Chapter 3 - The Name on the Birth Certificate
Damian shoved Claire and Lily behind him.
“Stay back.”
The handle stopped.
Then came Vivian’s voice.
“I know you’re in there.”
Claire’s heart hammered.
Vivian Cross had been Claire’s best friend.
More than that.
She had been the one person Claire trusted inside Damian’s world.
Vivian had helped plan their wedding.
She had held Claire’s hair when morning sickness became unbearable.
She had sat beside Claire in the bathroom when the pregnancy test turned positive.
And three weeks after Claire disappeared, Vivian vanished too.
Claire had assumed Damian sent her away.
Damian had assumed Claire took her.
Neither had been right.
“Open the door,” Vivian said.
Damian shook his head.
Claire ignored him.
She moved closer.
“Viv?”
Silence.
Then a sob.
“Yes.”
Claire unlocked the chain.
Damian grabbed her wrist.
“Don’t.”
“She’s my friend.”
“You haven’t seen her in four years.”
“Neither had I seen you until today.”
“That proves my point.”
Claire stared at him.
Then opened the door.
Vivian stood in the hallway.
She looked older.
Her once-blonde hair was now dark brown.
There was a scar running from her temple toward her ear.
She wore a gray coat and carried no bag.
Claire stared.
“Vivian.”
Vivian began crying.
Claire pulled her inside.
They held each other.
For several seconds, Damian said nothing.
Then he locked the door.
Vivian saw him.
Her expression changed.
“Damian.”
“Where have you been?”
“That’s your first question?”
“Yes.”
Claire stepped between them.
“She just got here.”
“She found us in a motel that nobody knew we were using.”
Vivian wiped her eyes.
“Elias told me.”
Damian’s face hardened.
Claire released her.
“You’re with Elias?”
“No.”
“You just said—”
“He found me yesterday.”
Damian moved closer.
“Where?”
“Portland.”
“What did he want?”
“To know where Claire was.”
Claire’s stomach dropped.
“You told him?”
“No.”
Vivian shook her head.
“I swear.”
“Then how did he find the café?”
“I don’t know.”
Damian watched her carefully.
“You expect me to believe that?”
Vivian glared.
“You believed I was dead for four years.”
“No. I believed you ran.”
She laughed bitterly.
“You never even looked.”
“I looked.”
“Not hard enough.”
Claire stared at Damian.
“You looked for her?”
“For everyone connected to you.”
“That isn’t what Elias said.”
Damian turned.
“What?”
“He said you never stopped looking for me.”
Vivian’s expression changed.
Claire noticed.
“You knew.”
Vivian sat down.
“I knew he was searching.”
Claire stared.
“And you never told me?”
“I couldn’t.”
“Why?”
“Because I was afraid the people watching him would find you.”
Damian looked at her sharply.
“Who?”
Vivian hesitated.
“Your uncle.”
The room became silent.
Damian’s uncle, Marcus Blackwood, was dead.
At least according to the official records.
He had died of a heart attack two years earlier.
Damian stepped closer.
“My uncle?”
Vivian nodded.
“He was the one who leaked Claire’s pregnancy.”
Claire felt sick.
“No.”
“I heard him talking.”
“When?”
“The night before you sent her away.”
Damian’s face emptied.
Vivian continued.
“He knew the child existed. He knew Claire’s doctor. He knew the due date.”
Damian whispered, “How?”
“Someone inside your house.”
Claire shook her head.
“No one knew.”
Vivian looked at her.
“I did.”
Claire froze.
Damian’s eyes narrowed.
Vivian began crying again.
“I told him.”
Claire stepped back.
“What?”
“I didn’t know what he was planning.”
“You told Marcus?”
“He asked why you weren’t drinking at dinner. I joked that maybe he should start shopping for baby gifts.”
Claire stared.
“You told him?”
“I thought he was family.”
Damian turned away.
He looked like he wanted to break something.
Instead he pressed both hands against the wall.
Vivian spoke faster.
“When I realized what he’d done, I tried to warn you. But you were already gone.”
Claire’s voice was barely audible.
“Then why did you disappear?”
“Because Marcus found out I knew.”
Damian turned.
“What did he do?”
“He locked me in a warehouse for three days.”
Claire covered her mouth.
“He said if I contacted either of you, he’d kill my parents.”
“Where are they?”
“Dead.”
Claire’s eyes filled.
Vivian continued.
“Car accident. Two months later.”
Damian closed his eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
Vivian laughed.
“You should be.”
Claire sat beside her.
Lily had fallen asleep against the pillows, Captain Rabbit under her chin.
Claire lowered her voice.
“What happened after that?”
“I changed my name. Left the state. Worked cash jobs. Stayed invisible.”
“Why come back now?”
“Because Elias came to me.”
Damian’s attention sharpened.
“What did he say?”
“That Marcus wasn’t the real traitor.”
Damian went still.
“Who was?”
Vivian looked directly at him.
“Your brother.”
Claire knew Damian had only one brother.
Adrian.
Younger by three years.
Charming.
Educated.
The opposite of Damian.
Adrian had once spent every Sunday at their house.
He brought Claire flowers.
He teased Damian about being too serious.
He had called Claire his sister.
Claire whispered, “Adrian?”
Damian shook his head.
“No.”
Vivian looked at him.
“Elias has proof.”
“Elias lies.”
“Maybe.”
“He killed people for my father.”
“So did you.”
Damian’s face tightened.
Claire stood.
“Enough.”
Vivian reached into her coat.
Damian’s hand moved toward his gun.
She pulled out an envelope.
