Chapter 5 - The Man Behind the Mask
Adrian's closest security team became suspects.
Nobody entered or left the townhouse without being recorded.
Yet the attackers always seemed one step ahead.
Someone had access to private information.
Medical appointments.
Bank movements.
Family schedules.
Even the location of Vanessa's safe house.
Gabriel gathered everyone in the conference room.
“We have an insider.”
One of the guards asked, “Who?”
Gabriel looked at Adrian.
“That's what we're finding out.”
I sat in the corner.
I was beginning to understand why Adrian trusted so few people.
The next morning, I noticed something strange.
My mother's old wedding ring was missing from my jewelry box.
I had kept it for years.
I never wore it.
But I knew exactly where it had been.
I told Adrian.
He immediately locked the room.
“Who had access?”
“Housekeeping. Security. You.”
I stared at him.
“You?”
He looked wounded.
“You think I took it?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“Because I think someone wants me to accuse you.”
He froze.
Then smiled faintly.
“That was smart.”
The ring was found four hours later inside a safe belonging to Gabriel.
He swore he hadn't put it there.
Adrian didn't believe him.
Neither did I.
But before Adrian could confront him, the electricity went out.
The entire townhouse went dark.
A gunshot echoed downstairs.
Adrian pulled me behind a wall.
“Stay here.”
“No.”
“Evelyn.”
“I’m coming.”
We moved through the hallway.
A man in black appeared at the end.
Adrian fired.
The man fled.
Security chased him.
Then I heard a scream.
Vanessa.
She had been in the library.
We found her standing over a broken window.
“Someone was here,” she said.
“What did he take?”
She pointed to a shelf.
“My mother's ledger.”
Adrian swore.
The ledger contained names.
But not the names Vanessa feared.
It contained payments.
Thousands of them.
To a private detective agency.
Dating back more than fifteen years.
I looked at the first client name.
Mercer Continental.
Adrian looked at the final payment.
Paid by: Julian Mercer.
He stared.
“Julian was alive when these payments started.”
“So?”
“So if Julian hired the investigators, he was investigating someone too.”
We traced the detective agency.
The owner was still alive.
His name was Henry Wallace.
We found him in a small office near Navy Pier.
He recognized Adrian immediately.
“You took your time.”
Adrian frowned.
“You knew my brother?”
“Better than you did.”
Henry opened a file.
Inside were pictures of Celeste.
Marcus.
Gabriel.
Vanessa.
And me.
I stared.
“Why am I here?”
Henry looked at me.
“Because your mother hired us.”
My heart stopped.
“When?”
“The year before she died.”
“What was she investigating?”
He hesitated.
“Your father.”
I looked down.
My father had died when I was a child.
Henry continued.
“Your mother suspected he wasn't your biological father.”
The world tilted.
I gripped the chair.
Adrian caught my shoulder.
“Evelyn.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
Henry opened another file.
There was a DNA report.
My mother's name.
Marcus Mercer's name.
And mine.
The result showed a match.
Adrian stared.
“What does this mean?”
Henry looked at me.
“Marcus Mercer was Evelyn's biological father.”
Silence.
I laughed.
It was too absurd to be real.
“My mother was having an affair with him?”
“No.”
Henry shook his head.
“Marcus had another life before Celeste. Your mother was involved with him during a business investigation.”
Adrian's face went blank.
“So Evelyn is…”
Henry answered.
“Adrian's half sister.”
I stopped breathing.
Adrian stepped backward.
“No.”
I looked at him.
Neither of us spoke.
Every moment of our marriage suddenly became horrifyingly complicated.
We had met by accident.
Hadn't we?
At least that was what I had believed.
Adrian had found me at a charity auction.
I had spilled champagne on his suit.
He had laughed.
We married a year later.
What if none of that had been accidental?
Adrian looked at Henry.
“Where did the report come from?”
Henry pulled out another page.
“Julian found it.”
Adrian whispered, “My brother knew.”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't he tell me?”
“Because he believed Marcus was planning to use Evelyn against you.”
I stood abruptly.
“I need air.”
Adrian followed me outside.
The wind off the river was brutal.
I turned.
“Don't come near me.”
He stopped.
“If this is true…”
“I know.”
“We cannot…”
“I know.”
He looked devastated.
Then Henry came outside.
“Wait.”
He held another document.
“This report is fake.”
Adrian stared.
“What?”
“The names are correct. The signatures are forged.”
I felt my heart pound.
Henry pointed to the DNA report.
“The sample was contaminated.”
“So I'm not…”
“No.”
He looked at Adrian.
“Someone wanted you to believe she was your sister.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
“Who?”
Henry looked directly at me.
May you like
“Your mother.”
I almost collapsed.
