PART 2 — THE SECRET VANESSA LEFT BEHIND

Adrian’s hand closed around the car door.

“Get inside.”

I didn’t move.

“No.”

His eyes met mine.

“Evelyn—”

“You don’t give me orders anymore.”

Something flickered across his face.

Six years ago, he would have argued.

Instead, he stepped back.

“Fine.”

His voice was quiet.

“But please.”

That word stopped me.

Adrian Moretti had never said please to me.

Not once.

I looked at Noah and Lily.

Then at the men scanning the airport.

“Where are you taking us?”

“Somewhere secure.”

“I don’t trust your definition of secure.”

“You shouldn’t.”

He looked at the airport entrance.

“But right now, trust me enough to get your children somewhere safe.”

My chest тιԍнтened.

Before I could answer, his phone rang.

He answered.

“Speak.”

Silence.

His expression changed.

“What do you mean she’s been found?”

I stared at him.

He turned away.

“Where?”

Another pause.

Then his jaw clenched.

“I’m coming.”

He ended the call.

“What happened?”

He looked at me.

“They found Vanessa.”

My heart stopped.

“Alive?”

He didn’t answer immediately.

That frightened me more than anything.

“She was found in an abandoned warehouse.”

My hand тιԍнтened around Lily’s.

“Is she alive?”

“Yes.”

I exhaled.

Then Adrian added,

“But she left something behind.”

“What?”

“A file.”

He looked at the twins.

“Your children’s names are inside it.”

My blood ran cold.

“What else?”

His eyes met mine.

“Your address.”

I couldn’t breathe.

“That’s impossible.”

“I know.”

“Who had access to that information?”

Adrian’s face hardened.

“That’s what we’re going to find out.”

I stared at him.

“Take me to her.”

“No.”

“Adrian—”

“She asked for you.”

I froze.

“Vanessa?”

He nodded.

“She told the men who found her that she would only speak to you.”

My stomach twisted.

After six years, the woman Adrian had chosen over me was lying in an abandoned warehouse, asking for me.

I didn’t understand.

But I knew one thing.

This was no longer about an old marriage.

It was about my children.

We drove through Chicago with three SUVs surrounding us.

Noah sat beside me.

Lily slept against my shoulder.

Across from us, Adrian stared silently through the window.

He hadn’t taken his eyes off the children since we left the airport.

Finally, Noah opened his eyes.

He studied Adrian.

Then asked quietly,

“Are you my dad?”

The car went silent.

I looked at Adrian.

His face seemed to break.

He crouched slightly so he was at Noah’s eye level.

“I think I am.”

Noah frowned.

“You look like me.”

Adrian swallowed.

“You look exactly like me.”

Lily woke.

“Are you our daddy too?”

Adrian looked at both children.

His eyes turned red.

“Yes.”

One word.

Barely audible.

But I heard everything behind it.

Six years of ignorance.

Six years of lost birthdays.

Six years of missed first steps, first words, first days of school.

And suddenly, Adrian looked at me.

“I can’t get those years back.”

“No.”

“But if you’ll let me…”

His voice broke.

“I won’t lose another day.”

I looked away.

Because some part of me wanted to believe him.

Then the phone rang again.

Adrian answered.

His expression changed.

“What’s wrong?”

The voice on the other end said something.

He slowly looked at me.

“What?”

I whispered.

He didn’t answer.

He simply handed me the phone.

A woman’s frightened voice came through.

“Evelyn?”

I froze.

“Vanessa?”

Her breathing was ragged.

“Listen to me carefully.”

I gripped the phone.

“What happened?”

There was a long silence.

Then Vanessa whispered:

“Adrian isn’t the person you should be afraid of.”

My blood ran cold.

“Then who?”

Her voice dropped to almost nothing.

“The person who ordered your children watched six years ago…”

A sharp sound interrupted her.

Then silence.

“Vanessa?”

Nothing.

I looked at Adrian.

He was already reaching for his weapon.

And then my phone received one final message.

A pH๏τograph.

It showed Noah and Lily sleeping in their Harvard apartment.

Taken through the window.

The timestamp was from the night before.

Beneath it were five words:

WE KNOW WHERE THEY SLEEP.