Chapter 5 - The Woman Who Wanted My Son
"WHERE DID YOU GET THAT PHOTOGRAPH?"
Sloan's voice cracked as she stared at the man standing in the conference-room doorway.
Adrian Cole.
Caspian's missing head of security.
The man who had driven her home after exhausting hospital shifts. The man who had once brought her soup when she was sick. The man who had apparently been watching her long before she met Caspian.
And now he was holding an ultrasound photograph of her unborn son.
Adrian looked exhausted. His normally immaculate suit was wrinkled, and a small cut marked his forehead.
"Before anyone starts asking questions," he said, "you need to understand that Victoria Reed knows exactly where Sloan is."
Caspian stepped forward.
"Give me one reason I shouldn't call the police."
Adrian looked directly at him.
"Because your mother has already contacted them."
Sloan felt her stomach tighten.
"What?"
Adrian placed the photograph on the conference table.
It was identical to the image Dr. Morrison had printed that morning.
Except for one detail.
Someone had drawn a small red circle around the baby's profile.
Beneath it were four handwritten words.
The rightful Reed heir.
Sloan instinctively covered her stomach.
Caspian picked up the photograph.
His expression became dangerously calm.
"Who wrote this?"
Adrian swallowed.
"Your mother."
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then Caspian grabbed Adrian by the front of his jacket.
"You've been following her?"
Adrian didn't resist.
"Yes."
"You knew she was pregnant?"
"Yes."
"And you let me spend six months believing she might be dead?"
Sloan flinched.
She hadn't considered that possibility.
Had Caspian genuinely believed something terrible had happened to her?
Adrian looked away.
"I was following orders."
Caspian released him.
"Whose orders?"
Adrian glanced toward Margaret Ellis.
Margaret slowly lowered herself into her chair.
"Tell him," she whispered.
Adrian's expression changed.
"Margaret, don't."
"Enough people have suffered because of these secrets."
Sloan stepped between them.
"No. You're not doing this again."
Everyone turned toward her.
She was shaking.
Her back ached, her feet hurt, and her unborn son seemed determined to practice kicking against her ribs.
She had spent the entire day discovering that almost everyone around her had been lying.
And she was finished being patient.
"I want the truth. All of it. Right now."
Adrian looked at Caspian.
Then he spoke.
"Victoria hired me before you inherited your father's company."
Caspian stared at him.
"To do what?"
"Watch you."
The answer landed like a slap.
Adrian continued.
"She wanted reports about your business meetings, your financial decisions, and anyone who became important to you."
Sloan felt sick.
"Including me?"
Adrian nodded.
"Especially you."
"Why?"
He hesitated.
"Because of your mother."
Sloan looked toward Margaret.
The older woman closed her eyes.
Adrian pulled out a chair.
"Victoria discovered that Evelyn Bennett had a daughter working at a Boston hospital. She believed Evelyn had hidden the original trust documents with you."
Sloan shook her head.
"My mother never gave me anything."
"Victoria didn't know that."
Caspian's voice hardened.
"So you arranged for me to meet Sloan?"
Adrian looked ashamed.
"Victor Hale suggested it. Victoria approved."
Sloan felt the room tilt.
Her relationship with Caspian.
Their first meeting.
The coffee.
The lemon cake.
The evenings when she had fallen asleep against his chest.
Had all of it begun because someone wanted to use her?
She turned toward Caspian.
"Did you know?"
His face crumpled.
"No."
She wanted to believe him.
But the world had become a place where believing someone felt like stepping onto thin ice.
Adrian spoke again.
"Victoria thought that if Caspian became close to Sloan, Evelyn might reveal where she'd hidden the documents."
Margaret shook her head.
"Evelyn was already dead when they met."
"Victoria believed Sloan might have inherited the information."
Sloan laughed bitterly.
"So I was bait."
Adrian didn't answer.
He didn't need to.
Caspian walked toward the window.
For the first time, Sloan saw him struggling to control his emotions.
"My mother arranged my relationship?"
"She arranged the opportunity," Adrian answered. "What happened afterward was real."
Caspian turned sharply.
"Don't you dare tell me what was real."
Adrian lowered his eyes.
Sloan looked down at the ultrasound photograph.
