Chapter 5 - THE SECRET HE NEVER TOLD HER
The elevator opened beneath the building.
Claire stepped into a private security room.
Monitors covered an entire wall.
Men moved quickly between screens.
Adrien stood beside her.
“This isn't just a company.”
“No.”
“What is it?”
“A family business.”
“That doesn't answer anything.”
He looked at her.
“You deserve the truth.”
Claire waited.
Adrien explained that his father had built Blackwood Holdings through legitimate businesses but had also accumulated enemies through decades of aggressive expansion.
Some of those enemies still existed.
Some operated outside the law.
Adrien had inherited both the fortune and the danger.
Claire listened silently.
Then she asked the question that mattered.
“Are you a criminal?”
Adrien didn't lie.
“I've made decisions I'm not proud of.”
“That isn't an answer.”
“No.”
He took a breath.
“I am not the monster people think I am.”
“But you're not innocent.”
“No.”
Claire looked away.
She should have been afraid.
Instead, she felt something worse.
She felt sorry for him.
“You could have told me.”
“I was afraid you'd leave.”
She turned.
“Were you?”
“Yes.”
That admission broke something inside her.
Adrien Blackwood feared losing her.
Not because she was an employee.
Not because she was useful.
Because she mattered.
Claire stepped closer.
“I don't know what to do with that.”
“You don't have to do anything.”
She looked at him.
“I think I already am.”
Then she kissed him.
It was brief.
Soft.
Unexpected.
Adrien froze.
Claire pulled back.
“I'm sorry.”
He shook his head.
“Don't apologize.”
He kissed her again.
This time, neither of them stopped.
But upstairs, someone watched through a security camera.
Julian.
His expression was cold.
He made a call.
“She knows.”
The voice on the other end answered.
“Then the plan changes.”
“What about Adrien?”
“He'll be distracted.”
“And Claire?”
May you like
A pause.
“Use her.”
