Chapter 5 - The Woman Who Knew Adrian Before I Did
Her name was Vanessa Hart.
She had been Adrian's first serious relationship.
At least that was what the business press believed.
Paige knew her from company records.
Vanessa had founded the original Hart division before Adrian merged it with Vale Consulting.
She was brilliant.
Beautiful.
Untouchable.
And missing from the company for the last seven years.
Paige met her two days later in a restaurant outside Savannah.
Vanessa sat across from her wearing a black suit.
“You look exactly like your mother.”
Paige frowned.
“You know my mother?”
“I knew your father.”
Paige's jaw tightened.
“You worked with him.”
“Yes.”
“With Adrian.”
“Yes.”
“Were you in love with him?”
Vanessa smiled.
“Very much.”
Paige felt something twist in her chest.
But she did not stand up.
“Why did you leave?”
“Because I discovered Adrian's father was using the company to launder money.”
Paige stared.
“But Robert said—”
“Your father was right.”
Vanessa leaned forward.
“Jonathan Vale was trying to stop Voss.”
“Then why did the company become so powerful?”
“Because Adrian took control.”
“Did he clean it?”
“Yes.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Because Adrian never told you the most dangerous truth.”
Paige waited.
Vanessa lowered her voice.
“Voss isn't after the ledger.”
“You said he was.”
“I was wrong.”
“Then what?”
“Your father hid the original evidence inside a trust controlled by his bloodline.”
Paige frowned.
“I thought I controlled it.”
“You do.”
“Then why does my baby matter?”
Vanessa looked at her.
“Because the trust has an automatic succession clause.”
Paige's eyes widened.
“If anything happens to you, the child inherits.”
“Yes.”
“And if Adrian dies?”
“The trust still exists.”
Vanessa nodded.
“Which means Voss can't access the archive unless he controls you or the child.”
Paige felt sick.
She pressed a hand against her stomach.
“He wants my baby.”
“He wants access.”
“That is the same thing.”
Vanessa nodded.
“Exactly.”
Paige stared at her.
“Why help me?”
Vanessa smiled sadly.
“Because Adrian loved me once.”
Paige's expression hardened.
“He loved you?”
“I believe he did.”
“What happened?”
“He chose you.”
“I didn't even know him then.”
“That doesn't matter.”
Vanessa looked down.
“Adrian met you years before the hotel.”
Paige froze.
“What?”
“He saw you at the company headquarters.”
“When?”
“Your first week.”
Paige remembered being twenty-two.
A nervous data assistant.
One elevator ride.
One man walking into the lobby with security.
She had never known he was watching.
Vanessa continued.
“Your father had sent Adrian your photograph.”
Paige's breathing changed.
“So the hotel wasn't the first time he saw me.”
“No.”
“Why didn't he tell me?”
“Because he didn't want you to feel watched.”
Paige looked away.
“That somehow doesn't make me feel better.”
Vanessa nodded.
“He also knew your father was alive longer than the official story.”
Paige turned.
“What?”
“Robert died four months after he supposedly disappeared.”
Paige stared.
“Who told you?”
“Adrian.”
“Then why didn't he tell me?”
“Because your father begged him not to.”
“Why?”
Vanessa hesitated.
“Because your father knew Voss would use you.”
Paige sat back.
Everything hurt.
Her father.
Her mother.
Adrian.
All of them had built walls around her life.
She had spent years believing those walls were abandonment.
Now she realized many had been built from fear.
But fear could still hurt.
“Do you still love Adrian?”
Vanessa smiled.
“No.”
Paige blinked.
“No?”
“I loved the man I thought he could become.”
She looked at Paige.
“You're the person he became for.”
That sentence stayed with Paige.
When she returned to the hotel, Adrian was waiting.
He stood outside her suite.
“Where were you?”
“With Vanessa.”
His expression tightened.
“What did she want?”
“To tell me the truth.”
“You should have told me.”
“You would have tried to stop me.”
“Yes.”
“And now?”
“No.”
He stepped aside.
“Come in.”
The room had been secured.
Adrian locked the door.
“I owe you an explanation.”
“You owe me several.”
He looked down.
“Vanessa and I were together when I was twenty-eight.”
“I know.”
“We were supposed to marry.”
Paige said nothing.
“She left because she discovered my father had been lying about the company.”
“Did you love her?”
“Yes.”
Paige looked at him.
“Do you still?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I met you.”
Her heart thumped.
“When?”
“The first week you joined Vale Hart.”
“You knew who I was.”
“Yes.”
“You knew about my father.”
“Yes.”
“You knew my mother.”
“Later.”
“And you never told me.”
“I wanted one thing in my life that wasn't connected to the past.”
Paige's eyes filled.
“I was that one thing?”
“You were.”
She sat down.
“Then why did you say the hotel changed nothing?”
“Because I knew it changed everything.”
He walked toward her.
“I was terrified.”
“Of me?”
“Of what loving you would mean.”
Paige looked at him.
“And now?”
“I'd rather face every enemy I have than go back to a life where I don't tell you the truth.”
She stood.
“Then start.”
He nodded.
“Your father left the Mercer-Vale trust to you because he trusted you with the final evidence.”
“Where is it?”
“I don't know.”
“You genuinely don't?”
“No.”
“Then who does?”
“Your mother.”
Paige's eyes widened.
“My mother?”
“Yes.”
Before Paige could respond, her phone rang.
Helen.
Paige answered.
“Mom?”
A man's voice replied.
“Your mother can't come to the phone.”
Paige froze.
“Who is this?”
“Someone who knows exactly where the final archive is.”
Adrian took the phone.
“Voss.”
A laugh.
“Hello, Adrian.”
“Touch her and I will bury you.”
“Always dramatic.”
“What do you want?”
“The woman you married.”
Paige grabbed the phone.
“You have my mother.”
“Yes.”
“And you want me.”
“Yes.”
“Then take me.”
Adrian stared at her.
“No.”
Voss laughed.
“She sounds more courageous than you ever were.”
The call ended.
Paige looked at Adrian.
“We're getting her back.”
He shook his head.
“I won't trade you.”
“You won't have to.”
She reached into her bag.
The brass key from her father.
“I know where the archive is.”
Adrian stared.
“Where?”
Paige smiled through her fear.
“Inside the one thing my father knew you would never search.”
May you like
“What?”
“My mother's necklace.”
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