Chapter 4 - Someone Knew About the Baby
"YOU SIGNED MY MOTHER'S DEATH CERTIFICATE!"
Sloan's voice echoed through the conference room.
The woman sitting at the table slowly stood.
She looked older than Sloan remembered. Her dark hair had turned silver around her temples, and deep lines surrounded her eyes. But Sloan would have recognized that face anywhere.
Margaret Ellis.
The nurse who had held her hand in the hospital corridor three years earlier.
The woman who had told her there was nothing more the doctors could do.
And the woman whose signature appeared on the paperwork confirming Evelyn Bennett's death.
"Sloan," Margaret whispered. "I'm sorry."
Sloan stared at her.
"Sorry for what?"
Margaret looked toward the open doorway.
Caspian stood behind Sloan, his expression unreadable.
Daniel Mercer quietly closed the conference-room door.
Margaret swallowed.
"Your mother didn't die the way you were told."
Sloan felt the room tilt.
For a moment, she couldn't hear anything except the pounding of her own heart.
"What did you just say?"
Margaret lowered her eyes.
"I should have told you three years ago."
Sloan stepped toward the table.
"Then tell me now."
Margaret reached for the thick folder.
But before she could open it, Caspian spoke.
"Why did Victor Hale contact you?"
Margaret looked at him.
"Because your father wasn't the only person Victor worked for."
Caspian's jaw tightened.
"Who else?"
Margaret's eyes shifted toward Sloan.
"Your mother."
Sloan laughed.
It wasn't because anything was funny.
It was the kind of laugh that escaped when reality became so unbearable that the mind briefly refused to accept it.
"My mother was a school librarian."
Margaret said nothing.
"She volunteered at the community center. She collected ridiculous ceramic birds. She cried when television commercials showed abandoned puppies."
Her voice began to tremble.
"She wasn't involved with Victor Hale."
Margaret slowly sat down.
"Your mother had another life before you were born."
Sloan shook her head.
"No."
"Sloan, please."
"No! You don't get to walk into my life after three years and tell me my mother was someone else!"
Her son kicked.
Hard.
She instinctively pressed both hands against her stomach.
Caspian immediately moved closer.
"Sloan?"
"I'm fine."
But she wasn't.
She was standing in a room with a woman she had trusted during the worst moment of her life, listening to accusations against someone who could no longer defend herself.
Margaret pushed a chair toward her.
"Please sit down."
Sloan wanted to refuse.
Instead, she lowered herself into the chair.
Caspian remained standing beside her.
Margaret opened the folder.
Inside were photographs, bank statements, handwritten letters, and several documents bearing the Reed family name.
Sloan recognized her mother's handwriting immediately.
Her stomach tightened.
"What is all this?"
Margaret took a breath.
"Your mother worked as a financial investigator before she became a librarian."
Sloan stared at her.
"That's impossible."
"She changed careers after you were born."
"Why?"
Margaret looked at Caspian.
"Because she discovered something about his father's companies."
Caspian slowly pulled out the chair opposite her.
"What did she discover?"
Margaret placed a photograph on the table.
It showed three people standing outside a brick office building.
A younger Evelyn Bennett.
A man Sloan recognized from old photographs as Caspian's father.
And Victoria Reed.
Sloan picked it up.
Her mother looked happy.
Victoria stood beside her, smiling.
They appeared to know each other well.
"How did my mother know your parents?"
Caspian stared at the photograph.
"I have no idea."
Margaret folded her hands.
"Twenty-eight years ago, Evelyn worked for a financial consulting company that audited several businesses owned by Richard Reed."
"Richard was my father," Caspian said.
"I know."
Margaret hesitated.
"During that audit, Evelyn discovered evidence that someone was transferring company money into accounts controlled by outside associates."
Caspian leaned forward.
"Victor Hale?"
"He was involved later. At the beginning, someone else organized the transfers."
"Who?"
Margaret looked down.
"That's what Evelyn spent years trying to prove."
Sloan stared at the photograph.
Her mother had spent her entire life teaching her to be honest.
To stand up for people who couldn't defend themselves.
