Chapter 7 - The Betrayal Maya Never Saw Coming
Maya did not tell Adrien about the letter.
Instead, she did something she had never done before.
She lied to him.
When he arrived, she told him the room contained nothing.
Adrien studied her face.
“You're hiding something.”
“No.”
“You're a bad liar.”
“I learned from you.”
His expression changed.
“Someone contacted you.”
“No.”
“Maya.”
She looked at him.
“Did my mother know you?”
“Yes.”
“Did she trust you?”
Adrien paused.
“I don't know.”
“She told me not to trust you.”
Silence.
Adrien looked genuinely hurt.
“You found the letter.”
“Yes.”
He sat down.
“I knew that message might exist.”
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
“Because your mother wanted you away from me.”
“Why?”
Adrien took a long breath.
“Because she believed anyone near the Blackwoods would eventually be destroyed.”
Maya looked at him.
“Was she right?”
“I don't know.”
He reached into his coat.
He pulled out another letter.
“I found this years ago.”
It was signed by Maya's mother.
She had written that if Maya ever discovered the truth, Adrien was not to be blamed for her death.
Maya read it.
Her anger weakened.
“Then why did someone want me to distrust you?”
“Because trust is easier to destroy than fear.”
Suddenly, the door opened.
Damon entered.
“You need to leave,” he said.
“Why?”
“Because Vivian is gone.”
Adrien stood.
“Where?”
“Across the border.”
“Why would she run?”
Damon looked at Maya.
“Because she knows who The Crown's leader is.”
Maya felt uneasy.
“Who?”
Damon swallowed.
“Your father.”
Maya froze.
“My father died when I was three.”
Damon shook his head.
“No.”
He explained that Maya's father had not died.
He had disappeared after becoming one of The Crown's financial architects.
He had later taken a new identity.
Maya's mother had tried to escape him.
Adrien had been the one who helped her.
Maya's entire childhood had been built on a lie.
Then another bombshell came.
Maya's father was the CEO of Northstar Medical.
The same company connected to Lily's poisoning.
She couldn't breathe.
“No.”
Adrien stepped toward her.
“Maya.”
She backed away.
“All this time…”
Damon interrupted.
“The poison wasn't meant for Lily.”
Maya looked at him.
“What?”
“It was meant for Adrien.”
Silence.
Damon explained that Lily drank from the wrong glass.
The target had been Adrien.
The poisoner had expected Maya to witness the collapse and blame the family.
Instead, Maya saved Lily.
That single accident had disrupted the entire plan.
Maya suddenly remembered the alley.
The gray coat.
The silver ring.
The chemical smell.
And the man watching.
She realized she had seen him before.
At the testing center.
A man standing near the entrance.
Watching candidates.
Watching her.
“That wasn't random.”
Adrien looked at her.
“What?”
“The man from the alley.”
She described him.
Damon looked shocked.
“I know him.”
“Who?”
“Your father's security chief.”
Maya's stomach twisted.
They rushed to Northstar Medical.
But the building was empty.
Files had been destroyed.
Computers wiped.
The entire company had been abandoned.
Adrien found one file hidden in a drawer.
A list of names.
At the bottom was Maya's.
Next to it:
PRIMARY ASSET.
Maya stared.
“I am not an asset.”
Adrien took the paper from her.
“You never were.”
“But they think I am.”
“No.”
He looked into her eyes.
“You are not what they think you are.”
That night, the final trap closed.
Maya received a video.
Her father appeared on screen.
Older.
Gray.
Still alive.
“You look just like your mother.”
Maya could barely breathe.
“Where are you?”
“Somewhere safe.”
“Why did you do this?”
“I didn't.”
“Then explain Lily.”
“I never ordered it.”
“What about my mother?”
He looked away.
“I loved her.”
Maya's voice broke.
“Then why did she die?”
“Because I was weak.”
He paused.
“Adrien knows.”
Maya turned.
Adrien stood behind her.
Her father continued.
“He knows who started the fire.”
Maya stared at Adrien.
“Who?”
Adrien was silent.
Her father said:
“Ask him what happened at 9:14 p.m.”
The call ended.
Maya looked at Adrien.
“What happened at 9:14?”
He closed his eyes.
Then answered.
“The fire began at 9:14.”
“You were there?”
“Yes.”
“You saw my mother?”
“Yes.”
“Then tell me.”
Adrien's voice cracked.
“I tried to save her.”
Maya stared.
“What aren't you telling me?”
Adrien looked at her.
“I was the one who set the first fire.”
Maya stepped backward.
“What?”
“I was seventeen.”
The room seemed to disappear.
“I thought it was empty.”
He told her the truth.
The fire had been started by Adrien as part of a diversion after he discovered armed men inside the house.
He believed the house had been evacuated.
He had not known his mother was still inside.
His mistake had caused the blaze.
Maya's eyes filled with tears.
“So you did kill her.”
“No.”
“But your actions caused it.”
“Yes.”
Silence.
Maya looked at him.
She did not know whether to hate him.
Or hold him.
And Adrien did not ask her to forgive him.
May you like
He simply said:
“I'll accept whatever you decide.”
