Chapter 2 - Adrien Took Me to a Hidden Residence and Revealed Someone Had Been Photographing My Pregnancy Before I Ever Told Him the TruthThe safe residence was outside the city.
A stone estate hidden behind pine trees.
No sign.
No neighboring houses.
No obvious security.
That was the point.
I hated how safe it felt.
Because safety around Adrien had never been simple.
He gave me a bedroom.
A doctor.
A nurse.
A security team.
I rejected everything.
“I can take care of myself.”
“You nearly walked out of a secure building while someone photographed you.”
“That doesn't mean I need a private nurse.”
“The nurse is staying.”
I glared.
He stared back.
Neither of us moved.
Finally, he sighed.
“You haven't eaten.”
“I've eaten.”
“Two crackers.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because I know you.”
Those words hurt.
Eight years ago, those words would have felt intimate.
Tonight, they felt like a threat.
Adrien left.
I sat on the bed.
A nurse entered.
Her name was Mrs. Alvarez.
She looked kind.
“Mr. Falco is terrifying.”
I laughed.
“You noticed.”
“But he's terrified.”
“Of what?”
She looked toward my stomach.
“You.”
I stared at her.
“Why?”
“Because he has something to lose now.”
That stayed with me.
An hour later, Adrien returned.
He carried a folder.
He put it on the table.
Inside were photographs.
Me entering the grocery store.
Me leaving the clinic.
Me standing outside my apartment.
Me at work.
Every image had dates.
Six months.
Someone had been watching me before the pregnancy.
I stared.
“This one.”
I pointed.
The photograph had been taken two weeks before Chicago.
Why?
Adrien studied it.
“You see the man in the background?”
A gray coat.
Black hat.
Standing across the street.
I remembered him.
I had seen him once.
Maybe twice.
“Who is he?”
“We don't know.”
“Then why do you have this?”
“Because he appears in other photographs.”
Adrien spread them across the table.
My apartment.
My grocery store.
My office.
The airport.
The Chicago hotel.
My blood went cold.
“He followed me there.”
“Yes.”
“Did he know you were with me?”
“We don't know.”
“You're lying.”
Adrien looked at me.
“I think someone wanted you pregnant.”
I laughed nervously.
“That's insane.”
“Is it?”
He pointed to the next photograph.
Me entering a fertility clinic.
Except I had never been there.
I stared.
“That isn't me.”
He leaned closer.
The woman in the photograph wore my coat.
Same hair.
Same bag.
But her face was different.
“Someone was impersonating you.”
“Why?”
“To create a record.”
“Of what?”
“A pregnancy.”
I felt sick.
Adrien's voice became quiet.
“They wanted people to believe a Falco child was being carried by someone else.”
I didn't understand.
He continued.
“Your pregnancy may have been accidental.”
“But someone had a plan.”
I looked at him.
“So I'm a coincidence.”
“Yes.”
“And the baby?”
“Not anymore.”
The implication was horrifying.
Someone had spent months creating a fake trail around my pregnancy.
Maybe they'd known the child would belong to Adrien eventually.
Maybe they had planned to use the wrong woman as cover.
I asked:
“Who would do that?”
Adrien's expression became cold.
“My half-brother.”
I froze.
“You have a brother?”
“Lucien.”
“What happened to him?”
“He died eight years ago.”
“You don't believe that.”
“No.”
“What does he want?”
“Control of the family.”
I looked at the photographs.
“Why would he want a baby?”
Adrien pointed to a document.
A family succession agreement.
Primary heir must be direct male descendant of current bloodline.
I stared.
“Your family still works like this?”
“My family believes blood gives people ownership.”
“And you?”
“No.”
He looked at my stomach.
“I believe children belong to themselves.”
I almost smiled.
Then the house alarm sounded.
Adrien stood.
Security ran in.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“We found someone in the east field.”
“Who?”
“A woman.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
I looked at Adrien.
“Who?”
His security chief shook his head.
“She refuses to speak.”
“Bring her.”
Minutes later, a woman was escorted inside.
She looked at me.
Then Adrien.
Then my stomach.
She whispered:
“He's coming.”
Adrien's face hardened.
“Who?”
The woman said:
May you like
“Lucien.”
And then she collapsed.
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