Chapter 3 - The Lie Inside Blackwood Holdings
“Did your father help mine forge Sofia’s death?”
Vanessa didn’t answer.
Adrian tightened his grip on the phone.
“What has she told you?” Vanessa finally asked.
“Enough.”
“The acquisition closes tomorrow.”
“No.”
Silence.
“What?”
“The acquisition is suspended.”
“You cannot suspend a $1.2 billion transaction because of some emotional family revelation.”
Adrian’s expression changed.
“My father used to call inconvenient truths emotional too.”
“Adrian—”
He ended the call.
Then called his head of internal audit.
“Freeze every redevelopment eviction connected to the Queens project.”
“Sir, legal already approved—”
“I am legal’s boss.”
A pause.
“Yes, sir.”
“And pull every Blackwood family legal archive dating back to 1993. I want correspondence, private-investigator payments, estate records, immigration contacts and anything involving Sofia Bellini.”
“That could take weeks.”
“You have four hours.”
By sunrise, Adrian was looking at something far larger than a forged love letter.
There were unusual payments.
Intercepted correspondence.
Transfers to private investigators.
A falsified Italian death certificate.
Then his auditor found something recent.
A confidential archive concerning Sofia had been accessed six months earlier.
Authorized by Vanessa Crowe.
Adrian immediately called Eleanor Price, his father’s former secretary.
She was eighty-three now.
When Adrian mentioned Sofia, the woman began crying.
“I wondered if you would ever learn the truth.”
Adrian stood.
“What truth?”
“Sofia came to New York.”
His blood went cold.
“When?”
“Three months after you returned from Italy.”
“Why?”
Eleanor hesitated.
“She was pregnant.”
Adrian gripped the desk.
“My father knew?”
“Yes.”
“Did she ask for me?”
“She begged to see you.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
“What happened?”
“Your father refused.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
“Of him.”
Eleanor’s voice cracked.
“Your father told the staff Sofia was attempting to extort the family. Charles Crowe took her into the library. They offered her money.”
“She wouldn’t take it.”
“No.”
Adrian almost smiled despite the horror.
Of course she hadn’t.
“What did they do?”
“They threatened her.”
“With what?”
“Immigration authorities. Lawyers. And…”
Eleanor stopped.
“And what?”
“They told Sofia that if she remained in New York, the Blackwoods had enough influence to take her baby after it was born.”
Adrian sank into his chair.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
“Do you have proof?”
“I kept something.”
“What?”
“A visitor log.”
Eleanor inhaled shakily.
“And a photograph from the front security camera.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
His father hadn’t misunderstood Sofia.
He hadn’t protected Adrian.
He had deliberately erased her.
Two days later, DNA results from two independent laboratories arrived.
Adrian carried them to Sofia’s hospital room.
Claire was there alone.
He placed the envelope on the table.
She opened it.
Read the conclusion.
Then put it down.
“Claire Bennett is my biological daughter,” Adrian said.
Claire looked at him.
“This proves we share DNA.”
“I know.”
“It doesn’t make you my father.”
“I know.”
That answer surprised her.
Adrian sat down.
“What would?”
“Nothing quickly.”
“I have time.”
“You had thirty-one years.”
“I can’t change those.”
“No.”
Claire leaned forward.
“So don’t try buying your way around them.”
“I won’t.”
“You want to be part of our family?”
“Yes.”
“Then be here when nobody is watching.”
Adrian listened.
“When Noah gets sick. When Mom is angry with you. When I don’t answer your calls.”
She pointed toward the corridor.
“When helping us becomes inconvenient. When there isn’t a photographer outside.”
Adrian nodded.
“I will.”
“Don’t promise.”
Claire pushed the DNA report back toward him.
“Show me.”
The next morning, Noah found Adrian in the hospital cafeteria.
“You’re still here.”
Adrian looked up.
“Your mother told me to be here when nobody was watching.”
Noah glanced around.
“I’m watching.”
Adrian smiled faintly.
“Then I’ve already failed the assignment.”
Noah sat opposite him.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Anything.”
“Are you really a billionaire?”
“Yes.”
“How many billions?”
Adrian raised an eyebrow.
“Why?”
“I’m trying to figure out how angry Mom should be.”
Despite himself, Adrian laughed.
“Money doesn’t change what happened.”
“Mom says that too.”
Noah placed something on the table.
A donut.
“Grandma told me to bring it.”
Adrian looked at it.
“Same recipe?”
“No.”
“What changed?”
“She used less rosemary.”
“Why?”
“She said the first batch caused enough trouble.”
Adrian laughed again.
Then his phone rang.
His internal auditor.
Adrian answered.
“What did you find?”
“Enough to call the authorities.”
The smile disappeared from Adrian’s face.
“And Vanessa?”
“She didn’t just discover Sofia accidentally.”
Adrian stood.
“What are you saying?”
“She was searching for her.”
“When?”
“Six months ago.”
“Why?”
“We don’t know yet.”
May you like
Adrian looked through the hospital glass toward Claire and Sofia.
“Find out.”
