Chapter 7 - THE CHILDREN OF BLACKTHORNI stared at Evelyn.
For a moment, the kitchen seemed to disappear around me.
"The children?" I repeated.
Evelyn sat down slowly.
She looked exhausted.
Her hands trembled as she removed the emerald pendant from around her neck.
It was beautiful.
A deep green stone surrounded by tiny diamonds.
But the chain was worn, and the clasp had been repaired several times.
"Gabriel gave me this," she whispered.
I glanced at Marco.
He stood near the counter, watching silently.
Evelyn noticed my confusion.
"I know what you're thinking. That I betrayed your mother. That I had an affair with your father."
My throat tightened.
"Didn't you?"
She shook her head.
"No."
I blinked.
"But the adoption records—"
"Gabriel wasn't your biological father."
The words landed heavily.
Evelyn continued before I could respond.
"He was your legal father. The man who raised you. The man who loved you. He and Sofia were the best parents I could have chosen."
My eyes filled.
"Chosen?"
She nodded.
"I was nineteen when I became pregnant."
She stared at the table.
"My parents were dead. Margaret was my only family. I had no money, no husband, and no place to go."
"Who was my biological father?"
Her expression became troubled.
"A man named Samuel Whitcomb. He was a young accountant working for William Vale."
I had never heard the name.
"Where is he?"
"He died before you were born. A car accident."
She looked at me.
"I loved him."
For the first time, I saw something beyond guilt in her expression.
Grief.
The kind that never completely disappears.
"When Samuel died, William offered to help me," she continued. "He arranged housing, paid medical expenses, and promised that Margaret and I would always be protected."
"What did he want in return?"
Evelyn's eyes darkened.
"Control."
She took a shaky breath.
"At first, he only asked me to sign documents. Trust agreements. Banking authorizations. Corporate filings."
I frowned.
"And you worked for him?"
"Yes. He told me I could build a career in finance and provide a future for my child."
"But?"
"But the more documents I handled, the more things stopped making sense."
Evelyn opened her purse again.
She removed a folded photograph.
Three babies lay in hospital bassinets.
Each had a numbered identification card.
I studied the image.
"Who are they?"
"Children whose identities were used in financial records."
"What do you mean?"
Evelyn's face tightened.
"William created trusts using real children's names. Some belonged to families he helped. Others were placed for adoption. Those identities became part of a complicated network of accounts."
Marco stepped forward.
"Are you saying he used their names to conceal beneficial ownership?"
"Yes."
"Did the children actually own those assets?"
"In some cases, yes. In others, they were listed as beneficiaries without anyone telling their guardians."
I stared at her.
"Why?"
"Because the trusts made it harder for creditors, investigators, and business partners to trace who controlled certain money."
Marco frowned.
"That could involve several kinds of fraud."
Evelyn nodded.
"It did."
I looked at the photograph again.
"Was I one of those children?"
She began crying.
"Yes."
I felt sick.
"My name was used?"
"Your original identity. And later, the name Isabella Moretti."
I stood and walked toward the window.
Outside, the roses swayed in the breeze.
I remembered helping Sofia plant those bushes.
I remembered Gabriel kneeling in the dirt, teasing her about planting too many.
Those memories were real.
But hidden behind them was a financial scheme involving my identity.
"How did I end up with Gabriel and Sofia?" I whispered.
Evelyn folded her hands.
"When I discovered what William was doing, I wanted to leave. Margaret told me I couldn't. She said the documents tied me to everything."
I turned.
"Did they?"
"I had signed them. I had processed payments. I was frightened that no one would believe I hadn't understood the full scheme."
She looked down.
"Then Gabriel found out."
My chest tightened.
"What did he do?"
"He was furious."
Evelyn gave a sad smile.
"He told me that children weren't financial instruments. He said your life belonged to you, not to William Vale."
Tears filled my eyes.
"That sounds like Dad."
"He offered to help me get away."
I sat down again.
"How?"
"Gabriel and Sofia wanted children. They had already started the adoption process. I knew Sofia through the business. She treated me with kindness when almost nobody else did."
Evelyn brushed away her tears.
"I asked them to adopt you."
My throat closed.
"Why?"
"Because I was terrified. Because William controlled the apartment where I lived, the money I earned, and much of my correspondence. And because I believed Gabriel could keep you safe."
I stared at her.
"Did you want to give me up?"
"No."
Her answer came immediately.
"I wanted to keep you more than anything in the world."
