Chapter 3 - The Ghost of the Past
The intensive care unit at Saint Jude’s Hospital smelled of disinfectant and copper. The rhythmic beep of heart monitors created a somber backdrop as Spencer walked down the dim corridor, flanked by two private security guards he had assigned to protect the room.
Inside, an elderly woman lay propped up against white pillows. Her skin was as fragile as parchment, her breathing shallow beneath an oxygen mask. But when Spencer approached the bedside, her faded blue eyes snapped open with a sudden, startling clarity.
"Spencer..." she rasped, pulling off the plastic mask with a trembling, frail hand. "You... you have your mother’s eyes."
Spencer pulled a vinyl chair closer to the bed and sat down. "Florence. I’m here. Charlee is safe at my house. The baby is safe."
A single tear leaked from the corner of Florence’s eye, tracing a deep crease on her cheek. "I tried... I tried to protect her. My sweet girl... my Mary..."
"Mary was Charlee's mother?" Spencer asked gently.
Florence nodded weakly. "Thirty years ago... I worked in your father's house. Richard Warren was a powerful man... a cruel man. When I told him I was carrying his child, he didn't just fire me, Spencer. He paid doctors to declare me unfit. He threatened to take my baby away if I ever stepped foot in Pinecrest again."
Spencer felt a cold ball of rage form in his chest. He had known his father was a cold, calculating tyrant who viewed people as assets or liabilities. But hearing the raw reality from the woman his father had ruined made his stomach turn.
"I raised Mary in secret," Florence continued, her voice dropping to a raspy whisper. "She grew up knowing who her father was, but she never asked for a dime. Then... six years ago... she met him."
"Met who?" Spencer asked, leaning closer. "My half-brother, Julian?"
Florence shook her head weakly. "No. Julian was already dead. She met the man who ran your family's personal accounts. The man who managed the offshore trusts."
Spencer froze. "Victor Vance."
Victor Vance was Arthur’s older brother—a brilliant, secretive financial manager who had overseen the Warren family's private accounts for nearly thirty years until he suddenly retired and vanished from public view two years ago.
"Mary thought he was helping her," Florence wept softly. "She thought he was going to help her claim her rightful place in the family. But Victor wasn't helping her. He was using her. He found out about Jocelyn Cooper... he found out about the baby. He knew that if Mary and the newborn both stepped forward, the entire Warren trust would be dismantled."
"Where is Mary now?" Spencer asked, his voice deadly quiet.
Florence reached out, her thin fingers clutching Spencer’s sleeve with surprising strength. "Mary didn't die of an illness, Spencer. Three months ago... her car went off the road near the ravine. The police said it was an accident. But Victor... Victor was at her funeral. He stood in the back, watching Charlee..."
The heart monitor began to beep rapidly, the erratic line spiking across the green screen.
"Florence, stay calm," Spencer urged, reaching for the nurse call button.
"Listen to me!" Florence gasped, her grip tightening on his arm. "Victor didn't act alone! He’s inside your house... he’s been paying someone inside your house for years... check the trust ledgers from thirty years ago... check the—"
The alarm on the monitor blared into a continuous, deafening whine. Nurses and a doctor burst through the door, gently pushing Spencer back as they rushed to the bedside.
Spencer stood in the hallway, watching through the glass partition as the medical team worked frantically. Ten minutes later, the doctor stepped out, slowly pulling off his rubber gloves. He didn't need to say a word.
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Spencer walked out of the hospital into the night air. The rain had stopped, but the fog was thick, wrapping around the city like a shroud. He pulled out his phone and dialed his security chief.
"Marcus," Spencer commanded. "Lock down the mansion. Nobody goes in, nobody goes out. Run a full background check on every staff member who has worked for my family for more than ten years. Starting with Mrs. Mabel."
