Chapter 4 - The Truth Hidden In My Blood
I stared at the message on my phone.
"Ask Rosa who your real father was."
For several seconds, I couldn't move.
The words were simple.
But they felt heavier than any accusation Vanessa had ever made.
My real father.
Those three words opened a door I never knew existed.
A door that led somewhere I had spent my entire life avoiding.
I looked down at the folder in my hands.
My adoption records.
A woman's photograph.
A secret hidden inside Vanessa's bedroom.
None of it made sense.
I had spent forty-two years believing I knew exactly who I was.
Adrian Cole.
Son of Richard and Margaret Cole.
A man who built his company from nothing.
A father who promised his daughters they would always be protected.
But now I was standing in the bedroom of the woman I planned to marry, holding proof that my own identity might have been a lie.
I walked downstairs slowly.
Rosa was standing near the kitchen.
The moment she saw my face, she knew.
She knew I had found something.
Her expression changed from fear to sadness.
"Mr. Adrian..."
I held up the folder.
"Tell me the truth."
Rosa looked at the papers.
Then she looked away.
"How long have you known?"
Her eyes filled with tears.
"Known what?"
"That I was adopted."
The kitchen became completely silent.
My daughters were upstairs.
The woman who had cared for them for years stood in front of me.
And for the first time, I wondered how many secrets she had carried alone.
Rosa sat down slowly.
"I never wanted you to find out this way."
I remained standing.
"Who was my father?"
She closed her eyes.
"Adrian..."
"Who was he?"
My voice was louder than I intended.
Rosa looked toward the staircase.
Then back at me.
"Your father was a man named Michael Hayes."
The name meant nothing.
And somehow, that scared me more.
"Who was Michael Hayes?"
Rosa took a deep breath.
"Someone your parents wanted you to forget."
I felt a cold feeling move through my body.
"My parents?"
"Your adoptive parents."
I looked at the folder.
"Why would they hide this?"
Rosa didn't answer immediately.
That silence told me everything.
There was more.
Much more.
"Rosa."
She looked at me.
"Please."
Her face softened.
"I was there the day you came into the Cole family."
I froze.
"What?"
She nodded.
"I was young. I was working for your mother."
I sat across from her.
For the first time that night, I needed to listen.
"Your mother, Margaret, wasn't supposed to adopt you."
I frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Rosa looked at the floor.
"It means someone was trying to take you away."
"Who?"
"Your biological family."
My heart started racing.
"But why?"
Rosa's hands trembled.
"Because your father was not an ordinary man."
I waited.
"He was investigating something."
"What?"
She looked at me.
"Your father discovered that several powerful people were using their companies to hide illegal activities."
I stared at her.
"Are you saying he was killed?"
Rosa didn't answer.
She didn't need to.
The silence was enough.
I stood up.
"No."
The word came out quietly.
"No, that's impossible."
Rosa looked heartbroken.
"I wanted to tell you."
"Then why didn't you?"
"Because your parents made me promise."
"My parents?"
She nodded.
"They believed keeping you away from the truth was the only way to protect you."
I walked away.
I couldn't breathe.
For years, I had thought my parents gave me everything.
A home.
A family.
A future.
Now I wondered if they had also given me a life built on a lie.
My phone vibrated.
Another message.
This time from Daniel.
I traced the hidden camera. It wasn't installed recently. It has been inside your mansion for almost two years.
I stared at the screen.
Two years.
Someone had been watching my family for two years.
I called him immediately.
"Daniel."
"Mr. Cole."
"Who installed it?"
A pause.
"We don't know yet."
"Find out."
"There's something else."
My stomach tightened.
"What?"
"The camera wasn't connected to your security system."
"Then what was it connected to?"
Daniel hesitated.
"Another network."
"What network?"
His voice lowered.
"Vanessa's private account."
I looked toward the stairs.
The woman I planned to marry had been watching my home.
My children.
My life.
But why?
"Daniel, I need everything you can find about Vanessa."
"I already started."
"And?"
Another pause.
"Mr. Cole, you might want to sit down."
I gripped the phone.
"What did you find?"
"Vanessa doesn't exist the way you think she does."
My face hardened.
"What does that mean?"
"Her previous records are almost impossible to trace."
"Almost?"
"Her name changed three times."
I closed my eyes.
"Find her real identity."
"I'll try."
I ended the call.
Rosa was still sitting there.
She had heard enough.
"Adrian."
I looked at her.
"There is something else you need to know about Vanessa."
"What?"
Rosa swallowed.
"She didn't come into your life by accident."
I stared at her.
"What are you saying?"
"Before she met you, she was looking for you."
The room seemed to shrink.
"Why?"
Rosa looked terrified.
"Because she knew who your real father was."
My heart stopped.
Before I could ask another question, the front door opened.
Every muscle in my body tightened.
Nobody was supposed to be coming in.
I slowly turned.
Vanessa stood in the doorway.
She wasn't surprised.
She wasn't confused.
She simply looked at me.
Then at the folder on the table.
A small smile appeared on her face.
"I was wondering how long it would take you to find that."
I stepped forward.
"How much have you known?"
Vanessa removed her coat calmly.
"More than you."
My hands curled into fists.
"You lied to me."
She tilted her head.
"No."
Her voice was quiet.
"I protected you."
I almost laughed.
"By destroying my family?"
Her expression changed slightly.
"Your family was never what you thought it was."
Rosa stood up.
"Don't listen to her."
Vanessa looked at Rosa.
And for the first time, I saw real hatred in her eyes.
"You should have stayed silent."
Rosa stepped between us.
"You threatened those girls."
Vanessa smiled.
"No."
She looked at me.
"I protected them from the truth."
I felt my anger rising.
"What truth?"
Vanessa reached into her purse.
She pulled out an old photograph.
Then placed it on the table.
The photograph showed a young man standing beside a woman.
A baby was in the woman's arms.
I picked it up.
My hands began shaking.
Because I recognized the baby.
It was me.
But the man standing beside me wasn't Richard Cole.
It was someone else.
Someone I had never seen.
Vanessa leaned closer.
"Adrian..."
Her voice became almost a whisper.
"Your father didn't disappear."
I looked at her.
"What?"
She smiled.
"He is alive."
The room went silent.
Then my phone buzzed.
A new message appeared.
One sentence.
One name.
May you like
The name I had spent my entire life never knowing.
"Michael Hayes is waiting for you."
