Chapter 2 - Cole Realized His Mother Had Lied About My Pregnancy, but His Grandfather Knew a Secret Even WorseThe party remained silent.
No music.
No conversation.
Just hundreds of people watching the Hartwell family unravel.
Cole stared at me.
“Come with me.”
I shook my head.
“I'm not going anywhere until someone tells me the truth.”
His grandfather stepped forward.
“Norah.”
I looked at him.
“Mr. Hartwell.”
“You don't understand what you're doing.”
“I've spent seven years not understanding.”
He glanced at the twins.
“They should never have been brought here.”
“Why?”
He didn't answer.
Cole turned to him.
“Grandfather.”
“Not here.”
“Yes.”
Cole's voice hardened.
“You knew?”
The old man looked at the boys.
His face softened for one second.
Then disappeared behind the expression of a businessman.
“We need privacy.”
I laughed.
“You've had seven years.”
Cole looked at me.
“I didn't know.”
“I know.”
He flinched.
“I thought you left me.”
“I thought you wanted me gone.”
“I never said that.”
“You didn't need to.”
His eyes filled.
“What happened?”
“Your mother.”
He turned.
“Mom?”
Eleanor couldn't speak.
I handed Cole the photograph.
“This was taken at the hospital three days after the boys were born.”
Cole looked at it.
His hands shook.
“Why were they there?”
I answered:
“That's what I've been trying to understand.”
Eleanor finally spoke.
“I made a mistake.”
Cole stared.
“A mistake?”
“I thought…”
She stopped.
“I thought they were dead.”
Finn took a step backward.
“Mom?”
I looked at him.
“Stay beside me.”
Cole's gaze shifted toward him.
Something broke inside his expression.
“My son.”
Finn looked up.
“Are you really my dad?”
Cole swallowed.
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you come?”
“I didn't know.”
Theo stepped forward.
“Grandma knew.”
Eleanor began to cry.
Cole turned toward her.
“What did you do?”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“From what?”
“From her.”
She pointed at me.
My stomach turned.
“Why?”
“Because she wasn't good enough for you.”
Cole looked at her with disbelief.
“So you lied about the pregnancy?”
Eleanor nodded.
“Yes.”
“You told me she left?”
“Yes.”
“You told me she didn't want children?”
“Yes.”
“You told me she had taken money.”
Eleanor cried.
“I did.”
Cole's face became hard.
“And you told her I had chosen someone else.”
“Yes.”
I closed my eyes.
All the pieces finally fit.
Cole had believed I left him because I didn't want to be his wife.
I had believed he rejected me because he didn't want me.
Our marriage hadn't simply failed.
It had been sabotaged.
Cole stared at me.
“Why didn't you fight for us?”
“Because I believed you didn't want me.”
“I did.”
My heart tightened.
“I know now.”
“No.”
His voice cracked.
“I loved you.”
The room became too quiet.
I looked away.
“You should have told me.”
“You should have told me.”
He was right.
We had both believed lies because neither of us had stayed long enough to ask the right question.
Then his grandfather cleared his throat.
“This is irrelevant.”
Cole turned.
“No.”
“It happened seven years ago.”
“And our sons are standing here.”
The patriarch's expression darkened.
“This isn't about the boys being your sons.”
“What is it about?”
“The company.”
I frowned.
Cole went still.
“What does my family company have to do with my children?”
His grandfather looked at the twins.
“They are heirs.”
“To what?”
“Everything.”
The word echoed.
Cole stared.
I did too.
“My sons are children.”
“They are the legal successors.”
I laughed.
“This is absurd.”
The patriarch opened a folder.
He handed Cole a document.
I watched his expression change.
“What is that?”
“A trust.”
Cole read it.
Then sat down.
The trust had been created before his marriage.
The beneficiary was his firstborn male descendant.
The control of several Hartwell companies would eventually pass to him.
Not just money.
Voting rights.
Properties.
Private investments.
The family foundation.
Billions.
Theo looked at the document.
“Why do we need that?”
I folded the paper.
“You don't.”
The patriarch stared at me.
“That isn't your decision.”
“Yes, it is.”
He smiled.
“You don't understand the legal structure.”
“I understand my children.”
Cole took my side.
“She is their mother.”
The old man looked surprised.
“You've changed.”
“No.”
Cole looked at his grandfather.
“I finally understand.”
The room remained silent.
Then Eleanor whispered:
“I didn't know the babies would survive.”
Cole turned.
“What?”
She lowered her head.
“The doctors told me there had been complications.”
“What did you do?”
“I authorized the transfer.”
“To where?”
“A private facility.”
My heart stopped.
“You separated them.”
“I thought they were dying.”
“But they lived.”
“Yes.”
“Then where did you send them?”
“I don't know.”
I stared.
“You don't know?”
Eleanor looked at me.
“I was told they wouldn't survive.”
“But someone knew.”
“Who?”
She looked at Cole's grandfather.
He remained silent.
I felt cold.
“You.”
He didn't answer.
Cole stood.
“Grandfather.”
The patriarch sighed.
“I made a decision.”
“What decision?”
“To protect the company.”
Cole's face changed.
“You tried to erase my children.”
“No.”
“You separated them from their mother.”
“No.”
“You destroyed our marriage.”
The old man looked at him.
“I saved you from a woman who didn't belong.”
I stepped forward.
“That's enough.”
Cole stopped me.
“No.”
He faced his grandfather.
“You didn't save me.”
“You stole my life.”
Then a voice came from the doorway.
“You stole mine too.”
A man entered.
Everyone turned.
My father.
I had not seen him in nine years.
May you like
And he was holding a file marked:
THE TWINS.
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