He Wore the Watch of a Dead Hero
CHAPTER 2 — The Man Buried Without a Body
Adrian left the gala through the service entrance.
His mother followed.
"Where are you going?"
"To find your son."
Eleanor stopped breathing.
Charles had told her Scott died instantly. He also claimed Anna blamed the Whitmore family and refused all contact.
For eight years, Eleanor left white roses at an empty grave.
Now she climbed into Adrian's car without asking another question.
Saint Matthew's was an aging rehabilitation home scheduled to close within days. Most patients had already been transferred.
They found Scott in a locked room on the third floor.
He was thinner and used a wheelchair, but he was alive.
Eleanor fell to her knees.
"My boy."
Scott touched her silver hair.
"Mom?"
The single word shattered all three of them.
Anna entered carrying medical files. She had worked at Saint Matthew's under a different surname so she could remain near Scott without Charles discovering them.
After the explosion, a truck driver found Scott beside the road. He had severe burns, memory loss, and a spinal injury.
Charles arrived at the hospital before the police identified him.
He registered Scott under a false name and told doctors he had no family.
"Why?" Adrian asked.
Scott looked at Leo.
"Because I found out what Charles was doing."
Before the crash, Scott had discovered that Charles was stealing from the Whitmore Employee Security Fund. The fund supported retired hotel workers, widows, and employees facing medical emergencies.
Millions had disappeared.
Scott planned to tell Adrian.
That same week, the brakes on Adrian's car were sabotaged.
Scott realized something was wrong and followed him. He saved Adrian but was caught in the explosion.
Charles assumed Scott would die.
When he survived, Charles kept him hidden and threatened Anna.
"He said he would take our unborn child if I spoke," Anna explained.
She wrote to Eleanor and Adrian repeatedly. Every letter was returned.
Then Scott's memory began returning six months earlier.
He remembered the stolen fund.
He remembered the crash.
And he remembered seeing Charles near Adrian's car that morning.
Scott reached beneath his mattress and removed a small ledger.
It listed false companies receiving money from the employee fund.
Adrian recognized one of the addresses.
It belonged to the mansion where the gala was being held.
Anna turned toward the window.
Two black vehicles had entered the rehabilitation home's driveway.
Charles had found them.
Eleanor closed the curtains.
"How many exits are there?"
Anna looked surprised.
Eleanor's expression had changed.
For forty years, Charles had treated her as a decorative wife who understood nothing about business.
But the Whitmore hotel company had originally belonged to Eleanor's father.
Charles only controlled it because she trusted him.
She removed her phone.
"Then tonight, he learns exactly whose family he threatened."
Before Eleanor could make the call, Scott grabbed Adrian's arm.
"Charles isn't working alone."
He opened the ledger to its final page.
Beneath Charles's signature appeared another familiar name.
Adrian's chief financial officer had approved every stolen payment.
