Chapter 8: The Doctor's Last Confession
Dr. Samuel Price was alive, but barely.
Adrian arrived at the hospital with Serena beside him and two police officers following close behind. His injured arm had been bandaged, and a bruise darkened his cheek.
He barely noticed either injury.
All he could think about was the note.
Your mother didn't die of an illness.
A nurse approached them outside the intensive care unit.
“Dr. Price is conscious,” she said.
“But he's very weak. The police have asked us to limit visitors.””
“I'm his visitor,” Adrian replied.
“He asked me to come.””
The nurse studied his face before opening the door.
Dr. Price lay beneath a white hospital blanket, an oxygen tube resting beneath his nose. He looked much older than the voice Adrian remembered from the telephone.
When he saw Adrian, his eyes filled with tears.
“You came.””
“You said you knew the truth about my mother.””
The doctor closed his eyes.
“I should have told you years ago.””
Adrian pulled a chair beside the bed.
“Then tell me now.””
Dr. Price looked toward the door.
“Is Richard here?””
“No.””
“Thomas?””
“Under arrest.””
The doctor released a trembling breath.
“Good. Then perhaps I can finally stop being afraid.””
Serena stood beside Adrian, her arms folded tightly around herself.
Dr. Price looked at her.
“You're Serena Bennett.””
“Yes.””
“I am sorry.””
Serena's expression remained guarded.
“For what?””
“For signing the report that helped convince everyone you were dead.””
Adrian leaned forward.
“What did you sign?””
The doctor swallowed.
“Your mother's death certificate was altered after she died. Her original medical records showed evidence of a substance that should never have been in her system. But Richard insisted that the toxicology results were inconclusive.””
“What substance?””
“A concentrated medication that, in the wrong dose, could suppress breathing and mimic certain natural causes of death.””
Adrian felt his stomach tighten.
“Did my father give it to her?””
“I never saw him administer anything. I cannot truthfully say who did. But he was present during her final hours, and he ordered the private medical team to stop further testing.””
“Why did you obey him?””
Dr. Price's eyes filled.
“Because he threatened my family. My daughter was eighteen. He knew where she went to school. He showed me photographs of her walking home.””
Serena's face went pale.
The doctor continued.
“I was told that if I cooperated, your mother's death would be recorded as natural, and everyone would be protected. I convinced myself I was preventing something worse.””
“You helped him,” Adrian said.
“Yes.””
The answer was almost inaudible.
“You helped him turn my mother's death into a lie. Then you let me live with that lie for thirteen years.””
Dr. Price began to cry.
“I know.””
Adrian stood and walked to the window.
He wanted to scream. He wanted to tear the room apart. Instead, he stared at the traffic moving below, ordinary people carrying on with ordinary lives while his own family seemed to have been built on a foundation of secrets.
When he turned back, Serena was holding the doctor's hand.
“Why did you agree to meet Adrian now?”” she asked.
The doctor looked at her.
“Because I saw your name on the news this morning. Someone had posted a photograph from the wedding. I knew Richard would move quickly, and I realized I had one last chance to correct what I had done.””
“Who attacked you?”” Adrian asked.
“I never saw the person's face. Someone entered my house while I was preparing the original medical file. I remember a smell, like strong perfume. Then a hand over my mouth.””
Vanessa wore expensive perfume.
But so did half the women at the wedding.
Adrian did not want another assumption. He wanted evidence.
“Where is the original file?””
Dr. Price pointed weakly toward a bedside drawer.
“Under the medication chart.””
Adrian retrieved a small envelope.
Inside were photocopies of Eleanor's original toxicology results, a handwritten note, and a photograph of a medicine bottle.
The handwritten note contained the name of a private clinic that had closed years earlier.
On the reverse, someone had written:
Ask Eleanor why Richard needed Thomas to disappear.
Adrian looked at the doctor.
“What does that mean?””
Dr. Price hesitated.
“Your uncle Thomas was involved in the investigation into your mother's death from the beginning. He claimed he could obtain evidence against Richard, but shortly before the clinic closed, he vanished.””
“So Thomas's disappearance was staged.””
“I believe so.””
“Why?””
“Because your mother had discovered that Richard and Thomas were using the foundation to purchase properties through fraudulent companies. Some of those properties were connected to the clinic where she received treatment during her final illness.””
