Chapter 5 - The Lie Adrian ToldEmma refused to believe it.
Not because she trusted Adrian.
Because she didn't.
Trusting him now felt impossible.
But her father had spent years controlling every piece of her life.
If his final words were real, then perhaps the one person she had condemned was the one person who had been protecting her.
Daniel drove her to a safe house outside the city.
Neither spoke much.
Around midnight, Daniel finally gave Emma the USB drive.
"You should see this."
They entered a small room.
He connected the device to a laptop.
A video appeared.
Adrian.
Three years younger.
Sitting across from William Carter.
Emma's father looked cold.
Adrian looked furious.
"You promised to leave my daughter alone."
"I promised to stay away," Adrian said. "I never promised to stop loving her."
William leaned forward.
"If you contact Emma again, the consequences will be permanent."
"You mean you'll hurt her."
"I mean you will never see her again."
Adrian clenched his fists.
Then he said something that made Emma's heart ache.
"I'll marry Vivian."
William smiled.
"If necessary."
Adrian looked down.
"Just leave Emma out of this."
The video ended.
Emma stared at the screen.
Daniel said nothing.
She replayed it.
Then again.
Adrian had never wanted Vivian.
He had wanted Emma.
Then why?
Why had he embraced Vivian tonight?
Why had he allowed Emma to leave?
Daniel answered her question without her asking.
"There was another camera."
He opened a second file.
The ballroom.
The video showed the moment Emma removed her ring.
Then something strange happened.
Vivian leaned toward Adrian and whispered:
"She's pregnant."
Adrian's face changed.
He looked genuinely terrified.
Vivian continued.
"If she gives birth, your father loses everything."
Adrian grabbed Vivian's arm.
"What did you do?"
Vivian smiled.
"Nothing yet."
Emma stared.
Adrian clearly hadn't known about the pregnancy.
But Vivian did.
How?
The video ended.
Emma looked at Daniel.
"She knew."
"Yes."
"How?"
Daniel's phone buzzed.
He glanced at the message.
Then handed the phone to Emma.
A photograph.
A hospital parking lot.
Emma recognized it immediately.
The clinic where she had received her first ultrasound.
The photograph had been taken two days earlier.
Someone had followed her.
Daniel's voice was quiet.
"Vivian has people watching you."
Emma's stomach tightened.
"But why?"
"Because the baby isn't just Adrian's heir."
Emma looked at him.
"What do you mean?"
Daniel opened another file.
Financial records.
Names.
Transfers.
A company Emma had never heard of appeared repeatedly.
Carter Holdings International.
Under it was another name.
Project Eden.
Emma frowned.
"What is Project Eden?"
Daniel looked reluctant to answer.
"Something your mother was investigating before she died."
Emma felt a cold knot form in her stomach.
"What does it have to do with my baby?"
Daniel stared at the ultrasound image.
"Your baby could inherit the controlling shares your mother secretly left behind."
Emma's eyes widened.
"How much?"
"Forty-two percent."
Silence.
Daniel continued.
"That means whoever controls your child could control the company."
Emma suddenly understood.
This was never about Adrian's romance.
It was about money.
Power.
Inheritance.
And her unborn child.
She pushed back from the table.
"Then someone wants my baby."
Daniel nodded.
Before either could speak again, the lights went out.
A second later, glass shattered somewhere downstairs.
Daniel pulled Emma behind him.
"Stay here."
Then came the sound of footsteps.
Several of them.
Moving quickly.
Daniel drew a weapon.
Emma's heart hammered.
A man's voice echoed through the hallway.
"Take the woman alive."
Daniel looked at Emma.
"They're here."
Emma whispered:
"Who?"
May you like
The answer came from the darkness.
"People working for your father's killer."
