Chapter 2 — The Name He Couldn’t Forget

Lena stared at the photograph in Adrian's hand.

She couldn't make sense of what she was seeing.

Her father stood beside a younger Adrian Blackwood, looking relaxed and almost happy. On Adrian's other side was a beautiful woman with dark hair and a smile Lena had never seen before.

Three people.

One photograph.

And somehow, all three were connected to her.

“My father knew you?” Lena asked.

Adrian didn't answer.

He kept staring at the photograph as though he were looking at a ghost.

“Mr. Blackwood?”

His jaw tightened.

“Your father wasn't supposed to have anything to do with you.”

Lena frowned.

“What does that mean?”

Adrian placed the photograph on the desk.

“Did your mother ever talk about him?”

“Of course she did. He was my father.”

“That's not what I asked.”

Lena crossed her arms.

“She said he was a good man. Hardworking. Quiet. She never told me much else.”

Adrian gave a humorless laugh.

“He wasn't quiet.”

Lena's eyebrows pulled together.

“You knew him.”

“I knew the man he pretended to be.”

Something cold settled in her stomach.

“What did he do?”

Adrian looked at her.

For a moment, Lena saw something behind his anger.

Pain.

Old and deeply buried.

Then it disappeared.

“That's none of your concern.”

“You just showed me a photograph of my father standing beside you.”

“And I'm telling you to stay out of it.”

Lena stared at him.

“You can't do that.”

“I can.”

“No, you can't.”

Adrian's expression hardened.

“You've been in this office for less than a day, Ms. Carter. Don't make the mistake of thinking you know me.”

“I don't think I know you.”

“Good.”

“But I know my father.”

“Do you?”

The question hit harder than Lena expected.

She swallowed.

“Yes.”

Adrian stepped closer.

“Then why don't you know what he did to me?”

Lena opened her mouth, but no words came.

Adrian walked past her and returned to his desk.

“This conversation is over.”

She stared at him.

“Am I fired?”

His hand stopped over a document.

“No.”

“Then what am I supposed to do?”

“Work.”

Lena almost laughed.

Of course.

She had somehow managed to get a job with the most infuriating man in the city, and now her dead father had become part of the mystery.

She picked up the photograph.

“Can I keep this?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because it's mine.”

Lena reluctantly placed it back on the desk.

Before she could walk away, Adrian spoke.

“Don't tell anyone about this.”

She turned.

“Why?”

“Because if people find out you're Daniel Carter's daughter, your position here will become complicated.”

“Complicated how?”

Adrian's eyes met hers.

“Dangerous.”

The word silenced her.

Lena's phone suddenly vibrated.

She looked at the screen.

Mom.

She answered immediately.

“Mom?”

“Lena, listen to me carefully.”

Her mother's voice sounded frightened.

“What's wrong?”

“Don't trust that man.”

Lena looked at Adrian.

He was watching her.

“Who?”

“Adrian Blackwood.”

Lena's grip tightened around the phone.

“How do you know him?”

There was a long silence.

Then her mother whispered—

“Because your father told me what happened.”

Lena's heart raced.

“What happened?”

“He said Adrian would never forgive him.”

Adrian's eyes narrowed.

Lena turned away from him.

“Mom, what did Dad do?”

“I can't explain this over the phone.”

“Then tell me now.”

“I was wrong to let you take that job.”

Lena froze.

“What do you mean?”

“I should have stopped you.”

“Mom—”

“Leave that company, Lena.”

Her voice cracked.

“Leave before Adrian finds out who you really are.”

Lena's blood ran cold.

“What does that mean?”

But the call ended.

“Mom?”

Nothing.

Lena lowered the phone slowly.

When she turned around, Adrian was standing directly behind her.

His expression was unreadable.

“What did your mother say?”

Lena stepped back.

“Nothing.”

“Don't lie to me.”

“I wasn't.”

“You were.”

His voice was low.

Dangerously calm.

Lena lifted her chin.

“My mother's personal life isn't your business.”

Adrian's eyes darkened.

“Neither is yours.”

“Then stop asking questions.”

For several seconds, neither of them moved.

The tension between them felt almost physical.

Adrian finally stepped aside.

“Go home.”

“What?”

“Take the rest of the day off.”

“But I have work.”

“I said go.”

Lena grabbed her bag.

“Fine.”

She walked toward the door.

Her hand had just touched the handle when Adrian spoke again.

“Lena.”

She stopped.

It was the first time he had called her by her first name.

She turned.

His expression had changed.

There was something almost vulnerable in his eyes.

“Don't ask your mother about Daniel Carter.”

Lena frowned.

“Why?”

Adrian looked away.

“Because some truths are better left buried.”

She left without answering.

But as the elevator doors closed, Lena knew one thing.

She wasn't going to leave.

Not now.

Not when everyone seemed determined to keep her from discovering the truth.

And she certainly wasn't going to let Adrian Blackwood scare her away.

What Lena didn't know was that Adrian wasn't afraid of her discovering the truth.

He was afraid of what would happen when she did.

Because the secret her father had taken to his grave wasn't about business.

It was about the woman in the photograph.

The woman Adrian had loved.

The woman who had disappeared twenty years ago.

And the woman who happened to be—

Lena's mother.