A tear slid down her cheek.
"But I wanted you alive and free even more."
I looked at Marco.
He seemed deeply moved.
Evelyn continued.
"Gabriel arranged the adoption legally, though the records were sealed. Sofia loved you from the first moment she held you."
A painful warmth spread through my chest.
I remembered Sofia singing to me.
You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.
"Did she know who you were?"
"Yes."
"Did she hate you?"
Evelyn shook her head.
"No. She sent me photographs when she could."
I thought of the picture hanging in Evelyn's house.
The little girl in the yellow dress.
Me.
"That's why you had my photograph."
Evelyn nodded.
"Every birthday, Sofia sent me one."
I began crying.
"She never told me."
"She planned to."
"When?"
"When you were old enough to understand. But then Gabriel died."
Evelyn's expression darkened.
"And everything changed."
Marco pulled out a chair.
"Evelyn, we need to discuss the warehouse."
She looked toward the door.
"Are we safe here?"
"We've notified the detective you're here. There are security professionals outside, and you're free to leave whenever you wish."
She nodded.
"Good."
She took a deep breath.
"Gabriel discovered that William was transferring property through those trusts without proper authorization."
I leaned forward.
"Blackthorn?"
"Blackthorn was the holding company at the center of it."
Marco opened his notebook.
"Who controlled it?"
"William. Margaret. And later, Adrian."
My stomach dropped.
"Adrian?"
Evelyn nodded.
"He was a child when the first transfers happened. But as an adult, he gained control over several successor entities."
I felt cold.
"Did he know about me?"
Evelyn looked at me with unbearable sadness.
"Yes."
The room seemed to spin.
"How?"
"His father left records. Letters. Agreements."
I remembered the letter Marco had found.
If Adrian marries the Moretti girl, the inheritance problem will resolve itself.
My stomach twisted.
"He knew before our wedding."
"Yes."
I pressed my palms against my eyes.
Seven years of marriage.
Every kiss.
Every promise.
Every time Adrian told me he loved me.
Had it all been calculated?
Evelyn reached toward me.
I moved away.
She stopped immediately.
"I'm sorry."
I stared at her.
"Did he marry me for the trust?"
"I believe that was part of his plan."
I let out a broken laugh.
"He couldn't just steal the money. He needed me to help him steal it."
Marco's face tightened.
"We still need to determine what he actually did."
I nodded.
But my heart knew what the documents were beginning to reveal.
Adrian had been using my trust.
My love.
My willingness to sign anything he placed in front of me.
I looked at Evelyn.
"Tell me about the fire."
Her expression changed completely.
She glanced at the silver key.
"Gabriel discovered that William was preparing to sell a group of properties through Blackthorn. The sale would have concealed the original beneficiaries' interests."
"Which included me?"
"Yes. And several other people whose names had been used."
Marco leaned forward.
"Did Gabriel have evidence?"
"He did. Original ledgers, bank instructions, letters, and copies of agreements."
"Where?"
"He kept them in a secure room at the warehouse."
My breathing quickened.
"What happened that night?"
Evelyn stared at her hands.
"Gabriel called William to the warehouse. He wanted the transfers reversed and the authorities notified."
"And Margaret?"
"She came with William."
I remembered the photograph.
The three of them beside the metal door.
"Then?"
Evelyn's voice began shaking.
"They argued. William insisted Gabriel was destroying years of work. Margaret said the family would lose everything."
"Did Dad threaten them?"
"He told them he would hand over the evidence."
She swallowed.
"Then William called someone."
"Who?"
"A man named Victor Crane."
Marco wrote down the name.
I looked at him.
"Do you know him?"
"Former private security contractor. Worked for the Vale family."
Evelyn nodded.
"Victor arrived with another man. He said he was there to secure the documents."
"What happened?"
"They pushed Gabriel into the records room."
My heart stopped.
Evelyn began crying.
"I tried to stop them."
I reached for the table.
"What did they do?"
"They locked the door."
The words were almost inaudible.
I remembered the anonymous message.
SHE KNOWS WHO LOCKED THE DOOR.
"Was it William?"
Evelyn shook her head.
"No."
"Victor?"
"No."
She lifted her eyes.
"Margaret."
I pressed my hand over my mouth.
"She locked my father inside?"
Evelyn nodded.
"She took the key."
I stared at the silver key on the table.
"This?"
"No. That one opened the rear exit. I carried it because I tried to get around to him."
Her voice broke.
