Chapter 5 - The Child They Tried To Hide
I stared at the photograph in my hand.
My fingers refused to move.
The boy in the picture was young.
Too young to remember.
But his eyes...
Those eyes were impossible to ignore.
Because they were mine.
Luca was asleep in the next room.
Only a thin wall separated me from my son.
Yet suddenly, I felt like I had spent six years living beside a stranger.
"Adrian."
Evelyn's voice pulled me back.
I looked at her.
"What is this?"
She didn't answer immediately.
That scared me more than anything.
Evelyn Cross had always been fearless.
Even when everyone believed she had stolen millions.
Even when she disappeared.
Even when she walked into a diner knowing I could destroy her life with one decision.
But now she looked afraid.
"Seven years ago, Marcus discovered something."
"About me?"
She shook her head.
"About your family."
I placed the photograph on the table.
"Explain."
Claire stood behind Evelyn, holding the folder tightly against her chest.
Lily sat beside Luca, quietly drawing on a piece of paper.
The children were the only calm people in the room.
Everyone else was carrying secrets.
Evelyn opened the medical file.
"This is not a fake."
She pointed at the information.
"Twenty years ago, Marcus helped arrange a private adoption."
I looked at the document.
"A child?"
She nodded.
"Your child."
The room became silent.
I laughed once.
Not because it was funny.
Because my mind couldn't accept it.
"I would know if I had a child."
Evelyn looked at me.
"Would you?"
The question hit harder than it should have.
Because suddenly, memories I had buried started returning.
Twenty years ago.
Before the empire.
Before the reputation.
Before everyone feared my name.
I was different.
Younger.
Careless.
I remembered a woman.
A woman Marcus told me had left town.
A woman whose name I never heard again.
I remembered asking questions.
I remembered Marcus saying:
"Some things are better forgotten."
At the time, I believed him.
I believed everything he said.
Because Marcus was the person who stood beside me when nobody else did.
He wasn't just my friend.
He was my brother.
Or at least, I thought he was.
"Who was the mother?"
Evelyn looked at Claire.
Claire lowered her eyes.
That reaction answered before words did.
"You know."
Claire slowly nodded.
"Her name was Anna."
The name felt like a door opening in my memory.
Anna.
A woman with a quiet smile.
A woman who always told me I needed to stop fighting the entire world.
A woman Marcus said had abandoned me.
"She's alive?"
Nobody answered.
I already knew.
"No."
Evelyn's silence confirmed it.
My jaw tightened.
"What happened?"
Claire looked away.
"Marcus made sure nobody asked."
The anger came slowly.
That was always how it came.
Not like fire.
Like ice.
Cold.
Controlled.
Dangerous.
"What does this have to do with Luca?"
Evelyn looked at the photograph.
"The boy in this picture was your first child."
I looked at her.
"Then where is he?"
Her expression changed.
"He disappeared."
A thousand thoughts crossed my mind.
"Disappeared?"
"Marcus told everyone the child was taken away."
"Was he?"
Evelyn didn't answer.
She didn't need to.
Because the truth was already forming.
Marcus had built his entire life around controlling information.
Removing people.
Changing stories.
Creating versions of reality.
And I had spent years believing I was the one in control.
I walked toward the computer.
"Show me everything."
Evelyn opened another folder.
This time, it contained videos.
Old recordings.
Private files.
The first video started.
Marcus appeared on the screen.
Younger.
Confident.
Standing in an office I recognized.
My old office.
He was speaking to someone outside the camera.
"I can handle Adrian."
A man's voice answered.
"What if he finds out?"
Marcus smiled.
"He won't."
My stomach tightened.
The video continued.
Marcus placed a file on the desk.
Inside was a birth certificate.
My name was written on it.
Then the video stopped.
Nobody spoke.
I pressed play again.
The same thing.
The file ended before the important part.
"Why would he keep this?"
Claire whispered.
Evelyn looked at the screen.
"Because Marcus never destroys evidence."
"Why?"
"Because he likes having control."
I understood.
Marcus didn't just want power.
He wanted insurance.
Every secret was a weapon.
Every person had a weakness.
And Marcus collected them all.
My phone rang.
The name on the screen made everyone freeze.
Marcus.
I answered.
No greeting.
No introduction.
"You found the files."
His voice was calm.
Almost peaceful.
I looked at the photograph.
"You knew."
A pause.
Then:
"I knew you would eventually."
My hand tightened around the phone.
"Where is my son?"
Another pause.
Longer this time.
"You still think the child is the secret?"
I looked toward Luca's room.
My heart stopped.
"What did you do?"
Marcus sighed.
"Adrian, you always had one weakness."
"What?"
"You loved people you thought belonged to you."
The line went silent.
I could hear my own breathing.
"Where is my son?"
Marcus ignored the question.
"Ask Evelyn what happened the night Anna disappeared."
I looked at Evelyn.
She looked away.
That was enough.
I ended the call.
"What happened that night?"
Nobody answered.
"Evelyn."
She closed her eyes.
"I tried to stop him."
"Who?"
Her voice became almost a whisper.
"Marcus."
The room felt colder.
"What did he do?"
Evelyn looked at me.
"He didn't take your son."
A pause.
"He took your memory of him."
I stared at her.
"What does that mean?"
She walked toward the computer.
Opened one final file.
A security recording appeared.
The date was twenty years earlier.
The image quality was poor.
But the people were clear.
A younger Marcus.
A younger me.
And a woman holding a baby.
Anna.
I watched myself on the screen.
I watched myself smile.
I watched myself hold the baby.
Then Marcus stepped closer.
He handed me something.
A drink.
The recording continued.
My younger self looked confused.
Then everything went black.
The video jumped forward.
Marcus carried the baby away.
Anna followed.
And before the recording ended, she turned toward the camera.
Like she knew someone would find it one day.
Like she knew I would see it.
Then the final frame appeared.
A message written by Anna.
Six words.
"Adrian, they lied about our son."
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Then Luca's bedroom door slowly opened.
I turned.
Because I knew that sound.
I knew my son was awake.
But Luca wasn't standing there.
Someone else was.
A man.
May you like
Holding Luca's hand.
And the man looked exactly like me.
