“I didn’t leave because of Victoria,” she said. “I left because someone else came to the hospital after the twins were born.”
“Who?”
She tightened her fingers around the door.
“I
don’t know his name. But he knew about you. He knew about the children. And he told me that if I stayed in Chicago, your enemies would find us before you ever did.”Hire Babysitters
Behind me, Marcus went still.
Evelyn looked directly at me.
“That man gave me the address of the apartment in Cambridge.”
A cold unease moved through me.
“Did Victoria send him?”
“I thought she had.”
“And now?”
Evelyn shook her head.
“Now I’m not sure.”
She reached into the folder and withdrew a photograph, older and more faded than the others.
It showed the hospital corridor outside the maternity ward.
A man stood near the elevators, his face turned partly away from the camera.
But the signet ring on his right hand was visible.
Marcus stepped closer.
He stared at the image for several seconds, then whispered, “Boss.”
“What?”
“That ring belonged to your father’s private attorney.”
I looked back at Evelyn.
She held the photograph out to me.
On the reverse, written in blue ink, was a message neither of us had seen before.
If Adrian ever finds you, ask him what happened to his father’s missing ledger.Get Parenting Tips
PART 4 (THE END)
I looked back at the photograph.
The man stood beneath the hospital’s fluorescent lights, one shoulder turned toward the camera. His face was indistinct, but the ring was not.
A black onyx stone surrounded by a narrow silver band.
I had seen it on my father’s hand countless times.
Not my father’s attorney.Get Parenting Tips
My father’s private accountant, Daniel Vale.
“He died,” I said.
Marcus’s expression remained fixed on the photograph. “The records say he died three years ago.”
“Three years ago,” Evelyn repeated. “When I left Chicago.”
The timing settled between us.
I studied the image again. “Are you certain it’s his ring?”
Marcus
nodded. “Your father had it made after your grandfather died. Daniel wore it whenever he represented the family.”Get Parenting Tips