To never ignore someone who needed help.
Suddenly, those lessons seemed to carry a meaning Sloan had never understood.
"Why didn't she tell me?"
"Because she wanted to protect you."
Sloan closed her eyes.
She was beginning to hate those words.
Everyone claimed they were protecting her.
Caspian.
Her mother.
Even Victoria, apparently.
And every secret they kept seemed to make her life more dangerous.
Margaret removed a sealed envelope from the folder.
"Your mother gave me this shortly before she died."
Sloan stared at it.
Her name was written across the front.
In Evelyn's handwriting.
Her hands began trembling.
"Why didn't you give it to me?"
Margaret's expression filled with regret.
"Because she asked me to wait."
"Wait for what?"
"Until someone started asking questions about you."
Sloan looked up.
"Who?"
Margaret swallowed.
"Victoria Reed."
The silence that followed was absolute.
Caspian stood.
"Explain."
Margaret looked frightened.
"Three weeks before Evelyn was hospitalized, Victoria contacted her. She demanded that Evelyn return certain documents."
"What documents?" Sloan asked.
"Financial records. Correspondence. Evidence Evelyn had kept hidden for years."
"And my mother refused?"
Margaret nodded.
"She said those documents were the only thing keeping you safe."
Sloan felt tears gathering.
"Safe from what?"
Margaret didn't answer immediately.
Instead, she pushed the envelope across the table.
Sloan stared at it.
Then she carefully opened it.
Inside was a handwritten letter.
My beautiful Sloan,
If you're reading this, something has happened that I spent years hoping to prevent.
There are things about my past that I should have told you. I thought keeping them secret would give you the ordinary life you deserved.
I was wrong.
Sloan stopped reading.
Her vision blurred.
Caspian quietly placed a box of tissues beside her.
She wiped her eyes and continued.
Years ago, I discovered that someone inside the Reed family was using Richard's businesses for illegal financial transactions. When I tried to expose what was happening, I became a target.
I kept copies of everything.
And I made one terrible mistake.
Sloan's breath caught.
I trusted Victoria Reed.
The letter slipped from her fingers.
Caspian picked it up.
His expression changed as he read.
Margaret watched them silently.
Sloan finally whispered, "What mistake?"
Margaret looked toward the window.
"Evelyn told Victoria where she had hidden the evidence."
Caspian's voice hardened.
"And Victoria gave that information to Victor Hale?"
Margaret nodded.
"That's what Evelyn believed."
Sloan covered her mouth.
Her mother had known Victoria.
Her mother had feared her.
And somehow, Sloan had fallen in love with Victoria's son.
The coincidence felt impossible.
Unless it wasn't a coincidence at all.
"Did Caspian know who I was before we met?"
The question escaped before Sloan could stop it.
Caspian looked at her.
"What?"
She turned toward him.
"Did you know my mother?"
"No."
"Did you know she investigated your father's companies?"
"No."
"Did you meet me because of her?"
His expression changed from confusion to genuine hurt.
"Sloan."
"Answer me."
"No."
She wanted to believe him.
But after everything she had learned, she no longer knew what believing someone meant.
Caspian reached into his pocket and removed his phone.
He opened an old photograph.
It showed Sloan standing outside the emergency department, holding a paper cup of coffee.
She remembered the day.
Caspian had taken the photograph after bringing her breakfast.
She had complained that she looked exhausted.
He had told her she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen.
"I met you because I arrived at the hospital with an injured shoulder," he said quietly.
"That's what I thought."
"That's what happened."
Margaret suddenly looked up.
"Actually, there's something you should know about that."
Caspian turned toward her.
"What?"
Margaret hesitated.
"Victor Hale arranged for someone to direct you to that particular hospital."
Sloan froze.
Caspian stared at her.
"That's impossible."
Margaret opened another document.
"Your security team originally planned to take you to a private medical center. Someone changed the destination."
Caspian's expression darkened.
He remembered that night.
The argument with his driver.
The unexpected decision to visit the nearest emergency department.
The man who insisted the private hospital was too far away.
His hands curled into fists.