“Relax.”
She handed it to Claire.
Inside was a photocopy.
A birth certificate.
Lily’s birth certificate.
Claire stopped breathing.
“What is this?”
Damian grabbed it.
His eyes moved across the page.
Mother: Claire Bennett.
Father: blank.
Damian looked up.
“Who gave this to you?”
“Elias.”
Claire’s hands shook.
“How does he have it?”
“I don’t know.”
Damian turned the page over.
There was handwriting on the back.
One sentence.
HE KNOWS THE FATHER.
Claire stared.
Damian crushed the edge of the paper.
“Elias is manipulating us.”
Vivian looked at him.
“Maybe.”
“He wants me reacting emotionally.”
“Is it working?”
Damian ignored her.
Claire walked toward the window.
Her daughter slept ten feet away.
For four years Claire had lived carefully.
Quietly.
She avoided photos online.
Never used her married surname.
She never told Lily about the Blackwoods.
Yet someone had found the birth certificate.
Someone had known.
Damian approached her.
“We leave tonight.”
“Where?”
“My property outside Albany.”
“No.”
“It’s secure.”
“It’s yours.”
“That’s why it’s secure.”
Claire turned.
“I won’t bring her into your world.”
“My world just came into yours.”
“That’s because you appeared.”
“No.”
His voice softened.
“Claire, listen to me. This started before I found you.”
She hated that he was right.
Damian looked at Lily.
“If Elias has her birth certificate, he knows everything.”
“Then why hasn’t he hurt us?”
“Because he wants something.”
“What?”
“I don’t know.”
Vivian answered.
“He wants Damian to destroy Adrian.”
They turned.
Vivian looked exhausted.
“He said the Blackwood family has to collapse from the inside.”
Damian’s voice was cold.
“And you believed him?”
“I believed his hatred.”
Claire frowned.
“Why does Elias hate Adrian?”
Vivian hesitated.
“Because Adrian killed his daughter.”
Damian stared.
“What daughter?”
Vivian looked at him strangely.
“You really don’t know.”
“No.”
“Her name was Rebecca.”
Claire remembered the name.
Rebecca Vane.
She had worked at a charity foundation connected to the Blackwoods.
Twenty-six.
Bright.
Kind.
She disappeared five years ago.
Police suspected suicide.
No body.
Damian whispered, “Adrian knew Rebecca?”
Vivian nodded.
“They were engaged.”
“No.”
“Secretly.”
Damian walked away.
“No.”
Claire watched him.
His entire understanding of his family was beginning to crack.
Vivian handed him another photograph.
Adrian.
Rebecca.
Kissing outside a courthouse.
Damian stared.
On Rebecca’s finger was a ring.
Their mother’s ring.
The one Adrian claimed he had lost.
Damian sat down.
Claire had never seen him look small.
Until now.
Vivian whispered, “Elias says Rebecca discovered Adrian was stealing money from the family accounts.”
Damian looked up.
“How much?”
“Millions.”
“Impossible.”
“Your father knew.”
“My father would have killed him.”
“Maybe that’s why your father died.”
Damian stood so fast the chair fell over.
Claire grabbed his arm.
“Stop.”
“My father died in surgery.”
“According to Adrian’s doctor,” Vivian said.
The room went silent again.
Damian’s face changed.
Everything he believed had become uncertain.
Claire saw something dangerous building behind his eyes.
Not violence.
Grief.
“Where is Adrian now?” Vivian asked.
Damian stared at the floor.
“He runs Blackwood Holdings.”
Claire frowned.
“You left him in charge?”
“I left the legitimate businesses to him.”
“And the rest?”
“I dismantled most of it.”
Claire stared.
“You what?”
Damian looked at her.
“After you left.”
“Why?”
“Because I realized there would always be another threat.”
Claire’s anger weakened.
He continued.
“I sold the clubs. Closed the gambling rooms. Cut ties with half the old crews.”
“Why didn’t you leave completely?”
“Because leaving isn’t a door you walk through once.”
The sentence carried four years of exhaustion.
Claire looked away.
Lily stirred.
“Mommy?”
Claire immediately crossed the room.
“I’m here.”
Lily sat up.
“Is the scary man gone?”
Damian winced.
“No, sweetheart.”
Lily looked at him.
“Oh.”
She considered.
“You don’t look scary when you’re sad.”
Damian gave a small smile.
“Thank you.”
Lily climbed off the bed.
She carried Captain Rabbit toward him.
“You can hold him.”
Damian stared at the toy.
“Why?”
“He helps.”
Claire nearly broke.
Damian accepted the rabbit carefully.
“Thank you.”
Lily climbed into Claire’s lap.
Damian looked at the rabbit in his hand.
A cheap stuffed animal.
One ear bent.
A stitched patch on the belly.
And somehow it seemed more valuable than anything he owned.
His phone vibrated.
Damian checked the screen.
His face hardened.
“What?”
He didn’t answer.
Claire stood.
“What is it?”
Damian showed her.
A text from an unknown number.
COME HOME, BROTHER.
Below it was a photograph.
Adrian.
Standing outside Claire’s café.
Taken that afternoon.
Claire stared.
Then another message appeared.
This one contained a photograph of Lily.
Sleeping in Mara’s truck.
And beneath it, five words:
SHE SHOULD HAVE BEEN MINE.
Damian slowly raised his eyes.
Before anyone could speak, someone knocked on the motel window.
Lily screamed.
Claire turned.
A man stood outside the glass.
May you like
He smiled.
And held up Damian’s mother’s missing ring...
