Chapter 5 - Three Children Hidden From the WorldEmily couldn't move.
The photograph trembled in her hand.
“No.”
Adrian said nothing.
“No.”
She looked at him.
“You’re lying.”
“I expected you to say that.”
“Who are they?”
“Your children.”
Emily's voice broke.
“I don't have children.”
Adrian looked at her for a long moment.
“You did.”
The word struck harder than anything Blake had said during the divorce.
Emily remembered the years.
Seven years married.
Seven years.
No children.
At least, that was what she believed.
Her pregnancies had ended before anyone knew.
Blake had told her the doctors said she could not carry a baby.
He had held her while she cried.
He had promised:
“We don't need children to have a beautiful life.”
Emily suddenly felt sick.
“What did he do?”
Adrian's face hardened.
“I don't know everything.”
“Then tell me what you know.”
He opened the Bentley door.
“Get in.”
Emily hesitated.
Thomas would be furious.
But she needed answers.
She entered.
The city lights passed outside the window.
Adrian handed her another file.
“Three years ago, I invested in a private medical facility in Switzerland.”
Emily looked up.
“Why Switzerland?”
“Because that facility was paid to keep patients anonymous.”
Her eyes dropped to the papers.
Patient records.
Her name.
Emily stopped breathing.
Date of admission.
Seven years earlier.
“That's my pregnancy.”
“Yes.”
Emily read the next page.
The fetal records listed three separate embryos.
Triplets.
Her hands shook violently.
Triplets.
She remembered only pain.
A hospital room.
Blake telling her there had been complications.
And then waking up alone.
He had told her the pregnancy was over.
But the records said otherwise.
“The babies survived.”
Emily looked at Adrian.
“Yes.”
“Where are they?”
“I've been protecting them.”
“From whom?”
“Your husband.”
Emily felt a chill.
“Why?”
Adrian looked out the window.
“Because Blake wasn't the only person involved.”
Emily stared.
Sienna.
Charles.
The trust.
The children.
It was all connected.
“You said the children saved your life.”
“They did.”
“How?”
Adrian's expression softened.
“I had been investigating Carson Meridian. One night, I was attacked.”
“By Blake?”
“I don't know.”
“What happened?”
“My car crashed.”
“Then?”
“I woke up in a private clinic.”
“With the children?”
“They were there.”
Emily frowned.
“Why would they be there?”
“Because someone had been keeping them hidden in the same facility.”
Emily closed her eyes.
She couldn't process it.
Seven years ago, she had given birth to three children.
Someone had taken them.
Someone had lied to her.
And someone had spent the last three years protecting them.
“Where are they now?”
Adrian looked at her.
“Safe.”
“Take me to them.”
“Not yet.”
Emily turned sharply.
“What?”
“You're being watched.”
“I don't care.”
“You should.”
He leaned closer.
“If you go to them now, everyone involved will know where they are.”
Emily stared at him.
“So what do I do?”
“Take control of Carson Meridian first.”
She laughed bitterly.
“Blake has everything.”
“No.”
Adrian opened the final page.
“Blake has been pretending to have everything.”
He pointed at a clause.
Emily read it.
The trust.
Her grandmother's trust.
The voting rights.
There was an activation condition.
A verified breach of fiduciary duty.
Thomas had already suspected it.
But now Emily saw the final part.
The trust could seize voting control if three independent auditors certified financial misconduct.
Adrian smiled faintly.
“I can arrange two.”
Emily looked at him.
“And the third?”
“You.”
She frowned.
“How?”
“You were on the founding financial committee before Blake removed you.”
Emily stared.
Her grandmother had planned everything.
She had made Emily a silent owner.
Blake had simply never known it.
“Why are you helping me?”
Adrian's expression changed.
Because for the first time, his confidence cracked.
“Your grandmother once saved my father's company.”
Emily blinked.
“That's impossible.”
“She loaned him money when he was bankrupt.”
“When?”
“Twenty years ago.”
Emily studied him.
“And you knew about the trust?”
“No.”
“Then why come to me now?”
Adrian looked away.
“Because I promised your grandmother something.”
“What?”
“To protect you.”
Emily's pulse quickened.
“When did you meet her?”
“Before she died.”
Emily stared.
Her grandmother had died six years ago.
Adrian had met her shortly before.
Emily swallowed.
“Why did she never tell me about you?”
“Because she knew someone was listening.”
A long silence followed.
Then Emily asked:
“Does Blake know about the children?”
Adrian hesitated.
“Yes.”
The world went quiet.
Emily's voice became a whisper.
“How?”
“He ordered the medical transfer.”
“And Sienna?”
Adrian nodded.
“She knew too.”
Emily looked down at the photograph.
The little girl.
The bracelet.
Her own eyes staring back at her.
Then she saw something else.
The date on the back of the photo.
Exactly three years ago.
The same date Emily believed her divorce process had begun.
She whispered:
“They knew where my children were.”
Adrian nodded.
“They've known the whole time.”
Emily wiped her tears.
“Take me to them.”
“Soon.”
She looked up.
“No.”
Adrian met her eyes.
“No more waiting.”
He studied her face.
Then, unexpectedly, he smiled.
“Your grandmother was right.”
“About what?”
“She said the day Emily Carson stopped being afraid would be the day Blake Carson lost everything.”
Emily looked out the window.
She thought about the divorce table.
The ivory dress.
Sienna's hand on Blake's wrist.
The way he had said he hoped she would understand.
Emily closed her eyes.
“I understand now.”
“What?”
“He didn't divorce me.”
May you like
Adrian watched her.
“He surrendered me.”
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