Chapter 3 - THE WOMAN WHO SIGNED HIM AWAY
Adrian Vale had used his mother’s maiden name for years.
Mallerie learned that from Gideon.
“He hated the family,” Gideon said. “Especially me.”
“Why?”
“Because I tried to control him.”
Mallerie almost smiled despite everything.
“At least you’re consistent.”
Gideon accepted the hit.
Adrian was twenty-nine, brilliant, reckless, and estranged. He had left Chicago after a fight with Gideon over money and the criminal side of the Vale organization.
Mallerie had met him in Indianapolis.
He said he worked in logistics.
They dated for six weeks.
It ended without drama.
He told her he was not built for permanence.
She agreed.
Then she discovered she was pregnant.
“I tried to contact him,” Mallerie said. “His number was disconnected.”
Gideon stared at the floor.
“He came back to Chicago around then.”
“Did he know?”
“I don’t know.”
Ortiz did.
Phone records recovered from an old cloud account showed Mallerie’s messages reached Adrian’s device.
He had opened them.
He had also searched for St. Catherine’s Hospital and Dr. Celeste Voss.
Three days before Owen’s birth, Adrian transferred $200,000 to Elaine Mercer.
Mallerie felt sick.
“He sold my baby?”
Ortiz shook her head.
“We don’t know what the payment was for.”
Evidence first.
Mallerie hated the phrase and needed it.
Adrian’s current location was unknown.
His last confirmed appearance had been eight months earlier in Montreal.
Gideon explained that Adrian disappeared after stealing money from a Vale-controlled company.
“I thought he ran.”
“Maybe he did.”
“Maybe.”
The investigation into Dr. Voss uncovered a network larger than one stolen child.
Seven questionable adoptions over four years.
All involved mothers who had limited family support, emergency deliveries, heavy sedation, or financial vulnerability.
Some babies were placed with wealthy families.
Some records falsely described abandonment.
Not every placement proved criminal.
But the pattern was serious.
Mallerie asked the question nobody wanted.
“How many mothers were told their babies died?”
Ortiz did not know yet.
The hospital suspended several employees and hired outside counsel.
Mallerie refused a private settlement meeting.
“Not while other cases are being investigated.”
Her own legal team filed emergency family-court petitions.
The judge faced an unusual problem.
Mallerie was Owen’s biological mother and had never consented to adoption.
Gideon had acted in good faith and had been Owen’s only functioning parent since day three.
The court appointed an independent guardian ad litem for Owen.
Mallerie liked her immediately.
Her name was Ruth Kaplan.
She spoke about Owen as a child rather than a prize.
“The goal is continuity and truth,” Ruth said. “Not rewarding one adult or punishing another.”
Temporary orders allowed Owen to remain in Gideon’s home while Mallerie received extensive daily parenting time, including overnights phased in quickly because Owen showed strong comfort with her.
Mallerie expected Gideon to fight.
He did not.
He converted a guest suite into a room for her use but made clear she did not have to stay there.
She chose to for the first week because Owen’s transitions were easier.
Her three rules remained.
No locked doors.
Her phone stayed hers.
Decisions were discussed.
Gideon added a fourth.
“No one speaks badly about Adrian in front of Owen.”
Mallerie looked at him.
“You think he’s guilty.”
“I think he may be.”
“But?”
“But Owen will someday have questions. He deserves facts, not our rage.”
That was the first moment Mallerie saw the father Gideon had become rather than the mafia boss everyone described.
The next clue came from Elaine Mercer.
Police found her in a suburban motel preparing to leave the state.
She asked for counsel.
Then she offered information.
Adrian had not paid to sell Owen.
He had paid to make sure the baby went to Gideon.
Mallerie stared at Ortiz.
“Why?”
Mercer claimed Adrian believed he was dying.
He had been diagnosed with an aggressive blood cancer and refused treatment for months.
He did not trust himself to raise a child.
He did trust Gideon to protect one.
But he believed Mallerie would never voluntarily give the baby to the Vale family.
So he made a monstrous decision for her.
He arranged to erase her.
Not kill her.
Legally and emotionally erase her from Owen’s life.
Gideon left the room when he heard.
Mallerie found him on the balcony.
“You didn’t know.”
“No.”
“You’re allowed to be angry.”
“He was my nephew.”
“Is.”
Gideon looked at her.
“Is?”
“Until we know otherwise.”
The distinction mattered.
Ortiz soon confirmed Adrian had received cancer treatment in Quebec under another name.
He had left the clinic eight months ago.
No death record followed.
Then Jonah brought them a message from an encrypted account Gideon had not used in years.
One sentence.
UNCLE, IF MALLERIE FOUND OWEN, VOSS WILL RUN. DON'T LET HER TAKE THE BOY AGAIN.
May you like
Signed:
A.
