Chapter 14 - THE PLATE AT THE HEAD TABLE
The hotel kitchen had preserved the untouched wedding meal after police sealed the ballroom.
Lab testing found a powerful sedative in Adrian’s sauce.
Enough to make him confused, unsteady, and dangerously vulnerable when combined with alcohol.
Not necessarily fatal.
Perfect for a staged medical crisis.
The caterer swore the plate had been normal when it left the kitchen.
Security footage showed one person touching it afterward.
Victoria.
Adrian watched the video without blinking.
She leaned over his place setting for three seconds, shielding the plate with her bouquet.
Then she smiled at a guest.
Three seconds.
That was all it took to change the rest of a life.
Elise stood beside him.
“If Clara had arrived ten minutes later…”
“I would’ve eaten it.”
“And everyone would’ve called your collapse wedding stress.”
The thought made Adrian look toward Clara.
His daughter had not merely interrupted a ceremony.
She had probably saved his life.
That evening, news broke that Charles Mercer was wanted on charges of fraud, kidnapping conspiracy, unlawful imprisonment, and attempted poisoning.
His face appeared everywhere.
He still wasn’t found.
At 11:06 p.m., Clara’s hospital tablet lit up with an incoming video call.
Unknown caller.
She answered before the nurse could stop her.
Charles appeared on screen.
“Hello, Clara.”
She screamed.
Adrian took the tablet.
“Stay away from my children.”
Charles smiled.
“They were never the point.”
“Then what is?”
“You.”
The camera shifted.
Behind Charles was a familiar room.
Adrian’s childhood library at the Vale estate.
Charles was inside his home.
Then the camera turned again.
Adrian’s eighty-two-year-old grandmother sat tied to a chair.
May you like
Charles placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Come home, Adrian.”
