Chapter 4 - Connor’s Real Reason for Loving Her
Madison refused to believe Connor's messages were enough to explain everything.
She needed answers.
And she got them the following morning.
The attack had failed.
Three intruders had been captured.
One escaped.
Adrien returned just before sunrise with blood on his shirt.
It was not his.
Madison was waiting in the library.
“You knew Connor was involved.”
Adrien looked at her.
“I suspected.”
“You didn't tell me.”
“You were recovering.”
“You let me think my entire life was collapsing randomly.”
“It wasn't random.”
“Then tell me.”
Adrien closed the door.
“Connor approached you intentionally.”
Madison sat.
“Why?”
“Your mother left behind something.”
“What?”
“We don’t know.”
“Then why me?”
“Because people connected to the investigation believe you inherited it.”
Madison laughed bitterly.
“I inherited debt, a pregnancy, and a cheating boyfriend.”
“You may have inherited something much more dangerous.”
Adrien placed a photograph in front of her.
It showed Madison as a child.
Standing beside her mother.
Holding a small red metal box.
Madison stared.
“I remember that.”
“Do you remember where it went?”
“My mother hid it.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
Adrien pointed at her necklace.
“Your pendant.”
Madison touched it.
Her mother had given it to her on her eighteenth birthday.
“It belonged to her.”
“Open it.”
“What?”
“The clasp.”
Madison pulled.
The pendant separated.
Inside was a tiny folded piece of paper.
Her hands shook.
She unfolded it.
Only four words were written.
The house remembers everything.
Madison stared.
Adrien looked at her.
“Your childhood home.”
“We sold it.”
“Years ago.”
“No.”
Madison suddenly remembered.
Her mother had never sold it.
She had believed they had.
But Madison had been eleven.
Adults handled those things.
“Who bought it?”
Adrien looked at Franco.
“Find out.”
Two hours later, Franco returned.
“Robert Hale.”
Madison closed her eyes.
“Of course.”
Adrien asked:
“You're certain?”
“He bought my parents' house six months after they died.”
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
The group drove toward the old property under heavy security.
The house looked smaller than Madison remembered.
She stood on the front porch.
The smell of old wood triggered memories.
Christmas mornings.
Her father's workshop.
Her mother's kitchen.
A red box.
She suddenly knew where it was.
“Basement.”
They found an old furnace room.
Behind a loose brick was a metal safe.
Inside:
Letters.
Bank records.
Photographs.
A flash drive.
And a handwritten confession.
Madison read slowly.
Her mother's words revealed that Robert Hale had been laundering money through dozens of companies.
Daniel Vance had discovered it.
Instead of helping, he had joined Hale.
Connor's father.
Connor himself had later been recruited to manipulate Madison.
He had been ordered to build a relationship with her.
Because Madison's mother had hidden the final evidence somewhere only her daughter could access.
Madison’s hands shook.
“He never loved me.”
Adrien answered carefully.
“I don't know whether he ever felt anything real.”
“That doesn't matter.”
Madison looked at the letters.
“He lied from the beginning.”
“He did.”
She swallowed.
“Was the pregnancy part of the plan?”
Adrien went silent.
Madison looked at him.
“Answer me.”
“We found medical records.”
“Connor knew?”
“Yes.”
“He knew I was pregnant?”
“Yes.”
“And the accusation about the baby not being his?”
Adrien’s jaw tightened.
“That may have been deliberate.”
“To force me out.”
“To separate you from the child.”
Madison felt sick.
“Why?”
“There is one detail we still do not understand.”
“What?”
Adrien looked at the letters.
“Your child may have been used as leverage.”
Madison immediately stood.
“No.”
“We won't allow that.”
“I won't let anyone use my baby.”
Adrien nodded.
“Neither will I.”
She looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because no child should pay for an adult's crimes.”
The sentence stayed with her.
Later that night, Connor called.
Madison answered.
His voice trembled.
“Madison.”
“You're alive.”
“Yes.”
“Where are you?”
“Doesn't matter.”
“I need to talk to you.”
“You had two years.”
“I made mistakes.”
“You tried to manipulate me.”
Silence.
Then:
“You don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
Connor breathed heavily.
“Hale threatened my father.”
“Your father is involved.”
“Yes.”
“You are too.”
“I had no choice.”
“You always had a choice.”
Madison heard something in the background.
A woman's voice.
Jess.
Connor was not alone.
“You're with her.”
“No.”
“Put her on.”
Silence.
“Connor.”
“Madison, please.”
“I am not your backup plan.”
“You don't understand what Hale is capable of.”
“I know exactly what he's capable of.”
“Then listen.”
His voice became desperate.
“He didn't want the evidence.”
“What did he want?”
“You.”
Madison froze.
“Why?”
“He believes your mother hid the original ledger in something you inherited.”
“I don't have it.”
“He doesn't believe that.”
“What about my baby?”
Connor whispered:
“He thinks the child gives him another way to control you.”
The line went dead.
Madison stared at the phone.
Adrien had been standing nearby.
“You heard.”
“Yes.”
“What do we do?”
May you like
Adrien looked at her.
“Find Hale before he finds you.”
