Chapter 2 - The Man Behind the Wrinkles
Adrian snatched the elderly mask from the desk.
"Don't speak."
Evelyn stared at him.
The door handle moved again.
Then stopped.
"Mr. Blackwood?" a man's voice called.
Adrian relaxed slightly.
"One moment."
He put the mask back on with practiced speed.
Evelyn watched, horrified, as the young man disappeared beneath Sebastian Blackwood's face.
When Adrian opened the door, the butler stood outside.
"Forgive me, sir. A vehicle has stopped at the south gate."
"Whose?"
"Daniel Vale's."
Evelyn's stomach tightened.
"My brother?"
The butler nodded.
"He says he must speak with Mrs. Blackwood immediately."
Adrian looked at Evelyn.
"Let him in."
Minutes later Daniel entered the study.
He looked pale.
"Evelyn, we need to leave."
She folded her arms.
"Why?"
Daniel glanced at Sebastian.
"I need to speak to my sister alone."
"No," Evelyn said.
Daniel stared at her.
"No?"
"Whatever you're hiding, say it."
His face drained further.
"Evelyn, Dad lied about the debt."
"What debt?"
"All of it."
Adrian became very still.
Daniel continued.
"Blackwood didn't save the company tonight."
Evelyn's pulse quickened.
"What are you talking about?"
"The company was already gone."
Richard had transferred most of Vale Development's assets months earlier.
Shell corporations.
Offshore accounts.
Fake creditors.
The apparent financial collapse had been manufactured.
Evelyn listened without interrupting.
"So why marry me off?"
Daniel swallowed.
"Because Dad wanted Blackwood's eighteen million."
"For what?"
"I don't know."
"You expect me to believe that?"
"I swear."
Adrian's voice came quietly.
"He's telling the truth about part of it."
Daniel looked at him.
"What?"
Adrian removed the mask.
Daniel screamed.
Actually screamed.
He crashed backward into a chair.
"What the hell?"
"My name is Adrian Blackwood."
Daniel stared.
"That's impossible."
Adrian walked toward him.
"Why?"
Daniel said nothing.
Adrian's expression sharpened.
"Why is that impossible, Daniel?"
Daniel looked toward Evelyn.
She saw terror.
Not surprise.
Terror.
"You knew his name," she said.
"No."
"You did."
Daniel shook his head.
Evelyn grabbed the photograph from the desk.
"Who is this woman?"
Daniel looked at it.
His lips parted.
Adrian watched him closely.
"You've seen her before."
Daniel stood.
"I need to go."
Adrian blocked the door.
"Not yet."
"I'm calling the police."
"Please do."
Daniel stopped.
Adrian smiled without warmth.
"I'd be interested to hear how you explain the accounts in Luxembourg."
Daniel went white.
Evelyn looked between them.
"What accounts?"
Neither answered.
She slammed the photograph against the desk.
"Stop."
Both men looked at her.
"I have spent three weeks being lied to. I was traded into a marriage I didn't choose. Tonight I discovered my husband isn't even the person I thought he was. So nobody leaves this room until somebody tells me the truth."
Adrian stepped aside.
"Fair."
Daniel sank into a chair.
The story came slowly.
Twenty-seven years earlier, Richard Vale had not owned Vale Development.
He had worked for another property company.
Blackwood & Mercer.
Its founder was Sebastian Blackwood.
Adrian's grandfather.
The woman in the photograph was Claire Mercer.
Adrian's mother.
Evelyn looked at Adrian.
"Your mother?"
He nodded.
Claire had discovered that Richard was falsifying property documents and secretly transferring land from elderly owners through fraudulent contracts.
She prepared evidence.
Before she could expose him, she disappeared.
Three weeks later, Richard left Blackwood & Mercer.
Within a year, he founded Vale Development.
Using properties that had once belonged to Blackwood clients.
"What happened to Claire?" Evelyn asked.
Adrian didn't answer immediately.
"Her car was found in a river."
Evelyn covered her mouth.
"No body was recovered."
Daniel stared at the floor.
"And you think Dad—"
"I know he was involved."
"How?"
Adrian opened a drawer.
Inside was a cassette tape.
"My grandfather recorded his final conversation with Claire."
Evelyn stared at it.
"What's on it?"
"Her saying Richard's name."
Daniel stood abruptly.
"That's not proof."
"No," Adrian said. "It isn't."
"Then this whole thing—"
"That's why I needed Richard to believe Sebastian was alive."
Evelyn frowned.
"Your grandfather?"
"Died eighteen months ago."
"But newspapers—"
"His death was kept private. He lived in complete seclusion for years. Very few people had direct access to him."
"So you became him?"
"For certain meetings."
"That's insane."
"It worked."
Evelyn looked at the wedding ring on her finger.
"You used me."
Adrian didn't deny it.
"I needed access to your family."
"You bought it."
"Yes."
The honesty hurt more than an excuse would have.
Evelyn pulled off the ring.
Adrian didn't stop her.
"You could have told me."
"I didn't know whether you were part of it."
She slapped him.
The sound cracked through the room.
Daniel stared.
Adrian didn't move.
"You don't get to say that," Evelyn whispered.
"I know."
"No, you don't."
She threw the ring onto the desk.
"You looked me in the eye while my father sold me and let me believe I was marrying an old man."
"Yes."
"Why me?"
Adrian's jaw tightened.
"Because Richard offered you."
Silence.
Evelyn felt something inside her fracture.
Daniel whispered her name.
She turned on him.
"And you knew?"
"I knew Dad was planning something."
"Did you know about the eighteen million?"
Daniel didn't answer.
That was enough.
Evelyn walked toward the door.
Adrian stepped aside.
She stopped beside him.
"Our marriage is over."
"If that's what you want."
"It is."
She opened the door.
Then Daniel spoke.
"Evelyn."
She turned.
His hands were shaking.
"There's something else."
Adrian looked at him.
Daniel reached inside his jacket.
He removed a small envelope.
"I found this in Dad's safe tonight."
He handed it to Evelyn.
On the front was her name.
Not Evelyn Vale.
Evelyn Mercer.
Her fingers went numb.
She looked at Adrian.
Then at Daniel.
"What is this?"
Daniel whispered, "That's why I came back."
Evelyn opened the envelope.
Inside was a birth certificate.
She unfolded it.
Her mother's name was not Margaret Vale.
It was Claire Mercer.
And beneath Father's Name was a signature Evelyn recognized immediately.
Sebastian Blackwood.
Before she could speak, footsteps sounded in the hallway.
Heavy.
Fast.
Then Richard Vale's voice came from outside.
May you like
"Open the door."
He wasn't alone...
