The officer raised his weapon slightly.
“Step away from the glass.”
The stranger did not move.
He kept one hand against the door, the photograph pressed flat against the pane. Sunlight caught the image for a moment, making the faces difficult to see. Evelyn could still make out Thomas, Maria, and the boy standing between them.
Adrian was breathing hard.
“Who is he?”
Nobody answered.
Martin seemed unable to take his eyes off the stranger.
Evelyn turned toward him.
“You said he was dead.”
“I said Thomas believed he was dead.”
“That isn't what you told me.”
Martin's mouth tightened.
“I was trying to protect you.”
“You've done a poor job of it.”
The stranger tapped the glass twice.
Then he pointed toward the urn.
Evelyn looked at Thomas's photograph beside it.
Something about the gesture bothered her.
It wasn't threatening.
It was almost respectful.
She walked toward the door.
The officer caught her arm.
“Mrs. Mercer, don't.”
“He came here to show us something.”
“He could be armed.”
“He could have been standing outside with a gun. Instead, he brought a photograph.”
The officer did not release her.
Evelyn looked through the glass.
The stranger's face had aged, but there was something familiar about his eyes.
Not Adrian's exactly.
Something older.
Something that reminded her of Thomas on the rare occasions when he was too tired to hide what he was thinking.
She stepped back.
“Open it.”
“No,” the officer said.
Evelyn looked at him.
“Then ask him what he wants.”
The officer opened the door only a few inches.
“Sir, identify yourself.”
The stranger answered in a calm voice.
“Daniel Bell.”
Martin closed his eyes.
Evelyn felt her stomach tighten.
“Bell?”
Daniel looked directly at her.
“Maria was my sister.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“You knew my mother?”
Daniel's eyes moved to him.
“I knew your mother better than anyone left alive.”
Evelyn's voice was barely audible.
“Then why did Thomas say she was dead?”
“She was.”
Daniel lowered the photograph.
“She died eleven years ago.”
Adrian stared at him.
“Then why are you here now?”
“Because Thomas asked me to come.”
Evelyn felt a coldness spread through her chest.
“Thomas was dead when you came.”
Daniel nodded.
“He contacted me before he died.”
Martin suddenly spoke.
“That isn't possible.”
Daniel looked at him.
“You should know better than anyone.”
Martin stepped closer.
“What did he tell you?”
Daniel reached into his pocket.
The officer immediately raised his weapon again.
Daniel stopped.
Slowly, he removed a small envelope.
He placed it on the ground just inside the doorway.
“Thomas told me to give this to Evelyn only after the funeral.”
Evelyn looked at the envelope.
Her name was written across it.
In Thomas's handwriting.
She knew the slant of those letters.
The way he crossed the E.
The slight pressure at the end of his name.
Her hands began to shake.
She took the envelope.
Inside was one sheet of paper.
Evelyn,
If Daniel has come, then I failed to finish what I started.
Do not believe everything he tells you.
But do not send him away.
She read the lines twice.
Then there was another sentence.
The truth about Adrian is not what they want you to believe.
Evelyn looked up.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
Daniel answered quietly.
“Because Thomas didn't want you to know until he had proof.”
“Proof of what?”
Daniel looked at Martin.
“That the man who stole from Thomas was not the person Thomas originally suspected.”
Martin's face changed.
Evelyn noticed.
“So you knew.”
Martin shook his head.
“I knew there was fraud. I didn't know who was behind it.”
Daniel gave a bitter smile.
“You knew enough to hide.”
“I was protecting myself.”
“From what?”
“Prison.”
Adrian stepped between them.
“What does any of this have to do with me?”
Daniel looked at him for a long moment.
“Everything.”
Adrian's expression hardened.
“You aren't my father.”
“No.”
“You aren't my uncle.”
Daniel hesitated.
“I am.”
Adrian looked confused.
“Then Maria was your sister.”
“Yes.”
“And you're saying Thomas wasn't my biological father.”
“No.”
“Then who was?”
Daniel glanced at Evelyn.
“That is the question Thomas spent twenty-nine years trying to answer.”
The officer lowered his weapon slightly.
“Everyone needs to move inside.”
They gathered around the dining table.
