Chapter 10 - What Adrian Knew
The police reopened questions surrounding my father’s crash.
Not publicly.
Not yet.
There was no proof of foul play.
The accident report from six years earlier showed a wet road, mechanical failure, and a collision with a barrier.
But investigators noticed something the original report had barely mentioned.
The brake line had been damaged.
At the time, mechanics believed debris from the crash caused it.
Now they weren’t certain.
I hated uncertainty.
It invited imagination.
Every possibility became a nightmare.
I refused to call Adrian a murderer without evidence.
But I also refused to protect him from questions anymore.
During a recorded legal interview, Adrian agreed to speak with investigators.
He wanted concessions.
He did not get them.
Still, he talked.
Maybe arrogance made him believe he could control the room.
Sarah obtained permission for me to observe remotely.
Adrian sat at a plain table wearing a dark suit.
No tie.
He looked tired.
But not defeated.
Agent Nolan asked, “Did you know Thomas Hawthorne?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“I met him when I was younger.”
“Did Claire know?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“It wasn’t important.”
I nearly laughed.
Agent Nolan continued.
“Did you remove documents from Mr. Hawthorne’s office?”
“No.”
“Rachel Owens says otherwise.”
“Rachel Owens is seventy years old and confused.”
I felt rage.
Not because he denied it.
Because he dismissed her.
That was Adrian’s way.
Anyone inconvenient became unstable.
Emotional.
Confused.
Agent Nolan placed a photograph on the table.
Adrian looked at it.
His expression changed slightly.
“What is that?”
“Security footage from Hawthorne Capital.”
Apparently an old storage company had archived cameras for insurance litigation.
The footage was grainy.
But it showed an eighteen-year-old Adrian entering my father’s building after hours.
A bag in his hand.
Agent Nolan asked, “Why were you there?”
Adrian smiled.
“Internship work.”
“At midnight?”
“Finance has strange hours.”
“What was in the bag?”
“I don’t remember.”
Then Agent Nolan asked:
“Did you marry Claire Hawthorne because of her trust?”
Adrian looked directly at the camera.
For some reason, I felt like he was looking at me.
“No.”
My breath caught.
Agent Nolan asked, “Did you know about the trust?”
“Yes.”
“Before dating her?”
“Yes.”
“Did you intentionally seek her out?”
Adrian paused.
Then:
“Yes.”
My stomach twisted.
Even knowing it was likely did not prepare me to hear it.
“Why?”
“Because I needed access.”
The words were clean.
Simple.
Brutal.
Agent Nolan leaned forward.
“Financial access?”
“At first.”
At first.
I closed my eyes.
“Did you love her?”
Long silence.
Then Adrian said:
“Yes.”
I opened my eyes.
Agent Nolan did not react.
“When?”
“Later.”
“How much later?”
Adrian laughed bitterly.
“Does it matter?”
To me, yes.
More than I wanted.
He continued.
“Claire wasn’t supposed to be…”
He stopped.
“What?”
“Real.”
My throat tightened.
“What do you mean?”
“Graham told me she was sheltered. Easy. Financially naive.”
I felt sick.
“And was she?”
“No.”
For the first time, Adrian looked almost human.
“She remembered everything. Asked questions. Cared about stupid things.”
Agent Nolan raised an eyebrow.
“Stupid things?”
“Birthdays. My mother’s health. Employees’ kids.”
He looked down.
“She made a home.”
I hated him for saying that.
Because it sounded true.
“And yet you stole from her.”
“Yes.”
“Cheated on her.”
Adrian said nothing.
“Forged her signature.”
“Yes.”
“Abandoned her roadside.”
His jaw tightened.
“Yes.”
“So your feelings didn’t stop you.”
“No.”
The honesty was worse than denial.
Agent Nolan asked about Jonathan.
Adrian became guarded.
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
“You arranged medical treatment.”
“Yes.”
“So you had contact.”
“Yes.”
“Why keep him hidden?”
“Because Graham would kill him.”
There it was.
“What does Jonathan know?”
“Where the original ledger is.”
Eleanor, watching beside me, whispered:
“Ledger?”
Agent Nolan asked the same question.
“What ledger?”
“The master record.”
“Of what?”
“Everything.”
Adrian leaned back.
“Accounts. Bribes. transfers. names. Twenty-five years.”
“Where is it?”
“Jonathan hid it.”
“And Graham has been looking for it.”
“Yes.”
“Why does Adrian Vale need Riverside?”
“Because the ledger is hidden somewhere inside one of the original Hawthorne warehouse properties.”
I stopped breathing.
My father’s properties.
Agent Nolan leaned forward.
“Which building?”
“I don’t know.”
“Does Claire?”
“No.”
“Did Thomas Hawthorne?”
“Yes.”
“And Jonathan?”
“Yes.”
Suddenly, the entire marriage made sense.
Adrian needed access to my trust because my father owned the warehouses.
Riverside wasn’t just a real estate project.
It was a search.
My life had been used to reach something hidden before I ever met Adrian.
Agent Nolan asked one final question.
“Where is Graham Whitmore?”
Adrian looked at the camera.
Then smiled.
“You’re asking the wrong person.”
“Who should we ask?”
Adrian’s smile disappeared.
“Eleanor.”
Beside me, Eleanor stiffened.
Then Adrian said:
“Ask her why Graham was at her house the night Jonathan disappeared.”
Every person watching went silent.
I turned toward Eleanor.
She looked as shocked as I felt.
But after the interview ended, she said something I didn’t expect.
“He was.”
“What?”
“Graham was at my house that night.”
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
“Because I didn’t remember until now.”
I stared.
“You forgot?”
“I was in shock for weeks.”
She stood.
“He came to comfort me.”
Then her expression changed.
“No.”
“What?”
“He came before we knew Jonathan was missing.”
A chill moved across the room.
“Why would he come before anyone knew?”
May you like
Eleanor whispered:
“Because Graham already knew.”
