Adrian felt his stomach tighten.
"Are you saying Emily might be my sister?"
"That's possible, sir. But we haven't confirmed the paternity."
Adrian leaned against the wall.
The possibility was almost impossible to comprehend.
Emily.
The woman who had brought peace to his son.
The woman he had begun to care about.
Could she really be connected to his family?
Michael continued.
"There's another problem. The original hospital records were altered. Someone removed the father's name."
"Who?"
"We're still investigating."
Adrian looked through the glass window at Emily holding Daniel.
He couldn't tell her yet.
Not until he knew the truth.
Then Michael added one final detail.
"Sir, there's something else. Your mother signed the document authorizing the changes."
Adrian closed his eyes.
His own mother had been involved.
He returned to the hospital room.
Emily looked up immediately.
"Is everything okay?"
He forced himself to nod.
"Yes. Just work."
She studied his face.
"You're lying."
Adrian almost smiled.
"You're becoming very good at recognizing that."
Emily placed Daniel back in his crib.
"Whatever it is, you can tell me."
He looked at her.
For a second, he wanted to explain everything.
But he couldn't.
Not yet.
The following morning, Daniel was discharged from the hospital.
Adrian arranged for additional security at the mansion.
Eleanor was contacted by the police, but she denied deliberately harming the baby. She claimed she had only moved the bottle after noticing it was in the wrong place.
The investigation was still ongoing.
Victoria, however, was becoming increasingly desperate.
She entered Adrian's study that evening.
"You need to stop investigating the past."
Adrian looked up slowly.
"Why?"
"Because it will destroy this family."
He stood.
"Then perhaps this family deserves to know the truth."
Victoria's eyes filled with anger.
"Your father made mistakes. Margaret made mistakes. Everyone made mistakes. But that doesn't mean you should dig them up."
Adrian stared at her.
"You changed the hospital records."
Victoria went completely still.
"Who told you that?"
"Does it matter?"
She lowered herself into a chair.
For the first time, she looked old.
"Adrian, I did what I had to do."
"What did you do?"
Victoria covered her face.
"Your father wanted to leave everything to that child."
Adrian's blood ran cold.
"What child?"
Victoria looked at him.
"Margaret's daughter."
Adrian could barely breathe.
"Emily?"
Victoria didn't answer.
"Mother, tell me the truth."
She finally whispered:
"Your father believed Emily was his daughter."
Adrian stepped backward.
The room seemed to spin.
"Are you certain?"
Victoria nodded slowly.
"He was prepared to acknowledge her. But I couldn't allow it. Your father was already ill, and the family business was falling apart. If the truth had come out, everything would have changed."
Adrian stared at her in disbelief.
"So you destroyed a woman's reputation and took away a child's right to know her father?"
"I protected this family!"
"No," Adrian said, his voice shaking. "You protected your money."
Victoria began crying.
But Adrian wasn't finished.
He took the hospital document from his desk and placed it in front of her.
"Did Sophia know?"
Victoria looked away.
"Yes."
Adrian's heart sank.
"My wife knew?"
"She discovered the truth shortly before Daniel was born. She wanted to find Margaret and make things right."
"Then why didn't she?"
Victoria's voice broke.
"Because I threatened to expose a secret about her."
Adrian stared at his mother.
"What secret?"
Victoria looked toward the window.
"That's something you should ask the people who were with Sophia on the night she died."
Adrian felt a chill run down his spine.
"What are you saying?"
But Victoria refused to answer.
She stood and walked toward the door.
Before leaving, she turned around.
"Adrian, there is something else you need to understand."
He waited.
"Emily isn't the only person who has been lied to."
Victoria's voice trembled.
"Sophia's death wasn't the accident you think it was."
Then she walked away.
Adrian remained standing in the middle of the study.
On his desk lay the photograph of Sophia, the hospital record, and the letter that had started everything.
For the first time, he understood that the past was not simply returning.
It had never really left.
And somewhere inside the mansion, Emily was playing with Daniel, completely unaware that the truth about her birth could destroy everything she believed about her life.
Adrian stood motionless in his study long after his mother had left.
Her final words continued echoing in his mind.
"Sophia's death wasn't the accident you think it was."
He looked at the photograph on his desk.
Sophia was smiling in it, her eyes bright and full of life. She was wearing the white dress he had bought her for their anniversary.
He remembered that evening clearly.
She had kissed him goodbye, promised to return before dinner, and told him she had something important to discuss.
But she had never come home.
Instead, he had received a phone call from the police informing him that his wife had been involved in a terrible car accident.
Her vehicle had crashed into a roadside barrier during heavy rain.
The investigation had concluded that she had lost control of the car.
Adrian had accepted that explanation because he had no reason to question it.
Or perhaps because questioning it would have been too painful.
Now, everything was different.
He immediately called Michael.
"I want the complete investigation report from Sophia's accident. Every document, every photograph, every witness statement."
Michael sounded surprised.
"Sir, that case was closed six months ago."
"I don't care. Reopen it."
"Did something happen?"
Adrian looked toward the window.
"My mother told me something."
There was a pause.
"What did she say?"
"That Sophia's death might not have been an accident."
Michael fell silent.
"I'll get everything I can find."
Adrian ended the call.
Then he looked toward the nursery.
Emily was sitting on the floor with Daniel, helping him stack colorful wooden blocks.
The baby laughed whenever the tower collapsed.
Emily laughed with him.
Adrian watched them for several seconds.
He wanted to tell her everything.
He wanted to explain that the woman she had grown to trust might have been responsible for hiding the truth about her mother.