Chapter 3 - The Billionaire Who Remembered Her Voice
Adrian entered the breakfast room with rain on his shoulders.
He did not look like the men in business magazines.
Those photographs made him appear cold, untouchable, almost bored by the world he controlled. In person, he carried tension like a second coat. His dark hair was slightly disordered. Exhaustion shadowed his eyes. A fresh cut crossed one knuckle.
Vanessa went to him immediately.
“You weren’t expected until tonight.”
“The meeting ended early.”
She kissed his cheek.
He barely reacted.
His gaze moved to Elena.
For a second, neither of them spoke.
Elena had seen him before.
Not in newspapers.
Not on television.
Seven years earlier, outside a subway station, when she was twenty-four and frightened and carrying a child she had not planned to have.
He had called himself Adrian Vale.
He had worn an inexpensive jacket and said he worked for a shipping company. They had met for coffee after he helped her retrieve a folder scattered across the pavement. Three months later, she was in love. Five months after that, he vanished without explanation.
She had searched for him.
His number stopped working.
His apartment belonged to someone else.
The shipping company had no employee by that name.
Only years later had she seen Adrian Blackthorn’s photograph on a magazine cover and recognized the man who had lied about everything except the way he looked at her.
Now he stood in his own mansion, facing the woman he had abandoned.
His expression gave nothing away.
“Elena,” he said.
Vanessa turned sharply.
“You know her?”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“We met years ago.”
Elena could not decide which pain was worse: that he remembered, or that he said it as though they had shared only a passing introduction.
Vanessa slipped her arm through his.
“She was just leaving.”
“Why?”
“There was an incident.”
Elena looked at Adrian.
“Your son was taken away this morning.”
His attention snapped to Vanessa.
“Taken where?”
“To Ashcombe. He needed a change of environment.”
“You sent Julian away without telling me?”
“You have been impossible to reach.”
“My security office always knows how to reach me.”
Vanessa’s smile faltered.
Adrian stepped away from her.
“Bring him home.”
“He is already settled.”
“Bring him home now.”
Vanessa’s eyes flashed, but she took out her phone and left the room.
Adrian waited until the door closed.
Then he looked at Elena.
“I thought you were dead.”
The words struck harder than anger would have.
“You thought I was dead?”
“I was told you died during childbirth.”
“By whom?”
He glanced toward the door.
“Vanessa.”
Elena laughed once, without humor.
“Of course.”
Adrian came closer.
“I went to St. Catherine’s. They confirmed it.”
“They told me my baby died.”
His face became still.
“What?”
“My son. They said he was born without a heartbeat.”
Adrian looked toward the fireplace, where the bracelet lay partly hidden among the embers.
Elena crossed the room before he could stop her. She used the iron poker to drag it free.
The plastic had melted on one side, but part of the printed text remained.
INFANT MALE.
Adrian took it from her.
His fingers shook.
“Where did you get this?”
“Julian had it.”
“Why?”
“He found it in Vanessa’s locked room.”
Adrian turned the bracelet over.
“How old was your baby?”
“You know how old.”
His gaze lifted.
“You knew I was pregnant?”
“I found out after I left.”
“Then why didn’t you come back?”
His mouth tightened.
“My father discovered us. He threatened you.”
“He never contacted me.”
“He didn’t need to. He showed me photographs of your apartment, Mateo’s school, your mother’s workplace. He said if I stayed, he would destroy your family.”
“So you vanished.”
“I believed leaving protected you.”
“You believed the most convenient thing.”
Adrian absorbed the blow without defending himself.
Elena pointed at the bracelet.
“Julian called himself Gabriel.”
The color left Adrian’s face.
“That was the name in your notebook.”
“You remember.”
“I remember everything.”
The door opened.
Vanessa returned.
“The driver is bringing Julian back.”
Adrian closed his hand around the bracelet.
“What was your position at St. Catherine’s Hospital?”
Vanessa stopped.
“I volunteered there for a charity program.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“I trained as a nurse before we married.”
“Were you working the night Elena gave birth?”
Vanessa looked at Elena, and Elena saw calculation replace surprise.
“This woman is manipulating you.”
Adrian’s voice lowered.
“Answer me.”
“Yes. I was at the hospital.”
“Did you tell me Elena died?”
“You were grieving. Your father had just suffered a stroke. I told you what the hospital told me.”
“You said you saw her body.”
Vanessa’s face hardened.
“I was trying to give you closure.”
“You lied.”
“For your own good.”
Elena stepped forward.
“And my baby?”
Vanessa looked at her with almost bored contempt.
“Your child was premature. He died.”
“Then why did Julian have my hospital bracelet?”
“He collects things. He steals from drawers. He invents stories.”
Adrian held up the melted band.
“This was locked in your room.”
“That proves nothing.”
The house shook with distant thunder.
Then Mrs. Harrow entered.
“Mr. Blackthorn, there has been an accident.”
Adrian turned.
“What kind of accident?”
“The car bringing Master Julian back was forced off the coastal road.”
Elena felt the room tilt.
“Is he hurt?”
Mrs. Harrow looked at Vanessa before answering.
“The driver has been found unconscious.”
“And Julian?” Adrian demanded.
“The rear door was open.”
May you like
Mrs. Harrow’s voice dropped.
“Master Julian is missing.”
