mean?"
"They started with your mother."
His mother had died when he was sixteen.
A highway accident.
That was the story.
Alicia opened a hidden folder on her phone.
Inside was a photograph of a woman entering a private medical clinic.
The timestamp was six weeks earlier.
The woman's hair was silver.
Her face was older.
But Valyrian recognized her immediately.
"That's impossible."
Alicia whispered, "I thought so too."
May you like
Because the woman in the photograph was his mother.
And she was very much alive.