Her son.
Their son.
Whatever had happened before, the tiny boy growing inside her was real.
She refused to let Victoria turn him into another piece of her elaborate scheme.
"Why did you follow me to Providence?"
Adrian looked at her.
"Victoria ordered me to find you."
"When?"
"The morning you disappeared."
Sloan stared at him.
"She knew I was leaving?"
Adrian nodded.
"She found your pregnancy test."
The room went silent.
Sloan remembered Victoria standing beside her purse in Caspian's kitchen.
The strange smile.
The sudden apology.
The offer of coffee.
"She knew," Sloan whispered.
Adrian continued.
"She took a photograph of the test and sent it to Victor."
Caspian turned.
"Why Victor?"
"Because he understood what the pregnancy could mean for the family trust."
Margaret opened the thick folder again.
"The original trust contains provisions that would give Caspian's first biological child a significant future interest in the Reed family holdings."
Sloan looked at her.
"He's not even born."
"I know."
"Then why does any of this matter?"
Margaret exchanged a worried glance with Adrian.
Finally, she said, "Because Victoria has spent years controlling assets that may not legally belong to her."
Caspian returned to the table.
"Explain."
Margaret removed a document.
"Your father established the trust shortly before his death. Under the original terms, Victoria was supposed to have limited authority over certain family holdings."
"But she controls almost everything."
"Because someone replaced the original documents."
Caspian stared at the page.
"And my child changes that?"
Margaret nodded.
"Potentially. The birth of your first child may trigger provisions requiring an independent review of the trust."
Sloan's stomach tightened.
"So Victoria wants my baby because of money?"
Adrian looked at her.
"Not just money."
She felt cold.
"What else?"
"Control."
Sloan stood so abruptly that her chair scraped across the floor.
"I need some air."
Caspian immediately moved toward her.
"I'll come with you."
"No."
He stopped.
She looked at him.
"Please. Just give me five minutes."
His expression softened.
"Okay."
She walked into the hallway.
Daniel Mercer was speaking quietly on the telephone near the elevator.
He nodded when he saw her.
Sloan continued toward a small waiting area overlooking the city.
She sat down.
Then she cried.
Not delicate tears.
Not the quiet, dignified kind she had perfected during six months of hiding.
She cried until her chest hurt.
She had imagined becoming a mother so differently.
She had imagined painting a nursery.
Buying tiny socks.
Arguing with Caspian about whether their son would inherit his father's stubbornness.
Instead, she was sitting in a law office wondering whether the woman who had once offered her money to disappear might try to use her child to maintain control of a financial empire.
Her phone vibrated.
A message from an unknown number.
You should have accepted the money.
Sloan stopped crying.
Another message appeared.
You could have raised your son somewhere peaceful.
Her hands began trembling.
Then a third message arrived.
Now you've made things complicated.
Sloan stood.
She looked toward the conference room.
Before she could move, her phone rang.
Unknown caller.
She hesitated.
Then answered.
"Hello?"
A woman's voice spoke.
"Sloan, darling."
Victoria.
Sloan gripped the phone.
"What do you want?"
"I want to help you."
Sloan laughed.
"You have an interesting way of showing it."
Victoria sighed.
"You're emotional. That's understandable."
"Don't talk to me about my emotions."
"Then let's discuss your future."
Sloan stared out the window.
"What future?"
"The one where you raise your child comfortably. Safely. Without becoming involved in matters you don't understand."
"You mean without Caspian."
A pause.
"That would certainly simplify things."
Sloan closed her eyes.
"You're unbelievable."
Victoria's voice became colder.
"You have no idea what my family stands to lose."
"Then maybe your family should stop stealing from people."
Silence.
For a moment, Sloan thought Victoria had ended the call.
Then she heard a quiet laugh.
"You sound exactly like your mother."
Sloan froze.
"What did you say?"
"Evelyn always believed she could fix everything by telling the truth."
"Leave my mother out of this."
"Your mother made a terrible mistake."
Sloan's voice trembled.
"What mistake?"
Victoria answered softly.
"She thought I would let her destroy everything I'd built."
The call ended.
Caspian found Sloan standing beside the window.
She was holding her phone so tightly that her knuckles had turned white.
