Chapter 3 - The Man Who Tried to Erase OliverOliver stared at the photograph.
His mother was young.
Pregnant.
Alone.
Beside her stood the man who had helped destroy the future Robert once imagined.
Victoria’s father.
But the final sentence was what made Oliver’s stomach twist.
He was ordered to erase the child.
“Erase me?”
His voice was barely audible.
Robert grabbed the photograph.
“No.”
Oliver looked at him.
“What does that mean?”
Robert’s hands were shaking.
“It means someone knew about you.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“You keep saying that.”
Robert looked toward Victoria.
She was crying.
“My father died eight years ago,” she whispered.
Oliver stepped closer.
“Then he can’t answer for himself.”
“No,” Victoria said.
“But you can.”
Victoria shook her head.
“I had no idea you existed.”
Oliver looked at her carefully.
For the first time, his anger toward her weakened.
She looked genuinely horrified.
Robert turned toward his security chief.
“Bring me every file we have on Elias Vance.”
The man nodded.
Oliver heard the name.
“Elias Vance?”
Robert’s face darkened.
“My former attorney.”
“The man in the photograph.”
“Yes.”
“What happened to him?”
Robert hesitated.
“He disappeared.”
“When?”
“Thirty years ago.”
Oliver looked at the photograph again.
“What about the hospital?”
Robert stared at the date.
Three decades earlier.
Then he saw something else.
The hospital was not in the city.
It was in a rural county almost four hours away.
Robert’s expression changed.
“Why would Clara go there?”
Oliver answered.
“Because someone was trying to find her.”
Robert looked at him sharply.
“How do you know?”
“She told me.”
“What else did she tell you?”
Oliver remained silent.
Robert stepped closer.
“Please.”
Oliver studied him.
The billionaire.
The man who had spent thirty years believing wealth could solve anything.
And for the first time, Robert looked helpless.
Oliver finally spoke.
“She told me that when I was born, someone came to the hospital.”
“Who?”
“She didn’t know his name.”
“What did he look like?”
“Tall. Gray hair. Expensive suit.”
Robert looked at Victoria.
Victoria whispered:
“My father.”
Silence.
Oliver stared at her.
“He came to the hospital?”
Victoria nodded slowly.
“That means he knew about me.”
Robert’s face hardened.
“Why would your father care?”
Victoria looked down.
“Because my father was terrified of losing his business.”
Robert frowned.
“What does your family business have to do with Clara?”
Victoria hesitated.
Then she said the sentence that changed everything.
“My father knew Robert was planning to leave with Clara.”
Robert froze.
That was true.
Before Clara disappeared from his life, he had planned to run away with her.
He had been willing to give up his inheritance.
And that would have changed everything.
But why would Victoria’s father care?
Robert suddenly remembered.
Back then, Hale Industries was nearly bankrupt.
His marriage to Victoria had not yet happened.
Victoria’s father had offered Robert a rescue package.
But there had been a condition.
Robert had never spoken about it.
Not even to Clara.
Oliver noticed his expression.
“What did he offer you?”
Robert said nothing.
“Tell me.”
Robert finally whispered:
“He offered to save my family’s company.”
Oliver stared.
“And what did he want in return?”
Robert looked at him.
“He wanted me to marry Victoria.”
Victoria covered her mouth.
Oliver stepped back.
The room seemed to collapse around them.
“You traded my mother for a company.”
Robert shook his head.
“I thought Clara had betrayed me.”
“You never even asked her!”
“I know!”
Robert’s voice cracked across the room.
Everyone fell silent.
Then a phone rang.
One of the guards answered.
His face became pale.
He handed the phone to Robert.
“There’s someone on the line.”
Robert took it.
“Who is this?”
A distorted voice answered.
“You found the photograph.”
Robert clenched his fist.
“Who are you?”
“You keep digging, Robert, and your son will be dead before sunrise.”
Robert stared at Oliver.
The voice continued.
“You already abandoned him once.”
A pause.
“Do not force us to finish what was started thirty years ago.”
The call ended.
Oliver looked at Robert.
“What did he say?”
Robert slowly lowered the phone.
May you like
Then he spoke the words that changed the night forever.
“They’re coming for you.”
