Chapter 3 - THE GHOST IN THE PHOTOGRAPH
Valyrian had not spoken his mother's name in years.
Evelyn Darks.
He could still remember her perfume, the songs she played while preparing breakfast, and the way she used to tuck a note inside his schoolbag every Monday.
He had watched her coffin disappear beneath the ground.
Now he was looking at a photograph taken six weeks earlier.
"Where did you get this?"
Alicia rubbed her forehead.
"A woman approached me outside the cancer center."
"Who?"
"She called herself Nora. She said she had worked for your family before your father died."
Valyrian examined the photograph.
His mother stood beside a dark sedan outside what appeared to be a private clinic.
She wore sunglasses and carried a small brown handbag.
"What did Nora want?"
"She asked whether you still trusted Caleum."
Valyrian's expression hardened.
Caleum had served his family for more than twenty years.
He managed company accounts, advised on sensitive negotiations, and handled private correspondence.
He was one of only three people with unrestricted access to the estate.
"Why didn't Nora contact me directly?"
"She said your communications were being monitored."
Alicia leaned back against the pillows.
"She gave me the photograph and asked me to keep it safe. Two days later, she disappeared."
"Disappeared?"
"Her phone stopped working. Her apartment was empty."
Valyrian called Marco again.
"Find Nora. Last name unknown. Former Darks employee. And identify the clinic in this photograph."
He forwarded the image.
Marco answered immediately.
"Boss, there's something I need to tell you."
"What?"
"We've discovered an unauthorized administrator account inside the estate's communications system."
Valyrian felt his pulse slow.
"Who created it?"
"We're tracing that now."
"Shut it down."
"If we do, whoever controls it will know we've found them."
Valyrian looked toward Alicia.
"Then monitor it. Quietly."
"Understood."
After ending the call, he turned back to his wife.
"You're coming with me tomorrow."
Alicia shook her head.
"I'm already going to the hospital."
"I mean I'm taking you."
"You haven't attended a single appointment."
The words landed without cruelty.
That made them worse.
Valyrian lowered his eyes.
"Then tomorrow will be the first."
Alicia studied him for a long moment.
Finally, she nodded.
"All right."
He helped her stand.
She reached for the hospital bag, but he lifted it first.
Something small slipped from its side pocket.
A folded photograph.
Valyrian picked it up.
It showed Alicia standing outside a courthouse three months earlier.
Beside her stood his cousin Matias.
Their faces were serious.
Matias held a thick envelope.
Valyrian stared at the image.
"What were you doing with my cousin?"
Alicia closed her eyes.
"I was trying to save your life."
Before he could respond, Marco called again.
His voice was unusually tense.
"Boss, we identified the clinic."
"Where is it?"
"North of Hartford."
"And?"
Marco hesitated.
"The property belongs to a holding company controlled by Caleum."
Valyrian's jaw tightened.
Then Marco added the detail that changed everything.
"According to the clinic's records, Evelyn Darks has been receiving treatment there for eleven years."
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His supposedly dead mother hadn't just been alive.
Someone had been paying to keep her hidden.