"Sloan?"
She turned toward him.
"Your mother just called me."
His expression changed.
"What did she say?"
Sloan repeated the conversation.
By the time she finished, Caspian looked furious.
He took out his phone.
"Daniel, I need you to preserve every message Sloan received today."
Sloan grabbed his wrist.
"Wait."
He looked at her.
"What?"
"Your mother said something about mine."
"What?"
"She said my mother thought she could destroy everything Victoria built."
Caspian frowned.
"That doesn't make sense."
"Nothing makes sense!"
Her voice broke.
"Three years ago, I watched my mother die. I buried her. I packed up her house. I donated her clothes because I couldn't stand seeing them hanging in the closet."
Tears filled her eyes.
"And now everyone keeps telling me she had secrets. That she knew your family. That she was protecting me from something."
Caspian gently reached for her hand.
This time, she didn't pull away.
"I know," he whispered.
"No, you don't."
"Then help me understand."
She looked at him.
For a moment, the anger disappeared.
She saw the man who had once stayed awake all night rubbing her back when she had the flu.
The man who remembered how she liked her coffee.
The man who had bought an engagement ring she never received.
"I don't know what to believe anymore."
Caspian squeezed her hand.
"Then don't believe anyone until we have proof."
She swallowed.
"Not even you?"
His expression softened.
"Especially not me."
That answer surprised her.
He continued.
"I've made mistakes. I've hidden things because I thought I could protect people by handling everything myself."
He glanced toward her stomach.
"I don't want to do that anymore."
Sloan looked down.
Their son kicked again.
Caspian noticed her expression.
"Is he moving?"
She nodded.
"Apparently, he has opinions."
For the first time that day, Caspian smiled.
"That definitely sounds like my son."
Sloan almost smiled back.
Then she took his hand.
She hesitated.
And gently placed it against her belly.
Caspian froze.
A second later, the baby kicked.
His entire expression changed.
"Oh."
It was barely a whisper.
Another kick.
Caspian stared at her stomach.
His eyes filled with tears.
"That's him?"
Sloan nodded.
"That's your son."
Caspian lowered his head.
For several seconds, he couldn't speak.
Then he whispered, "Hi, Oliver."
Sloan's heart twisted.
She hadn't officially chosen the name.
But hearing Caspian say it made something inside her soften.
He looked up.
"Thank you."
She nodded.
Then her phone vibrated again.
The moment vanished.
They returned to the conference room together.
Margaret was reviewing the financial records with Daniel.
Adrian stood near the window.
When Sloan entered, he immediately straightened.
"I owe you an apology."
She looked at him.
"An apology?"
"I should have told you what Victoria was doing."
"Yes. You should have."
Adrian lowered his eyes.
Sloan approached the table.
"Why did you bring the ultrasound photograph?"
Adrian hesitated.
"Because someone sent it to me."
"Who?"
"Victor Hale."
Caspian immediately stepped forward.
"Victor contacted you?"
Adrian nodded.
"Two hours ago."
"Where is he?"
"I don't know."
Sloan stared at the photograph.
"Why would he send you this?"
Adrian reached into his pocket.
He removed a folded piece of paper.
"This came with it."
Sloan took the paper.
There was a short message written in black ink.
Victoria has already started the process.
Sloan looked up.
"What process?"
Adrian's expression became grim.
"She's been consulting attorneys about establishing legal control over the child's future financial interests."
Sloan stared at him.
"She can't do that."
Daniel immediately spoke.
"Not simply because she's his grandmother. And no court has given her any authority over your child."
Sloan felt a brief wave of relief.
But Adrian wasn't finished.
"Victoria isn't relying on the usual rules."
Caspian's jaw tightened.
"What has she done?"
Adrian looked toward Daniel.
"She claims to have documents proving Sloan is financially dependent, emotionally unstable, and unable to provide a suitable home."
Sloan felt as though someone had struck her.
"What?"
Adrian continued.
"She's collected photographs of your apartment. Your employment records. Your rental history."
Sloan stared at him.
"My apartment?"
"Yes."
"My job?"
"Yes."
She covered her mouth.
Victoria had been watching her entire life.
Every exhausting shift.
Every overdue bill.
