Chapter 4 - The Signature That Could Destroy Him
Adrian looked terrible.
His tie was gone.
His hair was disordered.
The confidence that had defined him for years had vanished.
Dad immediately stepped between us.
"Get out."
Adrian didn't look at him.
He looked at me.
"Eleanor, I need five minutes."
"You've had three years."
"I know."
Vanessa stood behind him.
I looked at her.
"Daniel Cross is your father."
Adrian turned sharply.
Apparently he hadn't known.
Vanessa closed her eyes.
"Yes."
"You lied again."
"I was trying to protect myself."
"From whom?"
"My father."
The room went silent.
Dad studied her.
"Where is Daniel?"
"I don't know."
"Try again."
"I haven't seen him in six months."
Adrian laughed bitterly.
"She's telling the truth."
I looked at him.
"How would you know?"
"Because I've been trying to find him too."
Dad's patience ended.
"Thomas, remove him."
"Wait," I said.
Everyone looked at me.
I hated that I wanted to hear Adrian.
But truth mattered more than pride.
"Five minutes."
Adrian entered.
Vanessa remained near the door.
I stayed standing.
"Talk."
Adrian looked at the bruising on my arm.
His face twisted.
"Eleanor, what happened tonight—"
"Don't."
He stopped.
"You don't get to explain that away."
"I know."
"Four minutes."
He swallowed.
"I met Daniel Cross when Vale Meridian was collapsing."
"I know."
"He offered financing."
"In exchange for me."
"At first, I didn't know what he wanted."
"But eventually?"
"Yes."
My throat tightened.
"You knew who I was."
"Before the charity gala."
"Everything?"
"Your family. Your trust. Northstar."
I laughed softly.
"Vanessa said you discovered Northstar later."
"Vanessa didn't know everything."
Vanessa looked angry.
"Neither did you."
Adrian ignored her.
"Daniel told me your father had cut you off."
Dad scoffed.
"He said if I married you, we'd gain access to your trust."
"So you married me."
Adrian looked at me.
"I met you intending to."
That sentence hurt more than I expected.
"And then?"
"And then I loved you."
I stared at him.
"Don't insult me."
"I'm not asking you to forgive me."
"Good."
"I tried to get out."
Thomas gestured toward the emails.
"We saw evidence of that."
Adrian nodded.
"Daniel wouldn't allow it."
"Allow?"
"He had evidence of financial misconduct from the early years of my company. Some of it was mine. Some he'd engineered."
Dad said, "Blackmail."
"Yes."
Vanessa finally spoke.
"My father does that."
I looked at her.
"And you?"
Her eyes filled.
"I was supposed to keep Adrian compliant."
"By sleeping with him?"
She flinched.
"Eventually."
Adrian looked ashamed.
There were no heroes in that room.
Only varying degrees of betrayal.
"What about my signature?" I asked.
Adrian looked down.
"I forged it."
Dad moved toward him.
I raised my hand.
"Let him finish."
"I signed the authorization."
"Why?"
"Daniel said it was necessary to refinance the company."
"You stole my identity."
"Yes."
"And tonight you wanted me to validate it."
His silence was enough.
"Say it."
"Yes."
My eyes burned.
"Why?"
"Because Daniel contacted me last week."
Vanessa looked startled.
"What?"
"He said if Eleanor didn't sign the divorce agreement by midnight tonight, he'd release everything."
"Everything?"
"The fraud. The original plan. The forged documents."
I laughed.
"So instead of telling me the truth, you humiliated me into signing."
Adrian closed his eyes.
"Yes."
"And Vanessa's pregnancy?"
He looked toward her.
"Real."
Vanessa's hand moved instinctively to her stomach.
I felt something strange.
Not jealousy.
Just exhaustion.
"Is the baby yours?"
Adrian hesitated.
Vanessa's head snapped toward him.
"Of course it is."
"Is it?"
"Adrian!"
He looked at her.
"You disappeared for three weeks when you found out."
"I needed time."
"With Daniel?"
Vanessa went pale.
Dad noticed.
"So Daniel isn't missing."
"I didn't say that."
"You didn't have to."
Vanessa headed toward the door.
Thomas blocked her.
She stopped.
"I haven't seen my father."
"But you've spoken to him."
Silence.
Her phone rang.
She stared at the screen.
I saw fear.
"Who is it?"
"No one."
"Vanessa."
She declined the call.
Immediately it rang again.
Dad said, "Answer."
She did.
"Hello?"
A man's voice came through.
Even without speaker mode, the room was quiet enough to hear.
"Put Eleanor on."
Vanessa froze.
Dad's face hardened.
Daniel.
I held out my hand.
Vanessa gave me the phone.
"Daniel."
"Eleanor Ashford."
His voice was warm.
Almost friendly.
"I've wanted to speak with you for a long time."
"You've spent four years interfering with my life. Speak."
He chuckled.
"Your mother had that tone."
Dad went still.
I stared at him.
"You knew my mother?"
"Very well."
Dad stepped toward the phone.
"Don't listen to him."
Daniel heard.
"Charles. Still hiding things from your daughter?"
"Dad?"
Daniel laughed.
"There it is."
"What are you talking about?"
"Ask Charles why your mother created that trust."
"I know why."
"No, Eleanor. You know what he told you."
My father's face told me Daniel had found the one weapon that could still hurt him.
A family secret.
"Where are you?"
"That isn't important."
"It is to me."
"You want the truth?"
"Yes."
"Then find the original trust."
Dad whispered, "No."
I looked at him.
"Why?"
Daniel continued.
"Not the amended version Charles showed you. The original."
"Where?"
"Your mother's old study."
That room had been locked since her death.
Dad never entered it.
Neither did I.
Daniel's voice softened.
"Look behind the portrait she hated."
The call ended.
I handed Vanessa her phone.
Then I looked at Dad.
"You told me Mom's study was sealed because you couldn't bear to change it."
"It was."
"What's behind the portrait?"
Dad didn't answer.
I left the library.
He followed.
"Eleanor."
I reached the second floor.
Mom's study stood at the end of the hall.
I hadn't touched the handle in eleven years.
Dad caught up.
"Please."
"Open it."
His eyes filled with something I'd rarely seen.
Fear.
"Eleanor, there are things your mother wanted protected."
"From me?"
"No."
"Then open the door."
He removed an old key from his pocket.
He had carried it all these years.
The lock clicked.
Dust and memory waited inside.
I crossed to the portrait.
Mom had always hated it because the painter made her look too serious.
I lifted it from the wall.
Behind it was a small safe.
Dad whispered my name.
I opened the safe.
Inside lay one envelope.
My mother's handwriting was across the front.
FOR ELEANOR — IF DANIEL EVER COMES BACK.
My hands started shaking.
I broke the seal.
The first line read:
May you like
My darling, if you're reading this, then your father failed to tell you what Daniel Cross did to our family.
And underneath that sentence was Adrian's father's name.
