Chapter 7 - “Who was that?”Daniel stared at Evelyn.
She didn't answer.
Claire stepped forward.
“You know him.”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Evelyn's lips trembled.
“Adrian.”
Daniel's face hardened.
“My father's son.”
“Yes.”
“Then he's alive.”
Evelyn nodded.
“How?”
“I thought he was dead.”
The phone rang again.
Daniel grabbed it.
Silence.
Then a recording played.
Claire's voice.
“Daniel, please forgive me.”
She froze.
That sentence had never been spoken by her.
But it sounded exactly like her.
Same tone.
Same breath.
Same pause.
Someone had built the recording from years of stolen conversations.
The message continued.
“I should have told you about Emma.”
Claire covered her mouth.
Daniel looked sick.
Then another voice appeared.
Adrian.
“You have twenty-four hours.”
The recording ended.
Evelyn sat down.
“What does he want?”
“Emma.”
“Why?”
“Because she's the heir.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“He doesn't want her alive.”
Claire's blood ran cold.
“Then what does he want?”
“Legal proof that she exists.”
Daniel frowned.
“Why?”
Evelyn looked at him.
“Because once Emma is officially confirmed, everything your father left her becomes accessible.”
Claire realized.
“They can't get the inheritance if she stays hidden.”
“Exactly.”
Daniel paced.
“Then we find her first.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“You don't know where to look.”
Claire looked at her.
“You do.”
Silence.
“You hid her.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“I placed her with a family.”
“Where?”
“I can't tell you.”
Daniel slammed his palm onto the table.
“Mom!”
Evelyn flinched.
“I made a promise.”
“To whom?”
“The woman who took her.”
Claire stepped closer.
“Is Emma safe?”
Evelyn looked directly at her.
“I don't know.”
That answer was worse than anything.
They spent the next hour going through documents.
The placement file had been heavily redacted.
But Claire noticed something.
A city name repeated three times.
Rosewood.
She pointed.
“This.”
Evelyn's face changed.
“No.”
“What?”
“You can't go there.”
Daniel frowned.
“Why?”
Evelyn shook her head.
“Because Adrian knows about Rosewood.”
Claire stared at the map.
“Then that's where we're going.”
They left the hotel before sunset.
Marcus reappeared halfway there.
He had been following them.
“You shouldn't trust Evelyn completely,” he warned.
Daniel glared.
“I don't.”
Marcus looked at Claire.
“But you should know something.”
“What?”
“Adrian is not working alone.”
Claire's chest tightened.
“With whom?”
Marcus handed her a photograph.
It showed a woman standing beside Adrian.
Claire recognized her.
Her heart stopped.
It was her own former attorney.
The woman who had handled all her legal documents after the accident.
Claire whispered:
“She told me my baby was dead.”
Marcus nodded.
“She never was.”
Daniel stared at the photograph.
“Then she was part of it.”
Marcus shook his head.
“Not part of it.”
He looked at Claire.
“She was the one who arranged for Emma to disappear.”
Claire felt numb.
“Why would she help Adrian?”
Marcus answered:
“Because Adrian was paying her to make sure Claire never remembered.”
Daniel looked at Claire.
“And if she remembers?”
Marcus's voice was quiet.
“They'll come for you.”
A car appeared behind them.
Headlights blazing.
Daniel shouted, “They're here!”
The vehicle accelerated.
Marcus slammed the brakes.
The cars collided.
Claire's head struck the window.
Everything went black.
When she woke, she heard Daniel shouting.
She opened her eyes.
Adrian Hale stood outside the wreck.
Scar beneath his eye.
Blue tie.
Calm expression.
He looked directly at Claire.
Then he smiled.
“Finally.”
Claire tried to move.
Her seatbelt was locked.
Adrian leaned toward the broken window.
“You've spent four years forgetting me.”
Claire stared at him.
“Who are you?”
May you like
His smile widened.
“The man who watched your daughter being born.”
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