Chapter 7 - THE DELIVERY THEY WERE PREPARING FOR
I wanted to leave Greenwich immediately.
Adrian agreed.
Matthias did too.
For once, nobody argued.
We moved to a private hospital in Manhattan under an alias because thirty-two weeks was too early to risk distance from neonatal care.
I chose the hospital.
Not Matthias.
Not Charles.
My doctor.
My security.
My attorney.
That mattered.
Then we audited every scheduled provider connected to my delivery.
One anesthesiologist had been added without my obstetrician's request.
Dr. Simon Vale.
Fiona's uncle.
Of course.
He had impressive credentials.
No disciplinary history.
Still, I removed him.
Then investigators discovered Simon had accessed my chart twice.
No authorization.
He claimed family concern.
Unacceptable.
Then Sabrina contacted me.
Directly.
One encrypted video call.
Her face appeared.
Thin.
Dark hair cut short.
Alive.
“Serena.”
“Where are you?”
“Safe for another day.”
“Why didn't you come home?”
“Because home is the problem.”
She had found the person coordinating the plan.
Not Richard alone.
Someone inside Dre.
“Who?”
Before she answered, the connection dropped.
Thirty seconds later, a file arrived.
A board roster.
One name highlighted.
Eleanor Dre.
Matthias's mother.
No.
I remembered her carrying baby gifts into my apartment.
Planning the nursery.
Calling every week.
Why would she target her son?
Then Sabrina's message:
Mom isn't trying to kill Matthias.
She's trying to remove Dad.
Charles.
The family conflict was older than Hensley.
Eleanor believed Charles had been quietly draining family wealth for years to cover personal losses.
She recruited Richard Vale to force restructuring.
But Richard escalated.
Turned a family financial intervention into a takeover.
Sabrina discovered both sides.
Then Eleanor learned Richard was willing to endanger people.
She tried to stop him.
Too late.
I called her.
She answered immediately.
“Serena.”
“Did you authorize surveillance on me?”
Silence.
“Yes.”
My hand tightened.
“Why?”
“To know whether Matthias's child was safe.”
“You don't get to surveil my pregnancy because you dislike your husband.”
“I know.”
At least she didn't defend it.
Then:
“I never ordered paternity testing.”
“Who did?”
“Richard.”
“What about the party device?”
“I don't know.”
“Then tell me where Sabrina is.”
Eleanor began crying.
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because I don't know anymore.”
Sabrina had stopped reporting to her too.
Everyone had lost control.
Then Eleanor gave me something important.
Richard Vale had a private operations account used outside his normal firm.
Named:
Northglass.
Payments to private investigators.
Medical consultants.
Security contractors.
And one person at the Dre estate.
I asked who.
Eleanor whispered:
“Matthias's younger brother.”
I froze.
Matthias had told me his brother Daniel lived in London.
He didn't.
May you like
Daniel Dre had been back in Connecticut for six months.
Quietly working with Richard Vale.