Adrian felt a chill.
“Treatment?””
“Your mother had been unwell for several weeks. Richard insisted she be treated privately. The clinic's records disappeared after her death.””
Serena looked at the photograph of the medicine bottle.
“Could the clinic have been where Richard got the medication?””
“Possibly,” the doctor replied.
“But I cannot confirm that without the original pharmacy records.””
Adrian turned to the police officer stationed near the door.
“I want the clinic investigated. Every surviving record, every former employee, every property transfer connected to it.””
The officer nodded.
“We'll need a formal statement.””
“You'll have one.””
Dr. Price caught Adrian's wrist.
“There's something else.””
Adrian leaned closer.
“Go on.””
“The night before Eleanor died, she asked me to help her contact someone. She said she had hidden a copy of the foundation records somewhere her husband would never search.””
“Where?””
“She mentioned the old Bennett observatory.””
Adrian frowned.
The observatory sat on a wooded ridge behind the estate. His grandfather had built it decades earlier, and it had remained locked since Adrian was a teenager.
“Why would she hide them there?””
“She said it was the only place Richard had never entered.””
Adrian remembered his mother taking him there as a child to watch meteor showers. Richard had hated the observatory, calling it an expensive toy that distracted the family from practical matters.
Adrian had never thought about that again.
Until now.
He thanked the doctor and left the hospital with Serena.
During the drive back to the estate, neither spoke for several minutes.
Finally, Serena reached for his uninjured hand.
“You don't have to solve everything tonight.””
“Yes, I do.””
“No. You have to decide what kind of man you want to be while you're solving it.””
He glanced at her.
“What if I don't know anymore?””
“Then start with the things you do know. You love Chloe. You want the truth. And you don't want anyone else to suffer the way we have.””
Adrian squeezed her hand.
“I nearly lost you again.””
“But you came.””
“Not soon enough.””
Serena turned toward him.
“You cannot spend the rest of your life punishing yourself for what you didn't know. You have to take responsibility for what you do now.””
He nodded, though the words did not ease the guilt.
When they reached Bennett House, Daniel was waiting at the entrance.
“We've got a problem,” he said.
Adrian sighed.
“Of course we do.””
“The police searched your father's study. They found evidence of financial fraud, but the original files are missing.””
“Richard destroyed them?””
“Possibly. But there's something else. Vanessa has filed an emergency petition claiming that you are mentally unfit to control the family trust. The hearing is scheduled for tomorrow morning.””
Adrian stared at him.
“Tomorrow?””
“She says your recent behavior, your wife's sudden reappearance, and the alleged confrontation at the textile mill demonstrate that you're incapable of making sound decisions.””
Serena shook her head.
“She wants the trust.””
“And she wants the documents,” Adrian said.
Daniel handed him another envelope.
“This arrived at the gate ten minutes ago. No return address.””
Adrian opened it.
Inside was a photograph of the old observatory.
The building's door stood open.
A light glowed in the upstairs window.
On the back of the photograph, someone had written:
Your mother left you one final gift. Come alone if you want to know why she chose you.
Adrian stared at the message.
Serena took the photograph from him.
“Don't go alone.””
“I won't.””
He turned to Daniel.
“Prepare a team. No uniforms, no visible vehicles. I want every entrance covered.””
Daniel nodded.
But before Adrian could move, his phone rang.
Vanessa.
He answered.
“Adrian,” she said, her voice trembling with artificial sadness.
“I'm glad you're alive.””
“What do you want?””
“I want to help you.””
“You helped imprison my wife.””
“I did what I had to do.””
“And my mother?””
A long silence followed.
Then Vanessa spoke softly.
“Your mother was never the innocent woman you remember.””
Adrian's blood ran cold.
“What did you just say?””
Vanessa exhaled.
“If you want to know why she really died, look beneath the telescope.””
The call ended.
Adrian looked at Serena.
For the first time since her rescue, his wife appeared genuinely afraid of something other than Richard.
“Adrian,” she whispered, “there's a reason your mother hid those records from everyone.””
“What reason?””
May you like
Serena's eyes filled with tears.
“Because the truth could destroy the only person in this family who never betrayed you.””
