Chapter 14: Adrian Could No Longer Lie

We found Adrian at the Bellamy flagship restaurant just before closing.

He was sitting alone in the private dining room, staring at his phone.

The moment he saw Graham, his expression changed.

Then he noticed Tessa.

His face went completely pale.

“What are you doing here?” Adrian asked.

Tessa stepped forward.

“I know.”

Adrian's eyes flicked toward Celeste's empty chair.

“Know what?”

“That Graham isn't my biological father.”

Adrian said nothing.

Tessa's voice shook.

“You knew, didn't you?”

He looked away.

That was enough.

Tessa laughed bitterly.

“Thirty-two years. You knew for thirty-two years.”

Adrian finally spoke.

“I was sixteen. I didn't understand everything.”

“But you understood enough to keep lying.”

He clenched his fists.

“Mom told me Dad would lose everything if the truth came out.”

Graham's voice was cold.

“So you helped her.”

Adrian looked at him.

“I protected our family.”

“By destroying mine?” I asked.

He turned toward me.

“Nora, it wasn't supposed to go this far.”

I placed the certified DNA report on the table.

“You told everyone Owen wasn't your son.”

“The report was fake.”

“You knew it was fake.”

He didn't answer.

“You prepared divorce papers before the accusation.”

Silence.

“You moved our money into a trust.”

His eyes narrowed.

“That money was for Owen.”

“Without telling me.”

“I was trying to protect him.”

I almost laughed.

“You protected him by publicly calling him a bastard?”

Adrian lowered his head.

For the first time, he looked ashamed.

But I wasn't finished.

“You threatened me when I started investigating your mother.”

He looked up sharply.

“I never meant for Owen to get hurt.”

“You didn't have to mean it. You did it anyway.”

Tessa stepped between us.

“What happened to Marcus?”

Adrian froze.

That single question destroyed whatever remained of his composure.

“I don't know.”

“You lied again.”

He looked at Graham.

“Dad, I was a kid.”

Graham's eyes were filled with disappointment.

“You were sixteen when you saw him leave. But you were twenty-four when he died. You had eight years to tell me.”

Adrian's shoulders dropped.

“Mom made me promise.”

“And you kept that promise?” Graham asked.

“Yes.”

I opened my phone and played the recovered recording from the restaurant.

Celeste's voice filled the room.

“If Graham finds out what happened that night, we're all finished.”

Adrian closed his eyes.

Then I played his message about the fake DNA report.

“The report must say the child isn't mine. Nothing else.”

His face drained of color.

“Where did you get that?”

“From the original server.”

Officer Brooks stepped into the room behind us.

“And we've already preserved the evidence.”

Adrian stared at her.

For several seconds, nobody spoke.

Finally, he whispered, “My mother forged the financial records.”

Graham stiffened.

“What else?”

Adrian swallowed.

“She arranged the accident.”

Tessa covered her mouth.

I stared at him.

“You knew?”

“I knew she wanted Marcus gone. I didn't know she would cause an accident.”

Graham's face turned ashen.

“And you said nothing.”

Adrian began to cry.

“I was afraid.”

I looked at the man I had once loved.

In my previous life, I had spent years trying to make him choose me.

This time, I finally understood.

He had already chosen.

Not me.

Not Owen.

His mother's secrets.

I picked up my bag.

“Then let the truth choose what happens to you next.”