Chapter 3 - The Missing Six Hours.
Adrian did not confront Grant about the missing footage.
Mason advised him not to.
If Grant believed nobody had noticed the midnight visit, he might make another mistake.
Adrian hated that advice because it required patience.
Patience had never been his favorite skill.
The next morning, Maya found him in the study before sunrise.
His wheelchair was beside the desk, and four years of financial records were open across two monitors.
A half-finished cup of coffee sat beside his hand.
“You slept?”
Adrian did not look away from the screen.
“Enough.”
“That means no.”
“That means I don’t remember agreeing to a wellness interview.”
Maya leaned against the doorway.
“The board meeting is in two days.”
“You won’t help yourself by arriving exhausted.”
Adrian finally looked at her.
“Did Mason ask you to say that?”
“No.”
“Lily did.”
That answer caught him off guard.
Maya walked in and placed a folded red napkin on the desk.
Inside it were crackers and two slices of apple.
“She said executives need snacks.”
Adrian stared at the tiny package.
His mouth almost moved toward a smile.
Then the security system chimed.
Someone had arrived at the front gate.
Grant Vale stepped out of a silver sedan wearing the same polished confidence he carried into every room.
He was forty-three, clean-cut, calm, and always perfectly dressed.
From a distance, he looked like the brother everyone would trust first.
Adrian watched him on the monitor.
“You invited him?”
Maya shook her head.
Grant entered the house carrying flowers.
He greeted Maya warmly and crouched when Lily appeared in the hallway.
“There’s my favorite chef.”
Lily stared at his shoes.
They were black and polished enough to reflect the light.
“The shiny-shoe man,” she said.
Grant’s smile paused.
Only for a fraction of a second.
Maya saw it.
Adrian saw it too.
Grant straightened.
“I brought these for the house.”
Adrian rolled into the living room.
“You usually bring documents.”
Grant’s smile returned.
“I thought we might try being brothers today.”
Adrian stopped several feet away.
“Brothers don’t file petitions before breakfast.”
Grant sighed as if disappointed by Adrian’s tone.
“I expected Mason to frame it that way.”
“He didn’t need to frame anything.”
“Your name is on the first page.”
Grant placed the flowers on a table.
“You’re recovering.”
“The company needs consistency.”
“You need time.”
Adrian’s eyes hardened.
“You could have told me.”
“I tried.”
“You turned every conversation into a fight.”
Maya watched both men carefully.
Grant was good at sounding reasonable.
That was what made him unsettling.
He never raised his voice.
He never needed to.
Grant turned toward Maya.
“I hope none of this has made your work uncomfortable.”
Maya gave him a steady look.
“My work was already complicated.”
Grant smiled.
“I can imagine.”
Adrian noticed the phrase.
It sounded harmless.
It did not feel harmless.
Lily entered carrying her bowl.
She climbed onto the sofa and began stirring imaginary soup.
Grant glanced at the bowl.
His eyes stayed on it slightly too long.
Adrian remembered Lily’s description of the blue light.
“Grant.”
His brother looked at him.
“Were you here last Tuesday night?”
Maya’s attention sharpened.
Grant did not hesitate.
“No.”
“Why?”
Adrian held his gaze.
“The cameras lost six hours.”
Grant’s face remained calm.
“Then call the security company.”
“I did.”
“They say the system was manually interrupted.”
Grant slipped one hand into his coat pocket.
“That sounds serious.”
“It is.”
The two brothers stared at each other.
Lily suddenly spoke.
“You told me to go back to bed.”
The room went still.
Grant slowly looked at her.
Maya stepped closer to Lily without appearing to.
Grant gave a small, almost amused smile.
“Children dream strange things.”
Lily frowned.
“I was awake.”
Grant looked back at Adrian.
“You’re building a case around a four-year-old’s memory now?”
Adrian felt anger rise, but he kept his voice level.
“No.”
“I’m asking you a simple question.”
Grant adjusted his cuff.
“And I answered.”
He moved toward the door.
“Get some rest, Adrian.”
“The board meeting will be easier if you don’t treat it like a war.”
Adrian watched him leave.
When the door closed, Maya exhaled.
“He lied.”
Adrian looked toward the security tablet.
“Maybe.”
Maya shook her head.
“I saw his face when Lily called him the shiny-shoe man.”
Adrian rolled back toward the study.
Mason was already calling.
The attorney had received a response from the security company.
They had recovered a system log even though the video itself was gone.
Mason’s voice was tight.
“The interruption came from inside the house.”
Adrian stopped moving.
“Which device?”
Mason paused.
“Your personal tablet.”
Maya stared at Adrian.
The tablet had been locked in the study.
The safe records were suddenly more important.
Adrian opened the audit history.
A successful login appeared at 1:17 a.m. on the missing night.
The access code used was his private six-digit code.
Only Adrian knew it.
Or at least that was what he had believed.
Maya whispered the question neither of them wanted to ask.
“How did Grant get your code?”
Adrian looked at the drawer where he stored nothing but blank stationery.
Then he remembered something from the hospital.
Grant had once held Adrian’s phone while Adrian was heavily medicated and unable to type.
Grant had said he was helping answer urgent messages.
May you like
At the time, it had felt like kindness.
Now Adrian could not stop thinking about everything else his brother might have seen.
