Chapter 10 - The Father Who Couldn’t Sign His Name
We went to see Gideon Cross that afternoon.
I did not want Fern anywhere near him.
Stellan did not argue.
For once, we agreed before fighting.
Fern stayed at the lake house with Mercer, Mrs. Thornbury, and two security teams Stellan trusted enough to threaten personally.
The rehabilitation center looked like a luxury hotel designed by people afraid of death.
Gideon Cross was thinner than I expected.
He sat beside a window overlooking frozen trees, one hand curled uselessly against his chest.
His eyes were still sharp.
Stellan stopped several feet away.
“Father.”
Gideon looked at him.
Then at me.
His expression changed.
He tried to speak.
Only air came out.
A nurse brought a letter board.
Gideon pushed it away angrily.
Stellan said, “Someone is using your name.”
Gideon’s eyes narrowed.
“Someone reopened Cross Biomedical after your stroke.”
A twitch in his left cheek.
“Someone used Fern’s blood to create a false death record.”
Gideon’s eyes snapped to me.
He made a rough sound.
I stepped closer.
“Fern is alive.”
Tears appeared in his eyes.
That was not the reaction I expected from a man I had spent the day imagining as a monster.
He reached weakly toward me.
I did not take his hand.
“You knew about her?”
He nodded.
Stellan’s jaw tightened.
“You ordered Agnes to hide her.”
Another nod.
“You told me she died.”
Gideon slammed his good hand against the armrest.
No.
Stellan froze.
“You did not tell me?”
Gideon shook his head violently.
The room changed.
I pulled the letter board onto his lap.
“Then who did?”
His finger moved slowly.
R.
Then O.
Then—
His whole body stiffened.
The monitor alarm screamed.
The nurse rushed in.
Stellan grabbed my arm and pulled me back.
Gideon convulsed.
Within seconds, three medical staff surrounded him.
I stared at the letter board.
R O.
“Roman?” Stellan whispered.
His uncle.
The family attorney.
The man currently running half of Cross Holdings while Gideon recovered.
Then I noticed something on Gideon’s IV line.
A clear syringe port.
Freshly punctured.
I grabbed the nurse.
“What was he given?”
She looked confused.
“Nothing in the last hour.”
Stellan’s head turned toward the doorway.
A male orderly was walking away quickly.
“Darius!”
Everything exploded into motion.
Stellan ran.
I stayed with Gideon.
The doctors stabilized him after ninety terrifying seconds.
His eyes opened.
He could barely focus.
I put the letter board back under his hand.
“Who?”
His finger trembled.
R.
O.
S.
E.
I stopped breathing.
Stellan came back into the room with blood on his lip and the orderly pinned by two guards.
I looked at the board.
Then at him.
“Who is Rose?”
Stellan’s face went blank.
He looked at me carefully.
“Selene.”
My heart began pounding.
“No.”
“Rose Hart was your mother’s name, wasn’t it?”
I backed away from the bed.
My mother had been dead for five years.
At least, that was the lie I had been living with.
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