Chapter 11 - THE BILLIONAIRE'S REAL NAME|
Theodore had built his identity around a name that now seemed less certain with every passing hour.
He returned to New York with the original list tucked inside a locked briefcase. He had ordered Marcus to keep the discovery confidential, but by morning, Victor Sloane had requested an emergency meeting of the Hawthorne Foundation board.
The message was brief.
We need to discuss your mother's recent instability and the damage being caused by your new employee.
Theodore read it twice.
Then he called Victor.
“You have ten minutes to explain why your name appears in an adoption file.”
Victor's voice remained smooth.
“I'm afraid you've been spending too much time with people who want to exploit your grief.”
“Did you arrange the transfer of a newborn in 2003?”
“I arranged dozens of legitimate adoptions through charitable partnerships.”
“Did you alter my birth records?”
A pause.
Then Victor sighed.
“Your father believed certain family matters should remain private. I honored his wishes.”
Theodore ended the call.
For the first time in his adult life, he understood that Victor was not denying the evidence. He was testing how much Theodore knew.
Nadia arrived at the study carrying two cups of coffee.
“Did he confess?”
“No. But he didn't sound surprised.”
“Can he be trusted?”
“Victor has spent thirty years making himself indispensable. That usually means he's hiding something.”
Nadia set the coffee down.
“Catherine said my adoptive parents were chosen by him. They were kind people. They loved me.”
“Then perhaps they were told a different story.”
She nodded slowly.
Her adoptive parents had died in a car accident when she was seventeen. She had grown up believing they had chosen her because they wanted a child and could not have one naturally. Now she wondered whether they had been given a baby under false pretenses.
Theodore opened the original list.
At the bottom, beneath his name, was a handwritten note.
Biological mother: Eleanor Hawthorne. Biological father: Richard Hawthorne. Record verified.
That part was true.
But another line had been crossed out.
Twin sibling: female.
Nadia stared.
“We were twins?”
Theodore felt as though the room had lost oxygen.
“My mother never told me.”
“Perhaps she didn't know.”
They brought the list to Eleanor.
She read it once, then sank into a chair.
“No,” she whispered. “I knew I delivered two babies.”
Theodore knelt beside her.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Richard said one child had died. He showed me a certificate. I was barely conscious after the delivery, and he convinced me that asking questions would bring danger to the surviving child.”
Nadia took her hand.
“Your daughter didn't die.”
Eleanor looked at her.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Eleanor touched Nadia's cheek.
“You were the child they stole.”
Nadia nodded.
“And Theodore was the child they kept.”
Eleanor broke down.
Theodore held his mother's hands, but his own face remained rigid. He could forgive fear. He could understand manipulation. What he could not accept was that his father had treated two newborn children as pieces in a financial arrangement.
That evening, Victor Sloane appeared at the estate without an appointment.
He was seventy, impeccably dressed, and known for his calm demeanor. He had advised presidents, financed hospitals, and donated millions to children's charities.
He entered the study and placed a folder on the desk.
“Before you make a mistake you cannot reverse, you should read this.”
Inside was a document bearing Nadia's signature.
It appeared to be a confession.
The text stated that she had knowingly participated in a scheme to blackmail the Hawthorne family and claim a fraudulent inheritance.
Nadia stared at it in disbelief.
“I've never seen this.”
May you like
Victor folded his hands.
“Perhaps you should ask your sister why she signed it.”
