Chapter 9 - The Real Dr. Vale
The man smiled.
Different now.
No longer Raymond.
The performance ended.
Nicholas crossed the room and grabbed his collar.
“Who are you?”
The man laughed.
“Better than your father.”
He removed a thin prosthetic patch near his jaw.
Not a full disguise.
Just enough contour, hair coloring, glasses, posture, voice mimicry.
Someone who knew Raymond intimately.
His name was Dr. Stephen Vale.
Raymond’s attorney and psychological consultant for more than thirty years.
The original architect behind many identity relocations.
Nicholas whispered:
“Vale.”
His alias Nick Vale had not been invented by him.
Raymond gave him that name when he was sent away.
Vale had been the name of the man supervising him.
The memory hit Nicholas hard.
“You.”
Stephen smiled.
“You were difficult.”
Nicholas shoved him against the wall.
Emma screamed.
Nicholas stopped.
Again.
Emma had more control over him than anyone else.
I asked:
“Where is Raymond?”
Stephen’s smile faded.
“Dead.”
“Actually?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Four years ago.”
So the funeral was real.
At least mostly.
Then who continued the operation?
Stephen.
He inherited Raymond’s private archive and unfinished plans.
But he lacked legal ownership.
That required one of Raymond’s sons.
So he manipulated Julian.
Lured Nicholas.
Controlled Victoria through Emma.
Used Chloe.
Everything aimed at creating a successor he could control.
“Which son?” Julian asked.
Stephen looked at him.
“You were convenient.”
Then Nicholas.
“You were capable.”
No affection.
Only function.
But there was another problem.
Emma.
As Nicholas’s biological daughter, she could inherit certain Raymond assets directly.
Stephen needed her cooperative.
She wasn’t.
So he conditioned her with photographs.
Stories.
False memories.
That explained why she called Julian “Dad” at first.
He had been testing identity attachment.
Again, psychological manipulation.
Then Chloe spoke.
“He makes Emma cry.”
Stephen glanced at her.
Victoria moved between them.
Too late.
Emma pulled something from her sleeve.
A key.
She had stolen it from Stephen days earlier.
“What does it open?” Nicholas asked.
Emma pointed farther down the corridor.
A metal door none of us had noticed.
Stephen’s face changed.
“Don’t.”
Emma smiled.
For the first time, she looked like a child rather than evidence.
“Grandpa said never open it.”
Stephen lunged.
Julian blocked him.
Nicholas took the key.
Opened the door.
Inside was not another room of children.
It was an archive.
And sitting at the center was a video terminal.
One file already queued.
Recorded four years earlier.
Raymond Mercer.
Alive.
His real face.
His scar visible.
The first words:
May you like
“If Stephen Vale is watching this, then he has betrayed me exactly as expected.”
Stephen went white.
