ADRIAN'S POV
I arrive thirty minutes early because I can't wait anymore.
Monroe Capital towers above me, all glass and steel. Eva built this. Created an empire while I thought she was gone forever. The security guard barely looks at me as I enter.
"Adrian Thorne for Celeste Monroe. Two o'clock appointment."
"Elevator to the thirtieth floor." He doesn't smile. Doesn't care that I'm a billionaire. Here, Eva's the one with power.
The elevator ride feels endless. My heart pounds against my ribs. In my pocket, I have the photo someone sent me—the little girl with my eyes. Isabella. My daughter.
I have a daughter. Four years old. And I've missed everything.
Her first smile. First steps. First words. Four birthdays. Four Christmases.
Because I was a coward who believed lies about the woman I loved.
The elevator doors open. Eva's assistant sits at a pristine desk. She's young, professional, and looks at me like I'm dirt.
"Mr. Thorne. You're early."
"I know. I can wait."
She gestures to a chair. "Ms. Monroe will see you at exactly two o'clock. Not before."
I sit. Check my watch. 1:32 PM. Twenty-eight minutes of torture.
The office is perfect. Expensive art on the walls. Fresh flowers. Everything screams success and power. Nothing like the Eva I knew—the girl who wore jeans and sneakers to business meetings. The girl who laughed too loud and cried at sad movies.
I destroyed that girl. Turned her into this ice queen.
My phone buzzes. James: How did the board meeting go?
Right. The board meeting where I told everyone we're losing three subsidiaries to hostile takeovers. Where my uncle Marcus screamed at me for being weak. Where my mother demanded I fight back.
I can't fight back. Not against Eva. She deserves her revenge.
I type back: Fine. I'm meeting with her now.
Be careful. She's out for blood.
I know. But I'd let her bleed me dry if it meant earning a chance at forgiveness.
1:47 PM. Thirteen minutes.
The assistant's phone rings. She answers, listens, then looks at me. "Ms. Monroe is ready for you now."
Wait—it's not two yet. Is this a test? A power play?
I check my watch again. 1:48 PM. Twelve minutes early.
"I thought she said two o'clock exactly?"
The assistant's smile is ice. "Ms. Monroe changed her mind. You can go in now, or you can wait until two. Your choice."
It's definitely a power play. Eva's testing whether I'll jump when she says jump.
I stand immediately. "I'll go in now."
"Through those doors."
I walk to the double doors. My hands shake as I reach for the handle. Behind this door is Eva. The woman I loved. The woman I destroyed. The mother of my child.
I open the door.
Eva stands at the window with her back to me. Sunlight streams through the glass, making her silhouette glow. She's in all black today—power suit, heels. Her dark hair is pulled back tight.
She doesn't turn around.
"Close the door," she says. Her voice is cold, controlled.
I close it. The click sounds final, like a prison cell locking.
Silence stretches between us. I don't know what to say. Sorry feels too small. Too useless.
Finally, Eva speaks. "Did you bring lawyers?"
"No. You said come alone."
"Did you tell anyone you're here?"
"Just my friend James. He knows I'm meeting with you."
Eva's shoulders tense. "I said alone, Adrian."
"James won't interfere. I swear."
More silence. Then Eva turns around.
I forget how to breathe.
She's so beautiful it hurts. But her eyes—those green eyes I loved—are completely empty when they look at me. Like I'm a stranger. Less than a stranger. Like I'm nothing.
"Sit," she says, gesturing to a chair.
I sit. She walks to her desk but doesn't sit. Stands behind it like a barrier between us.
"You got my email," Eva says. It's not a question.
"Yes. Three subsidiaries. Congratulations. You're destroying my company very efficiently."
"That's the plan."
"I'm not going to fight you."
Eva's eyebrow raises. "No?"
"No. You want Thorne Global? Take it. Burn it to the ground. I deserve it."
She studies me. "This is a trick."
"It's not. I know the truth now, Eva. I know my mother and Marcus framed you. I know you were innocent. I know I destroyed an innocent woman because I was too weak to question my family." My voice cracks. "I know I'm a monster."
