Chapter 5 - THE CHILD BEHIND THE LOCKED DOOR
Adrien was already reaching for the wheelchair brakes when Sophie grabbed his phone.
"Daniel!" she shouted.
The investigator appeared almost immediately.
One look at the photograph was enough.
He contacted the security team assigned to Lila's suite and ordered an immediate welfare check.
Adrien tried to stand.
Pain shot through his injured leg.
He gasped and collapsed back into the wheelchair.
"Get me to my daughter!"
Sophie moved behind him.
"Hold on."
They rushed down the corridor.
Two security officers stood outside the family suite.
One was speaking urgently into a radio.
The other opened the door.
Lila was asleep.
Her rabbit lay beneath one arm.
A caregiver sat beside her bed, visibly shaken.
Adrien crossed the room as quickly as his wheelchair allowed.
"Lila?"
She stirred.
"Daddy?"
He gathered her into his arms.
For a moment, he could not speak.
He simply held her, breathing in the familiar scent of her shampoo.
"Are you okay?"
She nodded sleepily.
"Why are you crying?"
Adrien kissed her forehead.
"Because I love you."
Daniel examined the room.
The window was locked.
The hallway camera showed no unauthorized entry.
The caregiver insisted she had never left Lila alone.
Yet the photograph clearly showed the child from an angle near the foot of her bed.
Daniel studied the image.
Then he looked toward the ceiling.
A small wireless baby monitor had been installed above the bookshelf.
"Who authorized that device?"
The caregiver frowned.
"Dr. Delacroix recommended it. He said Mr. Valmont might want to check on his daughter from his room."
Daniel's expression hardened.
"Turn it off."
The security team disconnected the monitor and secured it for examination.
Within an hour, investigators determined that its account had been accessed remotely from an unrecognized device.
Someone had not entered Lila's room.
They had watched her through a camera.
And they had used that access to frighten her father.
Adrien sat beside his daughter's bed while Daniel explained the findings.
"Whoever sent the photograph may not have been physically nearby," Daniel said. "But they knew the camera existed and had access to its feed."
"Gabriel installed it."
"He recommended it. We still need to establish who controlled the account."
Adrien looked toward Lila.
She had fallen asleep again.
"Move her somewhere safe."
Claire, who had arrived during the investigation, nodded.
"I've arranged a private residence with independent security. The location will be known only to a small group."
Adrien hesitated.
"I don't want her away from me."
Sophie crouched beside him.
"Keeping her safe doesn't mean abandoning her."
He looked at her.
"What if something happens while I'm not there?"
"Then we'll make sure you can reach her. But right now, someone is using your love for her against you."
Adrien closed his eyes.
He hated that she was right.
The next morning, Lila was moved under discreet security arrangements.
Adrien told her it was a short vacation.
She asked whether Sophie could come.
Sophie promised to visit as soon as possible.
Before leaving, Lila hugged her father.
"Daddy?"
"Yes, sweetheart?"
"Is Mommy really in heaven?"
The question nearly destroyed him.
He looked into her eyes.
For three years, he had answered without hesitation.
Now he couldn't.
"I don't know everything yet," he said gently. "But I promise I'll always tell you the truth when I do."
Lila studied him.
Then she kissed his cheek.
"Okay."
After she left, Adrien broke down.
Sophie remained beside him until the worst of the shaking passed.
He had survived the crash.
He had endured surgeries.
He had faced the possibility of permanent disability.
But nothing had frightened him as much as watching his daughter disappear through that hospital doorway.
That afternoon, Daniel received the first independent analysis of the garage video.
The footage had not been conclusively authenticated, but its internal timestamp was consistent with the recording system's clock.
The woman's face had not been obviously digitally inserted.
The maintenance worker had been identified.
His name was Pascal Renard.
He had worked for a contractor that serviced the Valmont headquarters.
And he had died four days after Adrien's crash.
Official cause: accidental overdose.
Daniel placed the report on the table.
"Renard had no known history of drug abuse. His death deserves a closer look."
Claire added another document.
"We also found something in the financial records."
She turned the page toward Adrien.
A payment of $250,000 had been transferred to an account controlled by Renard's brother two days before the crash.
The originating account belonged to Northbridge Capital Partners.
Adrien stared at the name.
"Again."
Claire nodded.
"Northbridge appears in the Asterion acquisition, Gabriel's correspondence, and now this payment."
"Who owns it?"
"We've traced several layers of holding companies."
"And?"
Claire hesitated.
"The final ownership records are sealed under a private trust."
Adrien leaned forward.
"Whose trust?"
Claire looked at Daniel.
Then she answered.
"The Émilie Valmont Family Trust."
Adrien felt the room go silent.
His dead wife's name appeared at the center of the financial conspiracy.
But Claire had not finished.
"There's a second beneficiary."
"Who?"
She placed another page in front of him.
Adrien read the name.
Then he looked up in horror.
May you like
Lila Valmont.
END OF CHAPTER 5
