Chapter 13: The Woman Promised My Son

“Your grandfather promised my baby to another woman?” I asked, unable to hide the anger in my voice.

The investigator nodded, holding the lawyer’s message on his phone. Adrian stood beside me, his expression hardening as he read it again.

“Who is this woman?” Adrian demanded.

“The lawyer refused to give me her name over the phone,” the investigator replied. “He insists that both of you must come to the estate before he reveals anything.”

I looked at Adrian.

“Your family has turned my child into an agreement, a secret, and now a bargaining tool. I want this settled tonight.”

Adrian reached for my hand, but I stepped away.

“We’ll go to the estate,” he said. “But I need you to understand that whoever is behind this may be dangerous.”

“I understood that when someone tried to shoot my mother.”

He fell silent.

The Blackwell estate was unusually quiet when we arrived. Two security guards stood at the entrance, and the lights inside the main building were on despite the late hour.

An elderly man waited in the drawing room, dressed in a dark suit and holding a leather briefcase.

“Mr. Adrian Blackwell,” he greeted. “I am Edward Collins. I served as your grandfather’s personal lawyer for over twenty years.”

Adrian didn’t offer him a seat.

“Tell us about the woman.”

Edward glanced at me before opening his briefcase.

“Your grandfather made an arrangement before Daniel was born. He intended the boy to be raised by a woman who could protect the Blackwell inheritance and preserve the family’s reputation.”

I frowned.

“My son is not an inheritance.”

“I understand your feelings, Mrs. Blackwell, but your grandfather believed the child would eventually become an important part of the family business.”

“Who was the woman?”

Edward removed a photograph and placed it on the table.

I leaned forward.

The woman in the picture had long blonde hair and a familiar smile. She wore an elegant white dress and stood beside my grandfather at what appeared to be a private celebration.

Adrian’s face changed.

“Victoria?”

I looked at him.

“That’s Victoria?”

He nodded slowly.

But the photograph was not the only thing inside the envelope.

Edward placed a second document beside it. It was a signed agreement stating that Victoria Sinclair would receive custody of Daniel Hayes, provided she agreed to keep the child’s true identity secret.

My stomach tightened.

“Why would Victoria want my son?”

“Your grandfather believed she was the safest person to raise him,” Edward explained. “She was already connected to the family, and he trusted her loyalty.”

Adrian gave a bitter laugh.

“My grandfather trusted Victoria?”

“He had his reasons.”

“What reasons?”

Edward hesitated.

“Because Victoria was his granddaughter.”

I felt the room tilt.

Adrian stared at him. “What did you just say?”

“Victoria was raised under a different identity, but she was your grandfather’s biological granddaughter. Her mother was his daughter from a relationship he kept hidden from the family.”

I remembered what Victoria had told me about being separated from my mother. I remembered the hospital records, the altered birth certificate, and Margaret’s confession.

Our family history was becoming more twisted with every revelation.

“So Victoria is my sister and Adrian’s aunt,” I whispered.

Edward nodded.

“And she was chosen to raise my son?”

“Yes.”

I pushed the agreement away.

“Where is Daniel now?”

Edward closed his briefcase.

“That is the part I cannot confirm.”

Adrian grabbed the man’s arm.

“You brought us here with documents and half-truths. If you know where that child is, tell us.”

“I don’t know his current location. But I know who arranged his transfer.”

“Who?”

Edward looked at me.

“Your mother.”

I shook my head immediately.

“No. She was trying to protect him.”

“Perhaps she was at first,” he replied. “But the last record shows that she signed the transfer documents herself.”

My mind raced.

Was my mother hiding something from me? Had she made an agreement to give my son away?

I wanted to reject the possibility, but the documents were becoming harder to ignore.

Adrian turned toward Edward.

“Show us the original transfer record.”

The lawyer removed another paper.

My mother’s signature was clearly visible at the bottom, dated eleven months earlier.

Beneath it was a handwritten note:

The child must be delivered to his father before the agreement expires.

I looked at Adrian.

“Who is Daniel’s father?”

Before he could answer, the drawing-room doors opened.

Victoria walked in.

Her forehead was still bandaged, and her face looked exhausted, but she carried herself with the confidence of someone who believed she still controlled the situation.

“You’ve all been asking the wrong question,” she said.

I stood up.

“Where is my son?”

Victoria ignored me and looked directly at Adrian.

“Your grandfather didn’t choose me because he trusted me. He chose me because I was the only person who knew the child’s real father.”

Adrian’s expression tightened.

“Then say his name.”

Victoria smiled sadly.

“You’re going to hate me when you find out.”

She turned toward me.

“And you, Elena, will finally understand why your mother was so desperate to keep you away from this family.”

Then she placed a final document on the table.

It was a DNA report.

This time, the result had been verified by the laboratory.

I read the first line, then the second.

My fingers went cold.

Daniel’s biological father was not Adrian Blackwell. It was the man who had supposedly died before I was born.

My father.