Chapter 7 - THE MAN WHO KNEW MY FATHERVictor refused to enter the house.
He stood outside in the rain.
“You have ten minutes,” he said.
“For what?”
“To decide whether you want to know everything.”
I took the case.
It was heavier than it looked.
Inside was an old ledger.
Leather.
Handwritten.
My father's initials were stamped into the cover.
Rebecca opened it.
The first page contained transactions dating back fourteen years.
Millions.
Then hundreds of millions.
Then billions.
My father's company.
Vale Systems.
Asteris Holdings.
Prescott Group.
Three names repeated constantly.
Roland Vale.
Eleanor Prescott.
Aaron Prescott.
I stared at the final entry.
Transfer complete. Subject unaware.
Subject.
Not Alyssa.
I turned the page.
There it was.
My name.
My father's signature appeared beneath a paragraph.
I read it twice.
Then again.
The agreement said my inheritance would be placed under a protected trust.
But there was a second clause.
Any spouse attempting to access, transfer, or claim control of the trust would trigger an automatic audit and temporary voting suspension.
I looked up.
“Aaron knew about this.”
Victor nodded.
“From the beginning.”
“Then why did my father allow the marriage?”
“Because your father believed Aaron would eventually become loyal.”
I laughed bitterly.
“He was wrong.”
Victor looked at me.
“Yes.”
“Did you know?”
“Yes.”
“And you said nothing.”
“I tried.”
“When?”
“Three years ago.”
“What happened?”
“He told me to stay out of his marriage.”
I closed the ledger.
“What is Asteris?”
Victor hesitated.
“The original technology consortium.”
“Owned by?”
“Your father.”
“And Roland Vale?”
“Partner.”
“Eleanor?”
“Financial intermediary.”
“Aaron?”
“Beneficiary.”
I stared at him.
“How did Aaron become CEO?”
“Because your father made him.”
That sentence struck harder than anything else.
“What?”
“Your father didn't trust the previous management. He wanted someone young, aggressive, and capable of expanding globally.”
“Aaron.”
“Yes.”
“And I was supposed to be what?”
“The protection.”
I didn't understand.
Victor continued.
“Your father knew Aaron would be tempted by power. So he structured everything around you.”
I stood.
“He used me as a leash.”
Victor looked ashamed.
“Yes.”
I felt sick.
All those years.
The dinners.
The board meetings.
The family holidays.
The wedding.
The love.
Had any of it been real?
Victor reached into his coat.
“There is one more thing.”
A recording.
My father's voice.
He was older.
Tired.
But unmistakable.
“If Alyssa ever discovers the truth, tell her I did not marry her to Aaron.”
I froze.
The recording continued.
“I married Aaron to the Hawthorne family.”
I closed my eyes.
My father spoke again.
“Aaron believes he earned everything.”
A pause.
“He didn't.”
Another pause.
“He was supposed to earn Alyssa's trust. Instead, he earned her resentment.”
The recording ended.
I couldn't speak.
Victor lowered his head.
“I am sorry.”
I looked at him.
“What happens now?”
“Aaron will attempt a hostile restructuring.”
“Why?”
“Because he knows the trust audit is coming.”
“Can he win?”
Victor didn't answer immediately.
“He can delay it.”
“Not stop it?”
“No.”
“Then why is he fighting?”
“Because there is something else.”
I waited.
Victor said:
“There is a second beneficiary.”
I frowned.
“Who?”
He handed me a sealed document.
I opened it.
The name at the top made my breath catch.
Noah Hawthorne.
I stared.
“I don't have a son.”
“I know.”
I looked up.
Victor's face was pale.
“Then who is Noah?”
He didn't answer.
My phone rang.
A message from Aaron.
Come to the hospital. Alone.
I called him.
He answered immediately.
“Where are you?”
“St. Matthew's.”
“Why?”
“You asked who Noah is.”
My pulse stopped.
“How do you know that name?”
“Alyssa…”
His voice broke.
“Because Noah is real.”
My hand tightened around the phone.
“Where did that name come from?”
He whispered:
“He was supposed to be ours.”
I couldn't breathe.
“Supposed to?”
Aaron said nothing.
“Aaron, what are you talking about?”
Then he said the sentence that shattered everything I thought I knew.
“Your father took your child from you.”
The line went dead.
I dropped the phone.
Rebecca rushed toward me.
“What happened?”
I looked at her.
“I had a child.”
“What?”
“I think.”
Outside, thunder rolled.
May you like
The storm had arrived.
And somewhere in a hospital across the city, Aaron was waiting with a secret that had been buried for nearly a decade.
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