Chapter 4 - Shadows of the Whitlock Ledger
The peace lasted exactly three days.
By Friday afternoon, the high-society tabloids were filled with glowing articles about the "Enigmatic Cornish Heiress" who had captured London’s most eligible bachelor. Lady Vivienne’s health had improved so drastically that Dr. Evans called it a medical miracle, allowing her to take afternoon walks in the rose gardens.
Everything was going perfectly.
Until Eliza found the poison.
It was 11:00 PM. Adrian was in a late-night video conference with board members in Hong Kong. Eliza, unable to sleep in her vast, lonely suite, had walked down to the estate’s private library to find a book.
As she passed Lady Vivienne’s private sitting room on the second floor, she noticed the door was slightly ajar. A faint sliver of light spilled onto the dark carpet.
Eliza paused. She heard hushed, urgent voices inside.
“She’s getting stronger, Beatrice!” Lucinda Vance’s voice hissed from inside the room. “Dr. Evans said today that her heart function has stabilized! If she lives another month, Adrian gets the voting shares permanently!”
“Calm down, Lucinda,” Aunt Beatrice’s cold, cruel voice replied. “The old woman’s heart is only strong because of those new digitalis injections Evans prescribed. If the dosage... fluctuates slightly... her heart will fail before the month is out. It will look like a natural relapse.”
Eliza froze, her hand flying to her mouth in horror.
“And what about the maid?” Lucinda asked venomously. “My father’s men finally found her real medical records in Truro today! Her name is Eliza Moore—her mother is a retired washerwoman in Cornwall! She’s not an heiress! She’s a domestic servant Adrian hired from his own staff!”
“Perfect,” Beatrice sneered softly. “Tomorrow morning, when the board gathers for the pre-transfer audit, we present her real identity to the media. At the same time, we plant the Whitlock Sapphire—the thirty-million-pound necklace from the vault—in her old staff locker in the basement. She will be arrested for grand theft and fraud, Adrian will be disgraced, and Vivienne will die of shock when she realizes her beloved grandson tricked her.”
Inside her chest, Eliza’s heart felt as though it had been struck by lightning.
She didn't wait to hear another word. She turned on her heels and ran silently down the dark carpeted corridor toward Adrian’s private study.
She burst through the heavy mahogany doors without knocking.
Adrian looked up instantly from his desk, his laptop screen casting a blue glow over his sharp features. Three executives on the video screen paused mid-sentence.
“Eliza?” Adrian frowned, standing up immediately. “What’s wrong? You’re trembling.”
“Disconnect the call,” Eliza gasped, her chest heaving as she slammed the study door shut behind her. “Adrian, disconnect the call now!”
Adrian looked at her frantic face, closed his laptop without a word, and walked around his desk. He grabbed her by the shoulders, his strong hands grounding her.
“Talk to me,” he commanded softly.
“Your aunt Beatrice... and Lucinda,” Eliza choked out, tears of terror and rage spilling down her cheeks. “I just heard them outside your grandmother’s sitting room. They’re poisoning Lady Vivienne’s heart medication! They’re tampering with her digitalis dosage to cause a relapse before the stock transfer!”
Adrian’s face went deadly pale. The air in the room instantly turned lethal.
“And there’s more,” Eliza sobbed, clutching his velvet lapels. “Lucinda’s father found my real records in Truro. They know I’m a maid, Adrian. Tomorrow morning, at the board audit, they’re going to plant the Whitlock Sapphire in my old basement locker, call the police, and expose us both. Your grandmother will find out everything!”
Adrian stood frozen for two long seconds. His eyes darkened into an abyss of cold, absolute fury—not the calculated anger of a businessman, but the terrifying wrath of a man whose world was being threatened.
He reached up, gently wiping the tears from Eliza’s cheeks with his thumbs.
“They think they’re playing a game with me,” Adrian whispered, his voice trembling with a dark, dangerous promise. “They think they can touch my grandmother, and frame the woman I—”
He stopped himself, his dark eyes locking onto hers with intense, breathtaking passion.
“Adrian?” Eliza breathed.
“They want a scandal, Eliza?” Adrian growled, his hands sliding down to frame her neck, his pulse pounding against hers. “Then tomorrow morning... we give them an execution.”
He turned to his desk, picked up his private encrypted phone, and dialed a number.
“Marcus,” Adrian said coldly into the receiver. “Call the Special Investigations Unit at Scotland Yard. Tell Inspector Reed I need a forensic toxicologist and a search warrant at the Mayfair estate by 7:00 AM tomorrow. And bring the hidden security footage from Lady Vivienne’s medical cabinet.”
Eliza looked at him, surprised. “Hidden security footage?”
Adrian looked back at her, a dark, wicked smile touching his lips.
“Did you really think I didn't install hidden cameras in my grandmother’s room after her first heart attack?” Adrian asked softly. “I knew my aunt was greedy, Eliza. I was just waiting for her to hang herself.”
He walked back to Eliza, taking her hands in his.
“Tomorrow, Beatrice and Lucinda think they are going to ruin you,” Adrian said, holding her hands tightly. “Instead, they are going to spend the rest of their lives behind bars.”
Eliza looked into his fierce, unyielding eyes, feeling the terrifying weight of the Whitlock dynasty resting on their shoulders.
“And what happens when the board finds out I’m really a maid?” Eliza asked softly, her voice filled with sudden, painful vulnerability. “When the truth comes out... your family name—”
May you like
Adrian pulled her against his chest, burying his face in her dark curls.
“I don't give a damn about the family name, Eliza,” Adrian whispered fiercely into her hair. “I only care about you.”
