Chapter 2 - The Man Who Paid Her to Disappear
The first thing Adrian did was order his security team to clear a path.
The second thing he did was ask Daniel Seo to leave.
“Mr. Park,” Daniel began, “perhaps we should discuss this privately.”
Adrian didn't look at him.
“I said leave.”
Daniel's expression barely changed, but Claire noticed the tiny movement in his jaw.
He was still the same man.
Five years ago, Daniel had sat across from her in a hotel conference room and offered her two hundred thousand dollars to disappear.
He had called it a generous settlement.
He had called it protection.
He had called her pregnancy an unfortunate complication.
Now he stood beside Adrian, pretending they had never met.
“Adrian,” Claire said, “the children are getting cold.”
That brought him back to the present.
He looked at Ethan, who was trying to wipe cinnamon sugar from Adrian's expensive coat.
“Can I come with you?” Ethan asked.
Adrian's expression softened.
“Where?”
“To your house.”
Claire immediately stepped forward.
“Ethan, sweetheart—”
“It's okay,” Adrian interrupted gently. “We don't have to decide anything right now.”
He looked at Claire.
“There’s a café around the corner. We can talk while the kids have something warm.”
“I have a bakery.”
“I know.”
“You know?”
“I passed it when we arrived.”
The answer unsettled her more than it should have.
She had spent years imagining Adrian forgetting everything about her.
Apparently, he had remembered the bakery.
They walked together, Adrian keeping a careful distance from the children, as though he was afraid one wrong movement might make them disappear.
Inside the café, Ethan immediately claimed the window seat.
Emma sat beside him and opened her sketchbook.
Adrian remained standing.
“Sit down,” Claire said.
He obeyed.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Adrian looked at the twins.
“Do they know my name?”
“Of course.”
“Do they know what I do?”
“Ethan thinks billionaires own every building in Seattle.”
Adrian almost smiled.
“And Emma?”
“She thinks you probably own too many watches.”
Emma looked up.
“Three is too many.”
Adrian glanced at his wrist.
“I have more than three.”
Emma frowned.
“That seems unnecessary.”
For the first time that afternoon, Adrian laughed.
The sound struck Claire with unexpected force.
She remembered that laugh from a small apartment in San Francisco, when they had eaten takeout noodles on the floor because they couldn't afford a dining table.
Then Adrian's expression changed.
“Tell me what happened.”
Claire folded her hands.
“Five years ago, you were in London. Your father had just died. Daniel called me.”
Adrian went still.
“He said you had decided to end things.”
“I never decided that.”
“He said you were engaged to someone else.”
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
“What?”
“He showed me a photograph. You and a woman at a private event. He said your family had already chosen someone suitable for you.”
“That photograph was taken at a business reception.”
“I know that now.”
Adrian leaned forward.
“What else did he say?”
Claire swallowed.
“He said you knew I was pregnant.”
Adrian looked genuinely stunned.
“He told you that?”
“He said you wanted no connection to the baby. He offered me money to sign an agreement and leave California.”
“How much?”
“Two hundred thousand dollars.”
Adrian's face hardened.
“Did you take it?”
“No.”
“Then why didn't you call me?”
“I did.”
Claire reached into her purse and removed a small envelope.
Inside were copies of five emails and a printed call history.
“I called your office. I called your assistant. I called your private number.”
Adrian studied the pages.
“None of these reached me.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“Because Daniel called me two days later. He said you had received everything and instructed him to handle it.”
Adrian stared at the papers.
His fingers tightened around the envelope.
“That's impossible.”
Claire's voice broke.
“Then why did nobody answer me?”
Before he could respond, Daniel appeared at the café entrance.
Adrian stood immediately.
“I told you to leave.”
Daniel glanced at the children.
“I apologize. But there's a matter concerning the Park board that cannot wait.”
“Nothing is more important than this.”
Daniel lowered his voice.
“Adrian, you're making a mistake. You don't know what this woman is capable of.”
Claire felt the old fear rise inside her.
But this time she wasn't twenty-six, pregnant, and alone.
She stood.
“Tell him what you told me five years ago.”
Daniel's expression hardened.
“I'm afraid you've misunderstood several conversations.”
“You told me Adrian wanted me gone.”
“I was protecting the family.”
“From a pregnant woman?”
Daniel didn't answer.
Adrian stepped between them.
“Get out.”
Daniel finally looked at the twins.
His eyes rested on Emma's sketchbook.
Then he smiled.
It was a small, cold smile.
“Interesting,” he murmured. “The children look remarkably like their mother.”
Adrian's voice dropped.
“Daniel.”
The older man left.
Adrian turned back to Claire.
“I'll investigate every message, every call, every document.”
“You can investigate whatever you want. But you cannot buy your way into their lives.”
“I wasn't going to.”
“Good.”
He looked at Ethan, who had fallen asleep against the window.
Then at Emma, who was still drawing.
“Can I see them tomorrow?”
Claire hesitated.
“An hour. At the bakery. You don't bring security inside, and you don't make promises you can't keep.”
Adrian nodded.
“An hour.”
That evening, after the children were asleep, Claire opened the old metal box hidden beneath her bed.
She had kept everything Daniel had sent her.
The photographs.
The payment offer.
The threatening letters.
And one small black flash drive.
She had never been able to bring herself to destroy it.
Because the last file on that drive contained a voice she recognized.
Adrian's voice.
Saying something she had never understood.
May you like
And when Claire finally pressed play, the first words made her blood run cold.
“Make sure she never finds out what happened to the first child.”