"Who changed it?"
Margaret looked directly at him.
"Your head of security."
Caspian went completely still.
"Adrian?"
Margaret nodded.
Sloan felt sick.
Adrian Cole.
The quiet man who had accompanied Caspian everywhere.
The man who had driven her home after late shifts.
The man who once brought her soup when she had the flu.
He had been standing outside the emergency department the night she met Caspian.
And now Margaret was telling them that their meeting might have been arranged.
"Why?" Sloan whispered.
Margaret looked at the documents.
"Because someone wanted you close to the Reed family."
Caspian immediately called Daniel into the room.
"Find Adrian."
Daniel frowned.
"What's happened?"
"I want to know where he is. Now."
Daniel stepped outside.
Sloan watched Caspian pace.
She had seen him angry before.
But this was different.
His anger wasn't directed at her.
It was directed at the possibility that someone he trusted had manipulated their relationship from the beginning.
Margaret quietly closed the folder.
"There's more."
Sloan almost laughed again.
"Of course there is."
Margaret looked apologetic.
"I know this is overwhelming."
"Then stop telling me half the truth."
Margaret nodded.
"You're right."
She opened a small compartment inside the folder and removed a flash drive.
"Evelyn gave me this before she died."
Sloan stared at it.
"What is it?"
"Copies of the financial records she collected."
"Why didn't you give them to investigators?"
"Because Evelyn was afraid the evidence would disappear."
Caspian stopped pacing.
"What's on it?"
Margaret looked toward Sloan.
"There's a recording."
Sloan felt her heart accelerate.
"Of what?"
"Your mother speaking to Victoria Reed."
Caspian approached the table.
"When?"
"Two days before Evelyn was hospitalized."
Sloan reached for the flash drive.
Margaret stopped her.
"Before you listen, there's something I need to explain."
Sloan pulled her hand away.
"No more warnings."
Margaret hesitated.
"Your mother knew she was seriously ill. She was receiving treatment, but she also believed someone was trying to prevent her from speaking publicly about the financial records."
Sloan's eyes filled.
"Are you saying someone caused her death?"
"No. I have no evidence of that."
Margaret's voice softened.
"Her medical condition was real. But someone used her illness to frighten her and pressure her into surrendering the documents."
Sloan looked down.
For three years, she had believed her mother's final weeks were simply a tragedy.
Now she was discovering that Evelyn had spent those weeks carrying a secret.
A secret involving the family of the man Sloan loved.
"Play the recording."
Margaret looked at Caspian.
He nodded.
"Please."
Evelyn's voice filled the conference room.
Sloan immediately began crying.
She hadn't heard her mother's voice in three years.
Not since her old phone broke and she lost the last voicemail Evelyn had left her.
Now that familiar voice was speaking from a laptop.
Calm.
Firm.
Alive.
"Victoria, I told you I wouldn't destroy the evidence."
Another voice answered.
Victoria Reed.
"You don't understand what you're risking."
"I understand perfectly."
"Richard is dead. Whatever happened belongs in the past."
"Not when people are still being hurt."
A pause.
Then Victoria spoke again.
"Think about Sloan."
Sloan covered her mouth.
Her mother answered immediately.
"Don't you dare bring my daughter into this."
Caspian moved closer to the laptop.
Victoria's voice became colder.
"Your daughter is young. She has a future. It would be unfortunate if your decisions affected her."
Evelyn laughed bitterly.
"You're threatening my child?"
"I'm asking you to be reasonable."
"No. You're asking me to remain silent."
The recording crackled.
Then Evelyn said something that made Caspian freeze.
"I know what happened to Richard's original will."
Caspian leaned forward.
"What?"
Victoria's voice became sharp.
"Lower your voice."
"You changed the beneficiary arrangements."
"That's a lie."
"Then explain the missing trust documents."
A long silence followed.
Sloan stared at Caspian.
He looked genuinely stunned.
"My father's will?"
Margaret nodded slowly.
"The financial records weren't the only documents Evelyn discovered."
The recording continued.
Victoria spoke again.
"If those documents become public, Caspian will lose everything."
