Chapter 10 - THE MOTHER IN THE MEMORIAL HALL
The Vale estate went into lockdown.
Security cameras failed one by one.
Emergency doors sealed automatically.
Theodore was in the west corridor when the lights disappeared.
A cloth covered his mouth from behind.
He smelled the same metallic sweetness Rosalie described in the tea.
He drove his elbow backward.
Someone struck his temple.
The floor rose toward him.
When Theodore woke, he was lying inside the memorial conservatory.
The broken coffin remained near the white roses.
Eleanor sat beside it.
She wore the same dark green dress from the funeral.
The emerald earrings still hung beneath her polished hair.
The scene had been recreated almost perfectly.
Only the mourners were missing.
Theodore’s wrists were tied to a chair.
“You never understood timing,” Eleanor said.
“You always interrupted before adults completed necessary work.”
“You mean murder.”
“I mean preservation.”
A laptop rested on the coffin lid.
The deletion program required one final authorization.
Theodore’s trust held emergency access because Gideon had included the youngest heir as a safeguard.
Eleanor needed his fingerprint and voice.
“You are not getting them.”
“I do not need your cooperation for the fingerprint.”
She lifted a small knife.
“The voice may take more effort.”
Theodore stared at the coffin.
“You heard Rosalie tap.”
Eleanor’s expression remained still.
“Yes.”
“And you did nothing.”
“She was supposed to be dead.”
“She said your name.”
“She had always been dramatic.”
“You were afraid she would open her eyes.”
Eleanor leaned closer.
“I was afraid she would destroy everything your father built.”
“He tried to stop you.”
“Your father became weak.”
“He wanted consent forms.”
“Regulators.”
“Limits.”
“He forgot that great discoveries require people willing to move before society becomes comfortable.”
“The people in those homes did not volunteer.”
“They were dying already.”
Theodore felt sick.
To Eleanor, vulnerable people had become available material.
A sound moved behind the walls.
Two taps.
Eleanor turned.
Theodore looked toward the coffin.
The sound came again.
Three taps.
Eleanor stood.
Rosalie’s voice emerged from the conservatory speaker.
“Theo, keep her talking.”
Eleanor reached for the laptop.
The screen changed.
Instead of the deletion program, her own face appeared on a live recording.
Sebastian and Rosalie had restored the hidden emergency camera inside the memorial hall.
The same system that captured Theodore breaking the coffin now transmitted Eleanor’s confession to police and the full Vale board.
Eleanor grabbed Theodore by the hair and placed the knife against his throat.
“Open the doors.”
Rosalie answered through the speaker.
“Let him go.”
“You survived because of him.”
“Now he dies because of you.”
Theodore looked toward the black rubber mallet on the floor.
It lay just beyond his shoe.
He pushed his chair sideways.
The blade cut a shallow line beneath his jaw.
His foot struck the mallet.
It rolled across the marble.
May you like
Then the conservatory doors opened.
Sebastian stood there alone.
