Chapter 7: What Victoria Stole
Adrian read the sentence twice.
The children were never the only thing Victoria had stolen from him.
His hands tightened around the letter.
Behind him, the hidden room smelled of dust and old wood. Morning light slipped through a narrow basement window, catching particles in the air. Clara stood near the doorway with Lily sleeping against her shoulder while Mia held Adrian’s coat.
Daniel remained beside the table.
Nobody spoke.
Adrian forced himself to continue.
His mother’s handwriting became shakier halfway down the page.
Adrian, Victoria knows about the trust.
He stopped.
“What trust?””
Daniel lowered his eyes.
Adrian looked at him.
“You know.””
Daniel hesitated.
“Your father created a private family trust shortly before his death.””
“How much?””
“That isn’t the important part.””
Adrian slammed the letter onto the table.
“Stop deciding what’s important for me.””
Mia flinched.
Adrian immediately softened.
“Sorry.””
The little girl nodded.
He turned back to Daniel.
“How much?””
Daniel exhaled.
“At the time it was established, approximately eighty million dollars in assets.””
Clara stared at him.
Adrian felt strangely calm.
“Eighty million.””
“It included company shares, property, and investment accounts.””
“And where is it now?””
Daniel looked toward the letter.
“Keep reading.””
Adrian picked it up.
The trust does not belong to you alone. Your father changed the beneficiaries after learning about the child.
Adrian’s breath caught.
He looked at Mia.
Clara’s face went pale.
“What child?”” Adrian asked.
Daniel didn’t answer.
Adrian read faster.
The beneficiary was your firstborn daughter.
His eyes stopped on those words.
Mia stared up at him without understanding.
Adrian slowly sat down.
“My father knew?””
Clara whispered, “I didn’t know that.””
Daniel stepped closer.
“He learned shortly before his death.””
“How?””
Daniel looked uncomfortable.
“From Mia’s mother.””
Adrian’s head snapped up.
“Where is she?””
Silence.
“Where is Mia’s mother?””
Clara closed her eyes.
“You deserve the truth.””
Adrian stood.
“Then give it to me.””
Clara carefully placed Lily in an old chair, covering her with a coat.
Then she faced Adrian.
“My sister’s name is Elena.””
Something moved inside Adrian’s memory.
A summer evening.
A girl laughing beside a lake.
A silver necklace catching sunlight.
“Elena.””
He whispered the name.
Clara nodded.
“You met her when you were twenty-two.””
Adrian remembered.
Not everything.
But enough.
Elena had worked at a community foundation supported by the Whitmore family.
They had spent one summer together.
Then she disappeared.
Victoria had told him Elena had moved overseas.
Months later, Victoria said she had heard Elena died.
Adrian had believed her.
“Victoria lied about that too.””
“Yes.””
“Why didn’t Elena contact me?””
“She did.””
Adrian’s face hardened.
Clara continued.
“She sent letters to your apartment. She called your office. She even came to Whitmore House.””
“What happened?””
“Victoria intercepted everything.””
Adrian stared at her.
Clara’s voice cracked.
“Elena was pregnant.””
Mia moved closer to Adrian.
He couldn’t look away from her now.
Five years.
Victoria had stolen five years.
Birthdays.
Christmas mornings.
Bedtime stories.
Every ordinary moment that mattered.
“Why?””
Daniel answered.
“Because Mia’s existence activated the trust.””
Adrian looked at him.
Daniel continued.
“Your father structured it so that control of a major block of Whitmore shares would eventually pass to your first child.””
“And Victoria knew?””
“Yes.””
Adrian laughed once.
Coldly.
“So marrying me wasn’t enough.””
Nobody answered.
“She needed Mia gone.””
Clara shook her head.
“Not gone.””
Adrian looked at her.
“Then what?””
“Hidden.””
Clara reached into the box and removed a photograph.
Elena stood outside a small house holding a newborn baby.
Beside her was Victoria.
Adrian stared.
“What the hell is this?””
“That was taken after Mia was born.””
Victoria had known from the beginning.
Not suspected.
Known.
Adrian turned the photograph over.
There was writing on the back.
Keep her safe until Adrian signs.
His stomach tightened.
“Signs what?””
Daniel searched through the box until he found a document.
He placed it on the table.
Adrian recognized his own signature.
His face changed.
“I signed this three years ago.””
Daniel nodded.
Victoria had brought him the document after his father’s estate was supposedly settled.
She had called it routine restructuring.
Adrian remembered signing it while rushing to a board meeting.
“What did I actually sign?””
Daniel’s voice became quiet.
“A transfer of voting authority.””
Adrian stared at him.
“To whom?””
Before Daniel could answer, Mia tugged Adrian’s sleeve.
“Daddy?””
He looked down.
“Mommy said there was a bad lady who wanted me to sign something too.””
Clara froze.
“Mia?””
The child pointed toward the old photograph.
“That lady.””
Victoria.
Adrian’s blood ran cold.
“When?””
Mia thought carefully.
“At the house.””
“What house?””
“The blue one.””
Clara suddenly grabbed the edge of the table.
“No.””
Adrian looked at her.
“What?””
Clara’s breathing changed.
“Elena lived in a blue house.””
“Lived?””
Clara looked toward Daniel.
Then back at Adrian.
“The last time I saw my sister was six months ago.””
Adrian froze.
“You told me she was hiding.””
“She was.””
“Where?””
Clara started crying.
“I don’t know anymore.””
Adrian stepped closer.
“What happened six months ago?””
Clara reached into the box and removed another envelope.
This one was newer.
On the front was a date from six months earlier.
Inside was a single photograph.
Elena stood beside the blue house.
Behind her was a black car.
And standing beside that car was Richard Vale.
Adrian stared at the image.
Then he noticed something else.
Someone was sitting inside the vehicle.
A woman.
Blonde hair.
A familiar profile.
Victoria.
Adrian’s phone rang.
Everyone jumped.
Unknown number.
He answered.
“Hello?””
Silence.
Then a woman whispered:
“Adrian?””
His knees nearly gave way.
He knew that voice.
Even after years.
“Elena?””
A broken breath came through the phone.
Then she said:
May you like
“Don’t trust Daniel.””
The line went dead.
