Chapter 10 — The Price of the Truth

Lena looked up at the USB drive dangling from Adrian's fingertips.

Neither of them spoke.

The words from the note hidden in Safe B-17 circled in her head.

The child belongs to Daniel Carter.

Her father.

Or rather, the man she'd believed to be her father for the last twenty years of her life.

“What does it mean?” she finally asked.

Adrian was staring down at the photograph they'd found tucked next to the USB.

It was a picture of Lena's mother standing outside a hospital twenty years earlier.

She was cradling a baby in her arms—Lena.

Except that it wasn't just the two of them in the picture.

A man stood several feet behind Lena's mother.

Adrian's father.

“He was there,” Lena whispered.

Adrian nodded.

“My father knew about you.”

“But the note says I belong to Daniel.”

“I know.”

“And your father wanted me gone?”

Adrian's jaw tightened.

“That is what Victor claims.”

Lena's eyes flicked up to the USB drive in Adrian's hand.

“And this might prove it.”

Before Adrian could say anything, his phone rang.

Victor.

Adrian answered.

“Where is my mother?”

“Still alive.”

“Let me speak to her.”

A pause.

Then Lena's mother's voice came over the line.

“Lena?”

“Mom!”

“Don't trust him,” she warned.

The call went dead.

“Mom?”

Adrian's phone rang again.

He answered.

“You have the USB?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Bring it to the warehouse.”

“And then?”

“Then I give you the woman you both came looking for.”

“You expect me to believe you?”

“No.”

Victor chuckled.

“I expect you to have no choice.”

The line went dead.

Lena shot a look at Adrian.

“We're going.”

“No, we're not.”

She narrowed her eyes at him.

“You just agreed to meet him.”

“I agreed to nothing.”

“You're not giving him the USB.”

“Of course not.”

“Then what are we doing?”

Adrian glanced at the drive in his hands.

“Finding out what's on it first.”

They returned to Blackwood Enterprises just after midnight.

The executive floor was empty.

Lena followed Adrian inside his office as he plugged the USB into his computer.

A single folder opened on the screen.

CARTER FILE — 20 YEARS AGO

Lena's stomach twisted.

Adrian opened the folder.

Inside were financial records, photographs, emails, police reports... and a single video file.

He opened it.

The screen showed an old office.

A man Lena recognized at once sat behind a desk.

Adrian's father.

Across from him was Daniel Carter.

They were arguing.

Lena leaned closer to the screen.

Her father's voice was clear despite the poor quality of the recording.

“You can't erase what you've done.”

Adrian's father pushed himself to his feet.

“You don't understand what you're protecting.”

“I understand enough.”

“You'll destroy both families.”

Daniel shook his head.

“Only if you make me.”

The video ended.

Lena stared at the black screen.

“What did they do?”

Adrian didn't answer.

He opened another file.

A scanned document appeared on the screen.

It was a hospital record—Lena's birth date, her mother's name... and Daniel Carter listed as the person who had signed the emergency documents.

But there was no father listed.

Lena felt her heart break.

“So Victor was telling the truth.”

Adrian shook his head.

“Not completely.”

She looked up at him.

“What do you mean?”

He opened one final file.

A photograph appeared on the screen.

It showed Daniel holding a newborn baby.

Beside him stood Lena's mother.

And behind them both...

Adrian's father.

Except this time, there was someone else in the room.

Victor Hale.

Lena narrowed her eyes at the picture.

“Why was he there?”

Adrian zoomed in.

There was a document in Victor's hand.

A transfer agreement.

Lena's heart raced.

“What is that?”

Adrian read the heading.

“Guardianship.”

Silence filled the room.

Lena looked up at him.

“Guardianship of me?”

Adrian nodded slowly.

“Your parents didn't abandon you.”

“Then what happened?”

Adrian's eyes met hers.

“They gave you to Daniel.”

“Why?”

Adrian's eyes darkened.

“To hide you.”

“From your father?”

“From someone worse.”

Lena's blood ran cold.

“Who?”

Adrian's face went pale.

His computer suddenly flickered.

The files vanished from the screen.

All that remained was a message.

YOU SHOULD HAVE STOPPED AT THE SAFE.

Lena took a step back.

NOW HE KNOWS.

Adrian's expression darkened.

“Who?”

ASK ADRIAN WHAT HAPPENED TO HIS MOTHER.

Lena slowly turned to face him.

Adrian didn't look up.

“Your mother?” she asked.

His expression changed.

“Lena...”

“What happened to her?”

Lena's heart pounded in her chest.

He looked away.

“She’s dead.”

Lena's breath caught in her throat.

“How?”

Adrian was silent for a long moment.

Then he whispered the truth.

“My father killed her.”

Lena stared at him.

And suddenly she understood why Adrian had hated her from the moment they met.

Because every time he looked at her,

he didn't see Lena.

He saw the daughter of the woman his father had murdered.