Chapter 7 - The Father Who Refused to Stay Dead
Adrian Vale contacted Bella 2 days later.
He did not call Lucas.
He did not call Benny.
He sent Bella a handwritten letter.
Dear Oxana,
She nearly tore it apart without reading further.
Benny stopped her.
"He's trying to provoke you."
"He's succeeding."
The letter claimed Adrian had never wanted Bella or Benny dead.
He claimed Victor separated the twins and manipulated everyone.
He claimed Helena had misunderstood him.
Most importantly, he requested a meeting.
Bella expected Lucas to object.
He did not.
That surprised her.
"What do you think?"
Lucas answered, "I think he's lying."
"But?"
"But you decide whether you meet him."
Progress.
Bella chose to go.
The meeting occurred in a federal-controlled conference room.
Adrian Vale entered at 10:02 a.m.
He was 61.
Gray-haired.
Elegant.
Ordinary.
That disturbed Bella.
Monsters should have looked different.
Instead, her biological father resembled a man who might remind you that your headlights were on in a grocery-store parking lot.
He sat opposite the twins.
"Bella."
"Don't call me that like you know me."
His gaze moved to Benny.
"Benjamin."
"Same rule."
Adrian smiled sadly.
"You have Helena's stubbornness."
Bella's hands tightened.
"She was my mother."
"She stole you."
"She raised me."
"Because Victor forced her."
"She loved me."
That ended the argument.
Adrian changed tactics.
He claimed Victor had ordered the fire.
The evidence supported that.
But Adrian admitted helping conceal it.
"Why?"
"Because Lucas's father was going to expose all of us."
Lucas watched through the glass from the observation room.
Bella continued.
"And my biological mother?"
Adrian looked down.
"Her name was Anna Moroz."
"Did you kill her?"
"No."
"Who did?"
"Victor."
Bella studied him.
"Proof?"
Adrian had none.
Convenient.
He offered a deal.
He would testify against corrupt officials and surrender remaining North Meridian assets if Bella and Benny publicly stated that he had helped them.
Benny laughed.
"You want rehabilitation."
"I want the truth."
"You want a new biography."
Adrian's expression hardened.
For the first time, Bella saw the man beneath the grandfatherly performance.
"You think you're morally superior because a janitor raised you?"
Bella smiled.
"No. I think I'm lucky because she did."
Adrian lost control.
Only for a second.
But Bella saw it.
So did Benny.
The meeting ended.
That evening, federal investigators discovered Adrian's real plan.
He had transferred North Meridian's remaining assets hours before requesting immunity.
He intended to disappear.
But Bella had noticed something during the meeting.
Adrian repeatedly rubbed his left thumb against his ring.
Helena used to do the same thing when nervous.
Bella mentioned it to Benny.
He searched photographs.
The ring carried coordinates.
They led to an old safe-deposit facility.
Inside investigators found the second half of Evelyn's evidence.
And Anna Moroz's diary.
Bella read it alone.
Anna had loved Adrian once.
Then she discovered what he was.
When she became pregnant with twins, she tried to leave.
Evelyn Dracott helped her.
Anna was killed 2 weeks after giving birth.
Not by Victor.
By Adrian.
The diary contained a final entry.
If anything happens to me, Adrian did it. He says children belong to their fathers. I told him children belong to themselves.
Bella closed the diary.
She cried quietly.
Lucas sat outside the room.
He did not enter.
He did not touch her.
He waited until she opened the door herself.
That mattered more than he understood.
Bella stepped into his arms.
It was the first time she had chosen the contact.
Lucas held her carefully.
No possession.
No demand.
Just warmth.
"My mother died trying to protect us."
"Yes."
"Both of them did."
"Yes."
Bella pressed her face against his chest.
For several minutes, the dangerous man Chicago feared simply held a grieving woman.
Then Bella whispered, "I want to keep the baby."
Lucas stopped breathing.
She looked up.
"I'm not telling you because I need permission."
"I know."
"I'm telling you because I want you to know."
Something changed in his face.
Joy appeared there cautiously, as though he did not trust himself to possess it.
"Okay."
Bella laughed through tears.
"That's all?"
"I have approximately 400 things I want to say."
"Pick one."
Lucas looked at her stomach.
Then at her.
"I'll be there."
Bella believed he meant it.
A knock interrupted them.
Benny entered.
"Bad news."
Adrian had escaped federal surveillance.
Someone inside the investigation had helped him.
Lucas immediately called Marcus.
Then Bella's phone buzzed.
A live video appeared.
Pastor Elias sat inside St. Nicholas Church.
Adrian stood behind him.
He looked into the camera.
"You wanted truth, Oxana?"
He smiled.
"Come learn the final truth about Lucas Dracott."
The camera moved.
On the altar lay another document.
A DNA report.
Bella enlarged the screen.
Her blood type.
Lucas's blood type.
Benny's.
And one line highlighted beneath them.
PATERNITY RELATIONSHIP: EXCLUDED.
Bella frowned.
Adrian's voice continued.
"I am not your father."
May you like
Then he smiled.
"But Lucas already knows who is."
