He took the photograph carefully.
"That's Sophia."
"I know."
"How did your mother know my wife?"
Emily shook her head.
"I don't know. That's why I'm asking."
Adrian examined the handwriting.
He recognized Sophia's signature.
He turned the photograph over.
"Whatever happens, I will always remember what you did for me."
He read the sentence again.
Then he looked at Emily.
"I think we need to find out what happened between them."
Before Emily could answer, the door opened.
Victoria entered.
Her face changed the moment she saw the photograph.
"Where did you get that?"
Emily stood.
"My mother kept it."
Victoria walked toward her.
"Give it to me."
Adrian moved the photograph away.
"No."
Victoria's expression hardened.
"Adrian, this is a private family matter."
"Apparently, it involves Emily's mother."
"That woman has nothing to do with us."
Emily felt uncomfortable.
"Perhaps I should leave."
"No," Adrian said firmly.
He turned to his mother.
"I want an explanation."
Victoria stared at him.
"Your wife had many acquaintances. It doesn't mean every person she met needs to become part of our lives."
"Then why are you afraid of this photograph?"
Victoria's face went pale.
She quickly recovered.
"I'm not afraid of anything."
Adrian stood.
"Then tell us the truth."
Victoria remained silent.
Finally, she said, "Margaret was an employee in this household many years ago. She left after a disagreement."
"What disagreement?"
"She stole money."
Emily shook her head.
"That can't be true."
Victoria looked directly at her.
"How would you know?"
"Because my mother never stole anything. She worked her entire life to support us."
Victoria gave a cold smile.
"Perhaps you didn't know her as well as you thought."
Emily felt tears gathering in her eyes.
Adrian immediately intervened.
"That's enough."
But Victoria continued.
"Some people come into wealthy families with nothing and leave with everything they can take."
Emily put the photograph on the table.
"I don't know what happened between you and my mother. But I won't allow you to insult her."
Then she walked out.
Adrian followed her.
He found her in the garden, wiping her tears.
"Emily."
She shook her head.
"I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"For bringing this into your family."
Adrian stepped closer.
"You didn't bring anything. You simply showed me something I should have known years ago."
He took the photograph from his pocket.
"I'm going to find out what happened."
Emily nodded.
But neither noticed the small camera in the corner of the hallway.
Victoria had already arranged for someone to watch Emily.
And that person had just sent her a message.
We found something about Margaret Carter.
Two days later, Michael arrived at the mansion with a thick folder.
Adrian immediately asked him to close the study door.
"What did you find?"
Michael placed the documents on the desk.
"Margaret Carter worked for the Blackwood family twenty-five years ago."
Adrian leaned forward.
"Doing what?"
"She was employed as a personal assistant to your father. Later, she became close friends with Sophia's mother."
Adrian frowned.
"My father?"
Michael nodded.
"There's more."
He opened another document.
"Margaret disappeared from the family's records after an incident involving a missing set of documents. She was accused of stealing confidential papers."
"Was she charged?"
"No. The accusation was withdrawn shortly afterward."
"Why?"
Michael hesitated.
"Because your father intervened."
Adrian stared at him.
"What documents?"
"That's what we're still investigating."
Michael then handed him another file.
Inside was a hospital record.
The date was twenty-five years earlier.
A baby girl had been born at a private hospital.
The mother's name was Margaret Carter.
But the father's information was missing.
Adrian's hands tightened.
"Why are you showing me this?"
"Because the hospital record lists an emergency contact."
He turned the page.
It was Sophia's mother's name.
Adrian stood.
"You're saying Sophia's family knew Margaret?"
"Yes."
"Then why did Sophia never tell me?"
Michael lowered his voice.
"There may be another connection."
He placed an old newspaper clipping on the desk.
It reported that Adrian's father had been involved in a serious car accident twenty-five years earlier.
The accident had happened shortly before Margaret left the household.
Adrian read the article.
Then he looked at the hospital record.
Something was beginning to make sense.
But not enough.
"Find my father's old lawyer. I want every document connected to Margaret Carter."
Meanwhile, Emily was at the mansion's nursery.
She had noticed that Victoria was becoming increasingly hostile.
Whenever Emily entered a room, Victoria found a reason to leave.
The atmosphere had become unbearable.
Still, Emily stayed for Daniel.
That afternoon, Daniel began crawling toward a wooden toy.
Emily smiled and encouraged him.
"Come on, sweetheart. You can do it."
The baby reached the toy and laughed.
Adrian appeared at the door.
"He's getting stronger."
Emily looked up.
"He's growing so quickly."
Adrian sat beside her.
"I found something about your mother."
Emily's smile disappeared.
"What?"
He explained the old employment records and the hospital document.
Emily listened in disbelief.
"My mother had a baby at a hospital connected to your family?"
"Yes."
"That baby was me?"
Adrian nodded.
Emily sat back.
"Why would she never tell me?"
"I don't know."
He showed her the document.
Emily stared at her mother's name.
For the first time, she wondered whether the woman who raised her had hidden an important part of her past.
Then she noticed something else.
The hospital record listed a second person as an emergency contact.
Sophia's mother.
Emily looked up.
"Why would your wife's grandmother be listed here?"
Adrian didn't answer.
He didn't know.
But when he returned to the study, he discovered an envelope waiting on his desk.
There was no sender's name.
Inside was a single handwritten note.
If you want to know who Emily Carter really is, ask your mother what happened on the night of June 17, twenty-five years ago.
Adrian read the message twice.
Then he picked up his phone.
"Michael, I need you to find out what happened on June 17."
At that exact moment, Victoria stood outside the study.
She had seen the envelope.
And she knew the truth was getting dangerously close.
Victoria had spent the previous twenty-five years protecting the Blackwood family's reputation.