Chapter 4 - The Mother Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
Harper spent the night staring at the phone.
The call had lasted only seven seconds.
Seven seconds that changed everything she believed about her childhood.
Her mother was alive.
Adrian had told her otherwise only because he hadn't known.
Or so he claimed.
By morning, Harper was angry enough to stop being afraid.
She stormed into Adrian's office.
“You knew my mother.”
“Yes.”
“You knew she worked for your family.”
“Yes.”
“You knew she disappeared.”
“Yes.”
“And you never thought to tell me?”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“You don't get to decide that.”
Adrian stood.
“You're right.”
His agreement disarmed her.
He continued.
“I was wrong.”
Harper stared at him.
“You admit that?”
“I don't have much experience apologizing.”
“That explains a lot.”
He almost smiled.
Then he pushed a file toward her.
“I found this at dawn.”
Inside was a photograph of a woman leaving a motel.
Harper's hand shook.
“My mother.”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“St. Louis.”
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
Harper looked up.
“We have to go.”
Adrian nodded.
“We leave in twenty minutes.”
The trip was tense.
Harper sat beside Adrian in the back of the SUV.
Neither spoke for the first hour.
Finally she asked, “Did my father know your father?”
“Yes.”
“Were they friends?”
“Once.”
“What happened?”
“Money.”
Harper looked at him.
“Money always seems to be the answer in your world.”
“No.”
Adrian looked out the window.
“Power is the answer. Money is just how people count it.”
She remembered his voice on the phone.
Cold.
Decisive.
And yet he had been willing to risk his own empire to protect a woman he barely knew.
The contradictions were driving her crazy.
They reached St. Louis before sunset.
The motel room was empty.
Only a scarf remained.
Harper recognized it immediately.
Her mother's.
“She was here.”
Adrian examined the room.
“She left recently.”
Harper walked toward the window.
There was a reflection in the glass.
A man across the street.
Watching.
“Adrian.”
He turned.
“Someone's there.”
The man disappeared.
Adrian's team gave chase.
They caught him two blocks away.
He was seventeen.
Terrified.
He worked for Silas.
When Adrian questioned him, the boy finally broke.
“Voss wants her.”
“Who?”
“Harper.”
“Why?”
“Because her mother has the ledger.”
“What ledger?”
The boy shook his head.
“The Black Ledger.”
Adrian's face changed.
Even Harper noticed.
“What is that?”
“The record of every payment, every betrayal, every name.”
The boy looked at Adrian.
“And it proves who started the war.”
Harper stared.
“Who?”
The boy whispered:
“Your father.”
Silence.
Harper looked at Adrian.
The boy continued.
“Silas says your father stole everything from him. The ledger proves it.”
Adrian's eyes darkened.
“That doesn't make sense.”
The boy shook his head.
“You're looking at the wrong father.”
The phrase echoed in Harper's mind.
Wrong father.
Before she could ask more, the boy swallowed something.
Adrian rushed forward.
Too late.
The teenager collapsed.
Silence.
Harper stared in horror.
“Was that poison?”
Adrian nodded.
His expression turned grim.
“We have to move.”
They did.
That night, Harper's mother contacted them again.
This time through a burner phone.
“I knew he would find you.”
Harper's tears came instantly.
“Mom?”
“Yes.”
“Where are you?”
“I can't tell you.”
“Why?”
“Because Adrian isn't the danger.”
Adrian looked at Harper.
Her mother continued.
“Silas is.”
“What is the ledger?”
“Everything.”
“Where is it?”
“With me.”
Harper's breathing shook.
“Then come home.”
“I can't.”
“You're my mother.”
“I know.”
Her voice broke.
“That's why I stayed away.”
The call ended.
Harper cried silently.
Adrian stood nearby.
“I'll find her.”
“You can't promise that.”
“I can.”
“Why?”
“Because I understand what it means to lose someone.”
She looked up.
His face revealed something he rarely allowed anyone to see.
Pain.
The next morning, they were attacked on the highway.
Two vehicles.
Six men.
Adrian's security responded.
Harper ducked.
Glass shattered.
Adrian covered her with his body.
She felt his heartbeat beneath his shirt.
He whispered:
“Don't move.”
Shots echoed.
Then silence.
The attackers were gone.
Adrian lifted his head.
“Are you hurt?”
She touched his cheek.
“You're bleeding.”
“A scratch.”
“You're lying.”
“So are you.”
“What?”
“You're shaking.”
Harper swallowed.
“I thought you were dead.”
Adrian stared at her.
Neither spoke.
Then he gently took her hand.
For the first time, Harper realized something terrifying.
She wasn't only afraid of Adrian.
She was afraid of losing him.
That realization scared her more than the guns.
They returned to the estate.
That evening, Harper finally asked the question.
“What happened to your mother?”
Adrian looked at the fireplace.
“She died when I was sixteen.”
“How?”
“Silas.”
Harper's heart stopped.
“Silas killed her?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because she knew too much.”
Adrian looked at her.
“That's why I recognize the fear in your eyes.”
Harper reached for his hand.
He let her.
The next morning, a package arrived.
Inside was the Black Ledger.
And a note written by Harper's mother.
Do not trust the man with the crown.
Harper looked at Adrian.
He looked at the ledger.
May you like
Neither realized the note was not about Silas.
It was about someone much closer.
