Chapter 5 - The Secret in My Mother’s BoxAdrian didn’t speak for almost an hour.
Mercer’s death changed everything.
The police were called.
Then quietly sent away.
Adrian’s people took control of the situation before any official questions could begin.
I sat alone in a private waiting room.
My brother was alive.
Mercer was dead.
And somehow my childhood had become evidence.
Adrian entered carrying a file.
“You lied to me.”
I stood.
“I didn’t.”
“You said you knew nothing.”
“I don’t.”
“Mercer said your mother left something behind.”
“My mother died when I was twelve.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“Because I investigated you.”
My stomach tightened.
“You investigated me?”
“After tonight, I investigated everyone.”
He placed a photograph on the table.
It showed a woman.
Dark hair.
Warm smile.
My mother.
I stared.
“Where did you get that?”
“From a private archive.”
I touched the photograph.
My fingers trembled.
“She worked for my foundation.”
“What?”
“For two years.”
“That’s impossible.”
“She was listed under a different surname.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
Adrian opened the file.
A second photograph.
My mother beside a younger Adrian.
He couldn’t have been more than nineteen.
I stared at him.
“You knew my mother.”
He looked away.
“She saved my life once.”
My breath caught.
“When?”
“Before I became Adrian Duca.”
“What does that mean?”
He closed the folder.
“Your mother disappeared after stealing something from my father.”
I shook my head.
“She would never steal.”
“She stole a financial ledger containing enough information to destroy several powerful men.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then how do you know she had it?”
“Because she left me a message.”
“What message?”
Adrian looked directly at me.
“Protect her daughter.”
My blood went cold.
“I was twelve.”
“Yes.”
“You knew about me?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you never come?”
He said nothing.
“Why did you let us struggle?”
His jaw tightened.
“I thought you were safer without me.”
“Safer?”
I laughed bitterly.
“My brother was dying.”
His expression changed.
“I know.”
“You knew?”
“I’ve monitored your family for years.”
The anger inside me exploded.
“You watched us?”
“Yes.”
“You could have helped.”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn’t you?”
Adrian’s voice dropped.
“Because the moment I interfered, they would know where you were.”
“Who?”
He opened another page.
Six names.
Judges.
Executives.
Politicians.
Police commanders.
At the bottom was a final name.
Elena Vale.
“She isn’t Elena,” Adrian said.
“What?”
“That is an alias.”
“For who?”
Adrian pushed the paper toward me.
The photograph attached to it showed the same red-haired woman.
Under her picture was a name I had never heard.
“Isabella Duca.”
I stared.
Adrian spoke quietly.
“My father’s illegitimate daughter.”
The woman from the hospital was his half-sister.
Then he turned the page.
May you like
And I saw my mother’s signature beside hers.
My world tilted.