"You're not a monster, Adrian." Eva's voice is flat. "Monsters don't have a choice. You chose to believe them over me. You chose to have me arrested. You chose to throw me away."
Each word is a knife to my heart. "I know."
"Do you?" Eva leans forward, hands on her desk. "Do you know what it's like to be handcuffed in front of everyone you know? To spend six months fighting criminal charges? To watch your family's company collapse because of lies?"
"No. I don't. But I want to make it right—"
"You can't make it right!" For the first time, her voice rises. "There is no making this right, Adrian! You can't undo what you did!"
"I know! But please, let me try. Let me—"
"What? Apologize? Give me money? Buy me flowers?" Eva laughs, bitter and cold. "I don't want your apologies. I don't want anything from you except your suffering."
"Then make me suffer. Take everything. I'll sign it over right now."
"I don't need you to sign anything. I'll take it anyway." Eva straightens. "But there is one thing we need to discuss."
My heart pounds. "Isabella."
"Don't say her name." Eva's voice turns dangerous. "Don't you dare say her name."
"She's my daughter—"
"She's MY daughter! I carried her! I gave birth to her alone in a foreign country! I raised her by myself while you lived your comfortable life!"
"I didn't know!" I stand up. "If I had known—"
"You DID know." Eva pulls out her phone. Presses something. A video starts playing on the screen behind her desk.
I watch myself five years ago. Talking to my mother. Marcus joining us.
Then Marcus says: "What about the pregnancy?"
My blood turns to ice.
"What pregnancy?" my younger self asks.
My mother and Marcus exchange looks. "We have sources who say Evangeline might be pregnant."
No. No, this can't be real.
In the video, my face goes white. "If she's pregnant with my child—"
"Then we'll deal with it," my mother says. "After we handle the theft."
The video ends. I stare at the blank screen, unable to process what I just saw.
"They knew," Eva says quietly. "Your family knew I was pregnant. And they arrested me anyway. Threw me in a cell knowing I was carrying your baby."
I can't speak. Can't think. My mother knew. She knew, and she did it anyway.
"But here's the interesting part, Adrian." Eva walks around her desk toward me. "You knew too."
"What? No, I—"
"The video shows you learning about the pregnancy before the arrest. You knew I might be pregnant, and you let them arrest me anyway."
"I didn't! I swear, I don't remember—"
"Convenient." Eva stops inches from me. "Or maybe you did know, and you didn't care. Maybe you wanted to get rid of both problems at once. The lying girlfriend AND the unwanted baby."
"No! I would never—"
My phone rings. Unknown number. The same one that sent me Isabella's photo.
Eva hears it. "Answer it."
"Eva—"
"Answer it, or I'll have security throw you out."
My hands shake as I answer. "Hello?"
A distorted voice: "Check your email, Mr. Thorne. Right now."
The call ends.
I pull up my email. There's a new message. No subject. Just a video attachment.
I press play.
The video shows Eva five years ago. Pregnant. Being dragged into a police car. She's crying, screaming my name.
But then the video cuts to something else. A hospital room. Eva in a hospital gown, hooked to machines. Alone. Crying.
A doctor's voice: "The stress has put you at risk of miscarriage. You need bed rest. Immediately."
Eva's sobbing. "Please. I can't lose my baby. It's all I have left."
The video ends.
I look up at Eva. Tears stream down my face. "You almost lost her because of me."
"I almost lost everything because of you." Eva's voice breaks. "So don't you dare come here talking about rights. About being a father. You lost those rights the day you chose them over me."
"I'm sorry—"
"Get out."
"Please, just let me—"
"GET OUT!" Eva screams.
The door bursts open. Security guards rush in.
But then something crashes through the window.
Glass explodes everywhere. Eva screams. I throw myself over her as shards rain down.
When the chaos stops, there's a brick on the floor. Wrapped
around it is a note.
I pick it up with shaking hands. It says:
STOP DIGGING INTO THE PAST OR THE CHILD DIES NEXT.