Daniel remained near the door.
He seemed unwilling to sit.
Evelyn placed Thomas's letter beside the urn.
“Tell me about Maria.”
Daniel looked at the flowers.
“She was twenty-four when Adrian was born. She worked in one of Thomas's warehouses. She was clever, stubborn, and terrified of powerful men.”
“Why was she afraid?”
“She had discovered financial records being altered.”
Evelyn looked toward Martin.
Daniel continued.
“She found payments being made to a company that existed only on paper.”
Martin said nothing.
“Maria copied the records.”
“And then?”
“She became pregnant.”
“With Adrian?”
Daniel nodded.
“But she never knew who the father was.”
Adrian's face tightened.
Daniel continued.
“She had been seeing two men.”
Thomas was one of them.
The room went silent.
Evelyn stared at him.
“Thomas?”
Daniel nodded.
“He believed the child was his.”
“And Maria?”
“She never confirmed it.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
Thomas had known.
Or believed.
Or hoped.
All those years.
Daniel continued.
“After Adrian was born, Maria disappeared. Thomas searched for her.”
“Why?”
“Because someone was threatening her.”
“Who?”
Daniel looked toward Martin.
Martin whispered, “Not me.”
Daniel said, “You knew the man.”
Martin stared at him.
Evelyn's attention sharpened.
“Who?”
Daniel reached into his coat again.
This time he removed another photograph.
He placed it on the table.
The photograph showed a younger Martin standing beside a man Evelyn recognized from the first photograph.
The same man who had supposedly been dead.
Adrian picked it up.
“Who is he?”
Daniel answered.
“Victor Hale.”
Martin's face collapsed.
Evelyn looked at him.
“Hale?”
Martin nodded slowly.
“My brother.”
The room seemed to contract.
“You told me you were an only child,” Evelyn said.
“I lied.”
“Why?”
“Because Victor was dangerous.”
Daniel shook his head.
“Victor wasn't the one who became dangerous.”
Martin looked at him.
“What are you saying?”
Daniel pointed toward the blue folder.
“Thomas discovered the money trail led back to you.”
Martin stood abruptly.
“No.”
Evelyn did not move.
“You were the one.”
“I didn't steal the money.”
“Then why did Thomas photograph you?”
Martin's eyes filled with panic.
“Because I was helping him.”
Daniel gave a quiet laugh.
“You were helping yourself.”
Martin turned toward the door.
The officer blocked him.
“Sit down.”
Martin obeyed.
Adrian looked at Evelyn.
“Mum.”
She met his eyes.
“I don't know what is true anymore.”
He looked at the urn.
“Dad knew.”
“Yes.”
“He knew I wasn't his son.”
“He believed you might not be.”
“That isn't the same thing.”
“No.”
Adrian swallowed.
“But he still called me his son.”
Evelyn's eyes filled.
“Yes.”
Daniel reached into his pocket once more.
“This is why I came.”
He placed a folded medical report on the table.
Thomas had arranged a DNA test two weeks before his death.
Adrian stared at the page.
Evelyn couldn't look.
The officer picked it up.
He read the result.
Then he looked at Adrian.
“The report says Thomas Mercer is not your biological father.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
Evelyn reached for him.
He allowed her hand to rest against his shoulder.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Daniel said quietly, “But the test was not the only one Thomas ordered.”
Adrian opened his eyes.
Daniel looked at him.
“He tested you against me.”
Adrian frowned.
“Why?”
Daniel placed another report on the table.
The result was clear.
Daniel Bell was Adrian's biological uncle.
Which meant Maria was unquestionably Adrian's mother.
But the identity of Adrian's father remained unknown.
Daniel leaned back.
“Thomas knew one more person had to be tested.”
Evelyn looked toward Martin.
Martin's face had gone completely white.
Daniel said the name.
“Martin Hale.”
Click Here to continue read next: PART6: The Second DNA Result Exposed a Secret Thomas Had Chased for Decades, While the Blue Folder Revealed Why Someone Needed the Truth Buried
She Had Invited Them Into Her Husband’s House for One Last Goodbye, but the Young Couple Arrived Expecting Something Far More Valuable
Part 5 of 16