"But the fire had already started."
I felt numb.
"Who started it?"
Evelyn shook her head.
"I never saw the ignition. Victor and his associate had brought equipment into the building. There were chemicals stored there. I heard glass breaking, smelled smoke, and then the alarms began."
"Did Margaret know the building would burn?"
"I don't know."
"Did she try to save him?"
Evelyn looked at me.
"No."
I began trembling.
"What did she do?"
"She ran."
Silence filled the kitchen.
I stared at the woman who had stood beside Adrian while he hurt me.
The woman who had mocked my background.
The woman who had called me worthless.
And now I understood why she had always looked uncomfortable when I mentioned my father.
Because she knew how he died.
"What did you do?" I asked.
Evelyn's voice shook.
"I tried to reach the records room, but smoke was spreading. I called emergency services. I kept shouting Gabriel's name."
She covered her face.
"He told me to leave."
I couldn't breathe.
"Did you hear him?"
She nodded.
"He shouted through the door. He said I had to survive."
Tears poured down my cheeks.
"He told me to tell Sofia he loved her."
I broke.
A sound escaped me that I didn't recognize.
I bent forward, sobbing.
Marco knelt beside me.
Dante, who had entered quietly during Evelyn's account, came to my other side.
I clung to both brothers.
For years, we had imagined our father's last moments.
Now we knew he had been trapped.
Fighting to survive.
Thinking of the family waiting at home.
It was unbearable.
When I finally looked up, Evelyn was crying too.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered.
I stared at her.
"Why didn't you tell the police?"
"I tried."
"What happened?"
"Margaret threatened you."
My eyes narrowed.
"Me?"
"She said she could make the adoption records disappear. She said she could have you taken away from Gabriel and Sofia."
Evelyn wiped her cheeks.
"I was frightened. I had already lost Samuel. I thought if I spoke, I'd lose you too."
"But Dad was dead."
"I know."
Her voice was barely audible.
"I have spent twenty-nine years hating myself for staying silent."
I looked away.
Part of me understood her fear.
Another part wanted to scream that her silence had allowed the Vales to prosper.
Both feelings existed inside me at once.
"Why come forward now?" I asked.
Evelyn looked at the emerald pendant.
"Because six months ago, Margaret contacted me."
I stiffened.
"What did she want?"
"She knew Adrian was having trouble keeping control of the Blackthorn assets."
"And?"
"She wanted me to sign a statement confirming the old transfers were legitimate."
"Did you?"
"No."
Evelyn looked at me.
"Then she told me Adrian had married Gabriel's daughter and that you were happy."
My chest tightened.
"She used me."
"Yes."
Evelyn's face crumpled.
"She said if I interfered, I'd destroy your marriage."
I laughed bitterly.
"My marriage was already destroying me."
Evelyn reached for my hand again.
This time, I let her touch my fingers.
"I didn't know," she whispered.
"I believe you."
She cried harder.
"But believing you doesn't mean I'm ready to forgive everything."
She nodded.
"I understand."
Marco leaned forward.
"What changed after the birthday party?"
Evelyn looked toward Dante.
"I received a message from someone inside the Vale household."
My pulse quickened.
"Who?"
"Vanessa Monroe."
The room froze.
I stared at her.
"Adrian's mistress?"
Evelyn nodded.
"She sent me the photograph of the warehouse. She told me the birthday party would be the last opportunity to expose what the Vales had done."
I shook my head.
"Vanessa?"
The woman who had laughed while Adrian struck me.
The woman who had watched my suffering with a smile.
"Why would she help you?"
Evelyn looked frightened.
"Because Vanessa isn't who you think she is."
Marco leaned forward.
"What does that mean?"
Evelyn swallowed.
"Her real name is Vanessa Whitcomb."
My chest tightened.
Whitcomb.
The surname of my biological father.
Evelyn looked directly at me.
"Samuel had another child before he met me."
I stared at her.
"No."
"Vanessa is his eldest daughter."
My world tilted again.
Evelyn's voice broke.
"Isabella, the woman your husband calls his mistress is your half sister."
And before I could respond, Dante's phone rang.
He answered.
His expression hardened.
"What?"
He listened for several seconds.
Then looked straight at me.
"We need to go."
My heartbeat accelerated.
"What's happened?"
Dante covered the receiver.
"Adrian's out on bail."
I felt cold.
"And?"
May you like
Dante's voice dropped.
"He went straight to your foundation."
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