CHAPTER 3: THE SECRET BEHIND ADRIAN VALE
Adrian did not move.
For almost ten seconds, he simply stared at the message on his phone.
I had seen Adrian face angry investors.
I had seen him handle hostile negotiations.
I had seen him stand in front of hundreds of people and speak with complete confidence.
But I had never seen him look like this.
Not once.
His face had lost all color.
His hand holding the phone was trembling.
And that frightened me more than his anger ever had.
Because Adrian Vale was a man who always controlled the room.
Tonight…
Something outside his control had entered it.
“Adrian?”
Vanessa touched his arm.
He immediately pulled away.
The reaction was so sudden that even she looked shocked.
“What did you receive?”
She tried to look at his phone.
Adrian locked the screen.
“Nothing.”
The answer came too quickly.
A lie.
A bad one.
I watched him carefully.
“Nothing doesn’t make you look terrified.”
His eyes snapped toward me.
For a moment, I saw the old Adrian.
The arrogant man.
The man who believed he could manipulate every situation.
“Don’t pretend you understand what’s happening.”
His voice was cold.
But it lacked strength.
I tilted my head.
“Maybe I understand more than you think.”
“You don’t know anything.”
I almost laughed.
Three years ago, that sentence would have hurt.
Tonight, it only sounded desperate.
“Then why are you afraid?”
He didn’t answer.
Because he knew.
He knew I had noticed.
He knew everyone had noticed.
The lawyer standing beside him looked uncomfortable.
“Mr. Vale…”
Adrian turned sharply.
“What?”
The lawyer lowered his voice.
“Maybe we should discuss this privately.”
“No.”
Adrian looked at me.
His eyes were filled with suspicion.
“No more secrets.”
The irony almost made me smile.
The man who had spent years hiding things from me suddenly wanted honesty.
The lawyer hesitated.
Then opened his briefcase.
“There are documents that need your attention.”
He placed several papers on the table.
I didn’t need to read them.
I already knew what they were.
Corporate damage.
Emergency board actions.
Financial reviews.
The beginning of the collapse.
But Adrian wasn’t looking at those papers.
He was looking at his phone.
At that unknown message.
“What did they send you?”
I asked.
He ignored me.
“Who gave you this number?”
The lawyer looked confused.
“Excuse me?”
“Who contacted me?”
“I don’t know.”
Adrian grabbed his jacket.
“I need to make a call.”
Vanessa followed him immediately.
“Adrian, wait.”
He stopped.
“What?”
Her voice softened.
A completely different woman from the one who had stood beside me smiling while I was on the floor.
“Are we still leaving together?”
That question froze the room.
Because it revealed something.
Even Vanessa wasn’t sure anymore.
Adrian stared at her.
And for the first time…
He didn’t look at her like the woman he loved.
He looked at her like a possible problem.
A person who might become dangerous.
“You should go home.”
Vanessa’s face changed.
“What?”
“Just go.”
She stepped closer.
“But Adrian—”
“I said go.”
The coldness in his voice shocked her.
Because she had believed she had replaced me.
She had believed she had won.
But she had only been useful while Adrian felt powerful.
Now that his power was disappearing…
So was his affection.
Vanessa looked at me.
Her eyes filled with hatred.
“This is because of you.”
I looked at her.
“No.”
I shook my head.
“This is because you both believed lies were stronger than the truth.”
She opened her mouth.
But no words came.
Because deep down…
She knew.
Then she walked away.
The mansion doors closed behind her.
Leaving only me and Adrian.
The man I had married.
The man who had destroyed me.
The man who suddenly looked like he needed answers.
“You knew.”
His voice was quiet.
I looked at him.
“Knew what?”
“That my father knew.”
I frowned.
“Your father?”
He laughed bitterly.
A humorless sound.
“No.”
He looked away.
“My father.”
The words made me pause.
Because Adrian had never talked about his family.
Not really.
He always said his parents were gone.
That he had built everything alone.
That he came from nothing.
But now…
Something didn’t add up.
“What are you talking about?”
Adrian walked toward the fireplace.
For the first time, he looked exhausted.
“My last name wasn’t always Vale.”
I stayed silent.
“My father was Andrew Mercer.”
The name meant nothing to me.
But the way Adrian said it…
Made me pay attention.
“He was a businessman.”
He stared into the flames.
“A very successful one.”
“Then why did you change your name?”
His jaw tightened.
“Because I wanted to escape him.”
I waited.
But he continued.
“My father built his company through manipulation.”
His voice became darker.
“He destroyed people.”
“Families.”
“Partners.”
“Anyone who stood in his way.”
I looked at him.
“And you hated him?”
“Yes.”
The answer came immediately.
Too immediately.
Almost rehearsed.
“He taught me that power was everything.”
He turned toward me.
“And I promised myself I would become nothing like him.”
I studied his expression.
“Yet you became exactly like him.”
The words hit.
Because he knew they were true.
A long silence followed.
Then his phone rang.
Again.
This time, the name on the screen appeared.
Unknown Caller.
Adrian hesitated.
Then answered.
“Hello?”
No one spoke for several seconds.
Then a voice came through.
An older man.
Calm.
Controlled.
A voice that sounded familiar.
“Adrian Mercer.”
Adrian froze.
My eyes narrowed.
Because the caller had not said Adrian Vale.
He had said his real name.
“Who is this?”
The man laughed softly.
“You really thought changing your name would erase what you did?”
Adrian’s face became pale.
“What do you want?”
“I want you to remember.”
A pause.
“Twenty years ago.”
My heart began beating faster.
“Your father made a mistake.”
Adrian gripped the phone.
“What mistake?”
The voice answered.
“He trusted the wrong woman.”
Silence.
Then the man continued.
“And that woman had a daughter.”
I felt something cold move through my body.
Because suddenly…
I realized this conversation was not only about Adrian.
It was about me.
The voice continued.
“Adrian…”
A pause.
“You married Charles Whitmore’s daughter.”
My eyes widened.
The man on the phone knew.
He knew everything.
Then he said the words that changed the entire night:
“But you never knew your wife was connected to the reason your father lost everything.”
Adrian looked at me.
And for the first time…
I saw genuine fear in his eyes.
Not fear of losing money.
Not fear of losing power.
Fear of discovering that his entire life had been built on a lie.
The caller whispered one final sentence before hanging up:
“Ask Evelyn what happened twenty years ago.”
The line went dead.
Adrian slowly lowered the phone.
Then he looked at me.
“Evelyn…”
His voice cracked.
“What is he talking about?”
I wanted to answer.
I wanted to tell him everything.
But there was one problem.
I didn’t know the answer either.
Because twenty years ago…
Before I became Evelyn Vale…
Before Adrian knew my name…
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My father had buried a secret so deep…
Even I had never been allowed to find it:
