Chapter 2 - THE FIRST SHOT
Adrian didn’t think.
He moved.
His wheelchair spun hard as Marcus grabbed Emily by the shoulders and dragged her behind a stone planter.
Guests screamed.
Champagne glasses shattered.
Men in expensive suits dove under tables.
Women ran barefoot across the grass.
Security flooded the garden.
“Sniper!” Marcus shouted.
“North windows!”
Adrian looked down at Emily.
Blood stained the shoulder of her uniform.
His stomach dropped.
“Emily.”
She groaned.
“I’m okay.”
“You’ve been shot.”
“Grazed.”
She pressed her palm against the wound.
“I think.”
Another shot cracked.
Stone exploded beside them.
Marcus pulled his weapon.
“Inside!”
Adrian grabbed Emily’s wrist.
“The drive.”
She opened her fist.
The silver flash drive was still there.
Adrian took it.
“Who knows you have this?”
Emily’s eyes filled with panic.
“I don’t know.”
“Think.”
“My supervisor saw me copying files.”
“What files?”
“Security backups.”
“From where?”
“The old camera server.”
Adrian’s pulse quickened.
Ashford Manor had dozens of cameras.
Most had been replaced two years ago.
But the older system still stored fragments from before the renovation.
Including the night Adrian had been shot.
“How did your son hear a confession?”
Emily sucked in a painful breath.
“Not here.”
“Tell me.”
“Please.”
She looked toward the house.
“They’re trying to kill me.”
That was enough.
Adrian turned to Marcus.
“Lock the estate down.”
Marcus nodded.
“No one leaves.”
“Not senators.”
“Not judges.”
“Not anyone.”
Marcus hesitated.
“You know what that’s going to look like.”
Adrian looked toward the screaming crowd.
“I stopped caring what this looks like one minute ago.”
They rushed Emily through the service corridor.
Adrian’s chair moved faster than most people could run.
The hallway smelled like spilled wine and hot food.
Kitchen staff pressed against the walls.
A terrified waiter crossed himself when Adrian passed.
They entered the manor’s private medical room.
Adrian kept a physician on-site during major events.
Dr. Samuel Reed examined Emily’s shoulder.
“Bullet only clipped her.”
“She’ll need stitches.”
Emily gritted her teeth.
“No hospital.”
Dr. Reed looked at Adrian.
“That isn’t your decision.”
“It’s mine.”
Emily’s voice was weak but firm.
“If whoever shot at me knows I’m alive, the hospital will be the first place they look.”
Adrian watched her closely.
“You’ve dealt with this kind of thing before?”
“No.”
“Then why do you sound like you have?”
Emily looked away.
Marcus shut the door.
“Adrian.”
He held up a tablet.
“We found the shooting position.”
“Second-floor east wing.”
“Who had access?”
Marcus hesitated.
“Family.”
Adrian’s expression changed.
“Names.”
“You.”
“Vanessa.”
“Me.”
“Your aunt Helena.”
“Your cousin Victor.”
“And three senior household staff.”
Emily looked up sharply.
“Victor?”
Adrian noticed.
“You know him?”
“No.”
Too fast.
“You’re lying.”
Emily’s lips pressed together.
Adrian rolled closer.
“Emily.”
“You walked into a room full of powerful people and accused one of them of ordering my shooting.”
“You were nearly killed thirty seconds later.”
“You don’t get to start hiding things now.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“My son is six.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
She looked straight at him.
“You don’t know what it’s like to wake up every morning wondering if your child will stop breathing before breakfast.”
Adrian went quiet.
Emily continued.
“Noah has severe pulmonary disease.”
“He’s been hospitalized eleven times.”
“Last year, he almost died.”
Her voice broke.
“I was cleaning a guest suite at the Moretti Grand when I heard two men talking in the room next door.”
Adrian leaned forward.
“What did they say?”
“One said the shooting was supposed to kill you.”
Emily paused.
“The other said Victor had paid too much money for a failure.”
Marcus cursed under his breath.
Adrian’s face went completely still.
Victor Moretti.
His cousin.
His childhood friend.
A man Adrian had trusted with financial records, family businesses, and half his legitimate empire.
“Why didn’t you tell me then?”
Emily looked ashamed.
“I was scared.”
“Of Victor?”
“Of all of you.”
The words hit harder than Adrian expected.
Emily continued.
“I copied part of the hotel security recording.”
“But before I could do anything with it, Noah got sick.”
“I lost the apartment.”
“I lost my job.”
“We lived in my car.”
“Then something happened.”
Adrian already knew.
“The foundation.”
Emily nodded.
“The Moretti Children’s Foundation paid for Noah’s treatment.”
“You saved him.”
Adrian looked away.
He had approved thousands of medical grants.
He rarely knew the names.
Emily reached for his sleeve.
“That’s why I came today.”
“I couldn’t stand there and watch them destroy you when I knew something that could change everything.”
Marcus inserted the flash drive into an isolated laptop.
Files appeared.
Audio.
Video.
Documents.
Then one folder.
Labeled: A.M. Accident.
Adrian’s eyes hardened.
“Play it.”
Marcus opened the first audio file.
Static filled the room.
Then two male voices.
The first belonged to Victor.
Adrian recognized it instantly.
“We paid for a corpse.”
The second voice replied.
“We hit him clean.”
“Then explain the wheelchair.”
Victor laughed.
“Maybe next time aim higher.”
Emily covered her mouth.
Adrian didn’t move.
Then Victor spoke again.
“And Damien?”
“He takes the blame.”
“He already hates Adrian.”
“Make sure Adrian believes it.”
The audio ended.
Nobody spoke.
Adrian stared at the screen.
Three years of hatred.
Three years preparing for revenge against the wrong man.
Marcus whispered, “Jesus.”
Then another file opened automatically.
A video.
The image was grainy.
A hotel parking garage.
Victor stood beside a black SUV.
Beside him was a woman.
Adrian leaned closer.
His breath stopped.
The woman turned toward the camera.
Vanessa.
His bride.
Emily stared at him.
“She knew.”
Adrian’s face drained of color.
Then the video timestamp appeared.
May you like
Three years ago.
Two months before Adrian had even met Vanessa.
