The car disappeared before the officer could reach the gate.
Daniel ran outside.
The officer followed.
Adrian remained beside the table, staring at Thomas's letter.
Evelyn watched him.
He looked older than he had an hour earlier.
Not because of the truth itself.
Because so many memories had suddenly acquired different meanings.
His father's temper.
His mother's silence.
The hospital bracelet.
The years of unanswered questions.
All of them had existed long before Adrian knew to ask.
Claire sat beside him.
“You don't have to decide anything tonight.”
Adrian folded the letter.
“I already decided something.”
“What?”
“I need to know who my father was.”
Evelyn understood.
Not because she agreed with the need.
Because she knew the question would not leave him alone.
Daniel returned a few minutes later.
He was holding a small black notebook.
“I found this in the car.”
Evelyn looked at it.
“Whose?”
“Victor's.”
Martin stared.
“That can't be.”
Daniel placed it on the table.
“It was hidden under the spare tire.”
Martin's face changed.
Adrian opened the notebook.
Most of the pages contained numbers.
Dates.
Names.
Account references.
Then he found a page with one sentence.
Maria knew.
Below it was another.
Thomas knows.
And beneath that:
Martin doesn't.
Adrian looked up.
“What does that mean?”
Martin stepped closer.
“I don't know.”
Daniel shook his head.
“There are more pages.”
The notebook contained a series of initials.
T.M.
M.H.
V.H.
M.B.
And finally A.M.
Adrian looked at the last set.
“What does A.M. mean?”
Evelyn felt a strange chill.
“Your initials.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“My initials are A.M.”
Daniel looked at him.
“Exactly.”
Adrian turned the page.
A date appeared.
The date of his birth.
Under it was a sentence.
The child is mine, but Thomas believes otherwise.
Adrian's breathing changed.
Martin stepped backward.
“Victor knew.”
“Yes,” Daniel said.
“He knew Adrian was his son.”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't he come back?”
Daniel answered quietly.
“Because your grandfather told him Maria and Adrian were dead.”
Adrian looked at the notebook.
“And Thomas believed Victor was dead.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did Thomas keep investigating?”
“Because he eventually learned that Victor had survived.”
“When?”
“Six months ago.”
Adrian stared.
“That's when Dad became afraid.”
Evelyn nodded.
“Yes.”
Daniel continued.
“Thomas believed Victor might return.”
“Did he?”
“No.”
“What happened to him?”
Daniel looked at Martin.
Martin whispered, “My father found him first.”
Evelyn's eyes narrowed.
“Your father is dead.”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Four years ago.”
“Then who killed Victor?”
Martin looked at the floor.
“My father didn't.”
Daniel interrupted.
“Martin did.”
Adrian stood.
“What?”
Martin looked at him.
“I didn't mean to.”
“You killed my biological father?”
“It was an accident.”
Daniel's face was hard.
“Tell him.”
Martin closed his eyes.
“Victor came to me.”
“When?”
“Six months ago.”
“Why?”
“He wanted to know where you were.”
“And?”
“I told him.”
Evelyn's expression changed.
“You told him about Adrian?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I thought he deserved to know.”
Adrian stared.
“What happened?”
Martin swallowed.
“Victor went to see Thomas.”
“And?”
“They argued.”
“About me?”
“Yes.”
“Then what?”
“Victor said he would expose everything.”
“Everything?”
“The fraud. Maria's death. The identity of your father. All of it.”
Adrian's voice dropped.
“And you stopped him.”
Martin shook his head.
“I tried to stop him from taking the records.”
“You killed him.”
“He fell.”
“Did you call for help?”
Martin said nothing.
Adrian understood.
“No.”
“I was afraid.”
“Again.”
Martin looked at him.
“Yes.”
Adrian turned away.
Evelyn touched his shoulder.
He didn't pull away.
That was the first time all night he had allowed anyone to comfort him.
Daniel opened the final page of Victor's notebook.
There was a name.
Evelyn read it.
She knew it.
Everyone did.
Thomas's old attorney.
Samuel Reed.
The man who had handled Thomas's estate.
The man who had attended the funeral.
The man who had told Evelyn that Thomas's will was straightforward.
The man who had called her two days ago to ask whether she had found anything unusual in the office.
Evelyn felt sick.
“He knew.”
Daniel nodded.
“He was the one Thomas was afraid of.”
Adrian looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because Samuel handled the transfers.”
Martin stared.
“He wasn't working for my father.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
“He was working for himself.”
Evelyn remembered Samuel's question.
Have you found any unusual documents?
At the time, it had seemed harmless.
Now it sounded different.
She picked up her phone.
There were three missed calls from Samuel.
The latest had arrived two minutes earlier.
A message followed.
We need to talk before the police find the wrong evidence.
Adrian read it.
“He's still nearby.”
The officer took the phone.
“We'll find him.”
Evelyn looked toward Thomas's urn.
“He knew.”
Daniel nodded.
“He knew Samuel was stealing from him.”
“Then why didn't he expose him?”
“Because Samuel had proof that Victor was Adrian's father.”
Evelyn understood.
Samuel had been using the truth as leverage.
“He threatened Thomas.”
“Yes.”
“With Adrian?”
“Yes.”
Adrian looked down.
“So Dad kept quiet to protect me.”
Evelyn said softly, “That is what he believed he was doing.”
Adrian stared at Thomas's photograph.
“He should have trusted me.”
“Yes.”
It was the first time Evelyn had admitted that Thomas had made the wrong choice.
Daniel looked toward the garden.
“There is one more thing.”
“What?”
“Victor left a recording.”
Adrian turned.
“Where?”
Daniel pointed toward the urn.
“Thomas hid it there.”
Evelyn looked at the brass container.
“Inside?”
“No.”
He walked to the table and lifted the arrangement of lilies.
Beneath the flowers was a small recording device.
Evelyn stared.
Thomas had hidden it beside his own ashes.
Daniel pressed the button.
Victor's voice filled the room.
“If Thomas is hearing this, then Martin has already told him enough.”
A pause.
“I never wanted Adrian's money.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“I wanted my son to know I existed.”
Adrian looked down.
Victor continued.
“I don't know whether I will survive long enough to meet him.”
Static.
Then his voice returned.
“If I don't, tell him one thing.”
The recording crackled.
“Thomas raised him because I couldn't.”
Adrian's eyes filled.
Victor continued.
“Blood gave him my face. Thomas gave him his life.”
The recording ended.
Nobody spoke.
Adrian sat beside the urn.
He placed his hand on it.
For a long time, he said nothing.
Then the front door opened.
Samuel Reed walked inside.
He wasn't running.
He wasn't hiding.
He carried a briefcase.
And he looked directly at Evelyn.
“I believe you finally understand why Thomas couldn't tell you the truth.”
The officer raised his weapon.
Samuel stopped.
Then he smiled faintly.
“You should hear what he left out.”
Click Here to continue read next: PART8: Thomas’s Last Missing Truth Finally Emerged, and Adrian Learned That the Family He Had Lost Was Not the Family He Had Been Imagining
She Had Invited Them Into Her Husband’s House for One Last Goodbye, but the Young Couple Arrived Expecting Something Far More Valuable
Part 7 of 16