Every night she came home too tired to cook.
Everything she had done to survive was being twisted into evidence against her.
Caspian looked at Daniel.
"Can she actually do anything with that?"
Daniel shook his head.
"Being a working single mother or living in a modest apartment doesn't make someone an unfit parent. But false allegations can still create serious problems."
Sloan slowly sat down.
Her hands were trembling.
"She wants to take my son."
Caspian knelt beside her chair.
"Look at me."
She couldn't.
"Sloan."
Finally, she met his eyes.
"Nobody gets to make decisions about Oliver without us."
She wanted to believe him.
But she had believed so many things that turned out to be lies.
Margaret suddenly cleared her throat.
"There's another document."
Everyone turned toward her.
She opened Evelyn's folder and removed a sealed plastic sleeve.
Inside was a handwritten letter.
Sloan recognized her mother's handwriting immediately.
"What's that?"
Margaret hesitated.
"Evelyn wrote this shortly before she died."
Sloan reached for it.
Margaret gently stopped her.
"There's something unusual about it."
"What?"
"It's addressed to your child."
Sloan stared at her.
"My child?"
Margaret nodded.
"But my mother died three years ago."
"I know."
"How could she write a letter to a baby who didn't exist?"
Margaret looked toward Caspian.
"Because Evelyn believed Victoria had been planning something involving her family for years."
Sloan felt cold.
Margaret handed her the letter.
Across the envelope, Evelyn had written:
To my daughter's first child.
Beneath it was another sentence.
Open this only when the Reed family comes looking.
Sloan stared at the handwriting.
Her mother had known.
Somehow, she had known that the Reed family would eventually become part of her daughter's life.
Sloan carefully opened the envelope.
Inside was a letter and a small brass key.
She unfolded the paper.
My darling Sloan,
If you're reading this, then the people I feared have finally found their way into your life.
I'm sorry I couldn't protect you from everything.
But I left you something that Victoria Reed has spent years trying to find.
Sloan stopped breathing.
Caspian leaned closer.
She continued reading.
The key belongs to a private storage box. Inside, you'll find the original documents and proof of who truly owns the assets Victoria has been controlling.
But there's something else you must understand.
The person who betrayed me was not Victoria.
Sloan looked up.
"What?"
Caspian frowned.
"Keep reading."
Her hands trembled.
She lowered her eyes to the final paragraph.
Victoria was never the person giving the orders.
She was protecting someone.
Sloan felt her heart pounding.
And that person has been closer to you than you realize.
Before she could read the final sentence, Daniel's phone rang.
He answered.
"Mercer."
His expression changed immediately.
"Are you certain?"
A pause.
Then he looked directly at Sloan.
"What happened?" Caspian demanded.
Daniel slowly lowered the phone.
"The clinic just called."
Sloan stood.
"Is something wrong?"
Daniel swallowed.
"Someone arrived claiming to be Sloan's legal representative."
Sloan stared at him.
"Who?"
Daniel looked at Caspian.
"Victoria Reed."
Caspian's expression hardened.
"What does she want?"
Daniel hesitated.
"She's demanding access to the original medical records."
Sloan felt cold.
"Why?"
Daniel looked down at his phone.
"Because she says there's a problem with the baby's paternity."
The room went silent.
Caspian stared at him.
"What problem?"
Daniel slowly turned the screen toward them.
A document had just arrived.
It contained Sloan's name.
Caspian's name.
And a third name.
Sloan leaned closer.
The third name was partially hidden beneath a red confidentiality stamp.
Then she noticed the signature at the bottom.
Her mother's signature.
Dated two weeks ago.
Sloan's breath caught.
Her mother had been dead for three years.
But someone had just submitted a document in her name.
And attached to it was a photograph taken that very morning.
Sloan standing outside the ultrasound clinic.
Beside her was a man she had never seen.
The photograph had been altered to make it look as though they were holding hands.
Her phone vibrated.
A new message appeared.
If you want to keep your son, come alone.
A second message followed.
And don't tell Caspian who his real father was.
Sloan stared at the screen.
Then the conference-room lights suddenly went out.
Someone screamed in the hallway.
May you like
And from the darkness, a familiar woman's voice whispered:
"Sloan, give me the key."
