Chapter 6 - The Betrayal Adrian Never Saw Coming
Simon was arrested.
But the story did not end there.
His testimony caused a collapse throughout the organization.
Some men disappeared.
Others surrendered.
Several officials were exposed.
The city erupted in headlines.
But Delaney knew something was wrong.
Adrian did too.
“Simon talked too easily,” he said.
They sat in the estate's library.
Margaret was asleep upstairs.
Evelyn was reviewing documents.
Daniel was under police protection.
Delaney stared at Adrian.
“What aren't you telling me?”
“My mother is still in danger.”
“Because of Simon?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Adrian hesitated.
“The people who believed Simon.”
A phone rang.
Adrian answered.
His expression changed.
“Where?”
He hung up.
“Someone attacked the courthouse.”
“Simon?”
“No.”
“Daniel?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Adrian looked at her.
“Me.”
Delaney's blood went cold.
A message had been left outside the courthouse.
Stop looking for the missing account.
Delaney knew immediately.
“What account?”
Adrian stared at her.
“Your account.”
The one opened after her mother's death.
The money was still active.
Someone had continued making deposits.
Every month.
Even now.
Adrian had never known.
Neither had Margaret.
They traced the account to a private trust.
The trustee was listed as Thomas Ward.
Delaney's father.
But Thomas had supposedly died twenty years ago.
Adrian stared at the screen.
“This is impossible.”
Delaney felt tears in her eyes.
“Then my father may not be dead.”
A search began.
Records.
Hospitals.
Border crossings.
Old photographs.
Nothing.
Then Evelyn found an old medical file.
Thomas Ward had survived the fire.
He had been injured.
He had been taken away under another name.
He had disappeared voluntarily.
Why?
To protect Delaney.
He had spent twenty years watching from afar.
Delaney couldn't decide whether to scream or cry.
“What kind of father does that?”
Adrian answered quietly.
“One who thought distance was safer than love.”
Delaney's eyes filled.
“That's not an excuse.”
“No.”
He looked at her.
“But it may be the truth.”
They found Thomas in a small town in Maine.
He ran a repair shop.
When Delaney walked through the door, the man behind the counter dropped a wrench.
He stared at her.
Then whispered her name.
“Delaney.”
She couldn't move.
“You know me.”
Thomas took one step forward.
Then stopped.
“I've wanted to.”
She stared at him.
“Why didn't you come?”
“Because the first person who found me was Simon.”
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“Then why?”
“I believed staying away was the only way to keep you alive.”
Delaney cried.
“You don't get to decide whether I have a father.”
Thomas closed his eyes.
“No.”
“You don't get to disappear.”
“No.”
“You don't get to make me grow up thinking nobody wanted me.”
Thomas looked broken.
“I know.”
He handed her an old box.
Inside were letters.
Hundreds of them.
One for every birthday.
One for every holiday.
One for every year.
Never sent.
Delaney picked up the first.
Happy seventh birthday, sweetheart.
She broke.
Thomas cried too.
“I wrote them all.”
“Why didn't you send them?”
“Because Simon knew the addresses.”
Adrian stood quietly nearby.
Thomas looked at him.
“You're Margaret's son.”
“Yes.”
“I remember your father.”
Adrian nodded.
“He loved you.”
Thomas looked away.
“He loved the wrong people too.”
Adrian shook his head.
“He tried to fix it.”
Thomas gave him the box.
“There is something you need to see.”
Inside was the original account ledger.
The true one.
Thomas had kept it.
The missing evidence proved everything.
But it also proved something else.
Silas had been manipulated.
Daniel had been manipulated.
Adrian's father had been manipulated.
Simon had never acted alone.
There was one name at the center.
Evelyn.
Adrian's face changed.
Delaney looked at Thomas.
“Evelyn?”
“She was supposed to protect you.”
“She did.”
“No.”
Thomas shook his head.
“She protected you from everyone except herself.”
Adrian turned immediately.
“Where is she?”
Thomas looked at him.
“Back in Providence.”
May you like
The truth arrived too late.
Evelyn had disappeared.
