Chapter 5 - The Husband Who Chose the Wrong Woman
Adrian found Elena carrying Julian across the east garden.
He ran toward them so quickly that two security officers struggled to keep pace. He dropped to his knees in the wet grass and pulled his son into his arms.
For the first time, Elena saw Adrian Blackthorn lose control.
He pressed his face against Julian’s hair. His shoulders shook. He repeated the child’s name as if he were afraid silence might erase him.
Julian hugged him, but his eyes remained on Elena.
“Where was he?” Adrian asked.
“The chapel.”
“How did you find him?”
“He left pieces of his toy along the path.”
Adrian looked at the wooden horse.
“Who took you, Julian?”
The boy opened his mouth.
Elena gave the smallest shake of her head.
Julian looked confused, then frightened.
“I don’t know.”
Adrian noticed the exchange.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
“Not here,” Elena said.
Vanessa appeared at the garden entrance.
“My baby!”
She rushed forward with open arms.
Julian hid behind Adrian.
Vanessa stopped.
“Sweetheart?”
“I don’t want you.”
The words wounded her pride more than her heart.
Adrian stood.
“Take him inside,” he told Elena.
Vanessa stared at him.
“You’re giving my son to her?”
“I am giving him to the person who found him.”
Elena carried Julian upstairs. Mrs. Harrow followed, saying nothing.
Inside the nursery, Elena locked the door.
“Does Vanessa have another key?” she asked.
Mrs. Harrow looked away.
“She has keys to everything.”
“Then help me move furniture against the door.”
The housekeeper hesitated.
“Mrs. Blackthorn will not forgive this.”
“She planned to have Julian killed.”
Mrs. Harrow’s face drained of color.
Elena placed the recorder on the table and played Vanessa’s voice.
When it ended, Mrs. Harrow sat heavily in a chair.
“You knew,” Elena said.
“I knew something happened at the hospital. I did not know this.”
“What happened?”
Mrs. Harrow closed her eyes.
“Seven years ago, Mr. Blackthorn’s father controlled the family. Adrian was expected to marry Vanessa Leland. Their marriage would unite two corporations and settle a debt between the families.”
“But Adrian met me.”
“Yes.”
“You knew about us?”
“Everyone in the senior household knew. Mr. Blackthorn’s father had you followed.”
“Did he order Adrian to leave?”
“He ordered worse.”
Elena’s stomach tightened.
“What?”
Mrs. Harrow looked toward Julian.
The boy sat on the bed, listening.
“Not in front of him.”
Julian crossed his arms.
“It is about me.”
Elena sat beside him.
“Some truths are too heavy for children.”
“Then adults shouldn’t make them.”
Mrs. Harrow seemed startled.
Elena almost smiled despite everything.
“Tell us,” she said.
The housekeeper took a breath.
“Adrian’s father planned to have you arrested for stealing from the family. He had false evidence prepared. Adrian discovered it and agreed to end the relationship. He was then sent to London.”
“And when I went into labor?”
“Vanessa learned you had named Adrian as the father on the hospital admission documents. She feared a public scandal. She also knew that a biological grandson could inherit under the Blackthorn trust.”
Elena looked at Julian.
“What did she do?”
“I don’t know all of it. I swear.”
“What do you know?”
“Vanessa arrived at the manor three days later carrying a newborn. She said her cousin had abandoned the child and that she and Adrian would adopt him privately.”
Elena went cold.
“Adrian believed that?”
“His father arranged the documents.”
“Did Adrian know Vanessa had been at the hospital?”
“No.”
Julian slid off the bed.
“So Daddy didn’t steal me?”
Mrs. Harrow’s eyes filled.
“No, little one.”
The furniture moved slightly against the door.
Someone was trying the handle.
Elena raised a finger to her lips.
A voice came from the corridor.
“Mrs. Harrow?”
It was Adrian.
Elena moved the dresser aside and opened the door.
Adrian entered alone.
His gaze went immediately to the recorder.
“What is that?”
Elena played it.
He listened without moving.
When Vanessa’s final threat ended, Adrian pressed both hands against the table. The wood creaked beneath his grip.
“Where did this come from?”
“The man who took Julian dropped it.”
“Why didn’t you tell security?”
“Because Vanessa knows your security.”
“My men are loyal to me.”
“Were the men who let her send Julian away loyal to you? Was the driver loyal? Was the person who disabled the fire alarm loyal?”
Adrian looked at the burn marks on her wrist.
“What fire?”
“She tried to destroy a photograph.”
Mrs. Harrow told him about Vanessa’s connection to the hospital.
Adrian listened.
When she finished, he turned to Julian.
“Would you stay with Mrs. Harrow for a moment?”
“No.”
“Julian.”
“I want Elena.”
Adrian looked at her.
Elena nodded.
“I’ll stay.”
Mrs. Harrow left the room.
Adrian knelt before Julian.
“I am going to ask something difficult. Did Vanessa ever hurt you?”
Julian looked at his hands.
“She locks me in dark rooms.”
Adrian went pale.
“What rooms?”
“The blue room. The cellar near the kitchen. Sometimes the cupboard in her dressing room.”
“Why?”
“When I say things about the hospital.”
Adrian bowed his head.
Elena saw the moment blame entered him.
He touched Julian’s face.
“I should have known.”
“You’re always gone,” Julian said.
It was not an accusation.
That made it worse.
Adrian stood and walked to the window.
“I spent six years building systems to protect him. Guards, doctors, tutors, cameras.”
“You built walls,” Elena said. “You never asked who was inside them.”
He turned.
“I won’t make that mistake again.”
“Then call the police.”
“I will.”
“And give them the recording.”
“Yes.”
But he did not reach for his phone.
Elena studied him.
“What are you not saying?”
Adrian looked at Julian, then lowered his voice.
“If Vanessa is arrested tonight, the people helping her may disappear. We need the hospital records, the DNA file, and the original trust documents.”
“You want us to keep pretending.”
“For one night.”
“She tried to kill him.”
“I will place armed guards outside this door.”
“Your guards may work for her.”
“I will stay here myself.”
Elena searched his face.
“Why should I trust you?”
“You shouldn’t.”
The answer surprised her.
Adrian stepped closer.
“But trust this. If Julian is your son, then he is mine too. And I will burn every part of my life to find the truth.”
A knock sounded.
One of Adrian’s security officers entered.
“Sir, Mrs. Blackthorn is gone.”
“Gone where?”
“We found her car at the lower gates.”
“And Vanessa?”
“She was not alone.”
The officer handed Adrian a photograph from the gate camera.
Vanessa sat in the passenger seat.
May you like
The driver had a scar running from his ear to his chin.
On the back seat, barely visible through the glass, sat Mateo.