Evelyn answered.
"Then perhaps you should have thought about that before you started stealing from your own family."
The recording ended.
Nobody spoke.
Finally, Caspian sat down.
For the first time since Sloan had known him, he looked completely defeated.
"My mother..."
He couldn't finish.
Sloan reached toward him.
Then hesitated.
She still didn't know whether she could trust him.
But she recognized the expression on his face.
It was the same expression she had worn when the doctors told her that Evelyn wasn't coming home.
The expression of someone discovering that the world they believed in had never existed.
She gently placed her hand over his.
Caspian looked up.
Neither spoke.
Daniel returned fifteen minutes later.
His expression was grim.
"Adrian isn't answering his phone."
Caspian stood.
"Where was he last seen?"
"At your Boston office."
"When?"
"Yesterday afternoon."
"Check his apartment."
"Already did."
"And?"
Daniel hesitated.
"It's empty."
Sloan felt a familiar chill.
Another disappearance.
Another person who apparently knew too much.
Caspian looked toward Margaret.
"How did Victor contact you?"
"Through an intermediary."
"Who?"
Margaret hesitated.
"Adrian Cole."
Caspian stared at her.
The silence became unbearable.
Sloan slowly removed her hand from his.
"Margaret, when did Adrian contact you?"
"Three days ago."
"Why?"
"He told me someone had discovered the existence of Evelyn's records."
"Who?"
Margaret looked toward Sloan's stomach.
"Someone interested in the baby."
Sloan's blood turned cold.
"My baby?"
Margaret nodded.
"Victor believed the child might change the ownership of certain Reed family assets."
Caspian's expression hardened.
"That's impossible. My son hasn't even been born."
Margaret opened another document.
"Richard Reed established a family trust before he died. Its terms include provisions for future grandchildren."
Sloan stared at her.
"What does that have to do with me?"
Margaret looked uncomfortable.
"The original trust gives Caspian's first biological child a significant future interest in several family holdings."
Caspian frowned.
"I've never seen that document."
"Because someone replaced it."
Sloan pressed both hands against her stomach.
She suddenly understood why Victoria had looked at her belly with such calculation.
Their son wasn't simply an unexpected grandchild.
He was connected to something the Reed family had spent years concealing.
But another question troubled her.
"If the original trust was hidden, how did anyone know I was pregnant?"
Margaret's expression changed.
"That's what I've been trying to tell you."
She opened a final envelope.
Inside was a medical laboratory report.
Sloan recognized the clinic name immediately.
It was the facility where she had taken her first blood test after arriving in Providence.
The report confirmed her pregnancy.
But the date was wrong.
It had been printed two weeks before her appointment.
And beneath the report was a handwritten note.
Confirmed. Twenty-three weeks. Male fetus.
Sloan stared at it.
"That's from today's ultrasound."
Margaret nodded.
"But I haven't shared those results with anyone!"
Caspian immediately took out his phone.
"Daniel, contact the clinic. Find out who accessed Sloan's records."
Daniel stepped outside again.
Margaret looked increasingly frightened.
"Sloan, there's something else."
Sloan felt tears gathering.
"What now?"
Margaret pointed toward the bottom of the report.
A name appeared beneath the authorization section.
Victoria Reed.
Sloan stared at it.
"She requested my medical records?"
Margaret nodded.
"But there's another signature."
Sloan leaned forward.
The second name had been partially covered by a black mark.
Only the initials remained visible.
A.C.
Adrian Cole.
Caspian's missing head of security.
Sloan felt the baby kick again.
She placed both hands over her stomach.
"Why would they want information about my son?"
Margaret didn't answer.
Instead, she looked toward the conference-room door.
Footsteps sounded outside.
Then Daniel's voice.
"Caspian, there's someone here to see you."
Caspian frowned.
"Who?"
Daniel didn't answer immediately.
The door handle slowly turned.
Margaret suddenly stood.
Her face went white.
"No," she whispered.
Sloan looked toward the door.
It opened.
May you like
And the man standing on the other side was holding a second ultrasound photograph.
The photograph Sloan had never given anyone.
