Elena's POV
"Sophia knows about Ethan."
Adrian's words hung in the air like poison.
I stared at him, my mind racing. Sophia Carrington—the woman who'd stolen my husband, who'd faked a terminal illness, who'd destroyed my life—knew about my son.
"How?" My voice came out deadly calm. "How does she know?"
Adrian ran a hand through his hair, frustration and anger warring on his face. "I don't know. Maybe she saw the news about the merger meeting. Maybe someone from the hospital—"
"The hospital staff wouldn't leak patient information."
"Then someone from the boardroom. Someone who heard me say I have a child." Adrian's phone buzzed again. He declined the call without looking. "She's been trying to reach me for months. I've blocked her every time."
"What does she want?"
"Money. Status. Me." Adrian's jaw clenched. "She's been threatening to go public with lies about our relationship, claiming I promised to marry her—"
"Did you?"
The question came out sharper than I intended.
Adrian met my eyes. "Never. I ended things with her the moment I discovered she'd lied about being sick. I haven't spoken to her in four years."
Four years. Right around the time Ethan was born.
"But she won't leave you alone," I said flatly.
"No." Adrian looked exhausted. "And now that she knows about Ethan, she'll use him as leverage."
My protective instincts flared hot and fierce. "She comes near my son, and I'll destroy her."
"Our son," Adrian corrected quietly. "And I'll help you destroy her."
For a moment, we stood united by a common enemy. It felt strange and familiar all at once.
Then Adrian's phone rang again.
This time, he answered.
"What do you want, Sophia?" His voice was ice.
I couldn't hear her response, but I saw Adrian's face darken.
"You're insane if you think—" He stopped, listening. His eyes cut to me. "Don't threaten me. Don't even think about going near—"
He pulled the phone away from his ear, and I could hear Sophia's voice, shrill and angry.
"—your little family! I saw the pictures, Adrian! You and that woman and a child who looks exactly like you! Did you really think you could keep this secret?"
"There's no secret," Adrian said coldly. "And my personal life is none of your business."
"It became my business when you left me for her!"
"I left you because you're a liar and a manipulator. Elena has nothing to do with it."
I flinched at hearing my name on Sophia's call. This was exactly what I'd feared—being dragged back into Adrian's messy life.
"I'll go to the press," Sophia threatened. "I'll tell them everything. The divorce. The secret child. How you abandoned your sick girlfriend to run back to your ex-wife—"
"I was never your boyfriend." Adrian's control was slipping. "You manipulated me with a fake illness. When I found out the truth, I ended things. That's the story. Tell whoever you want."
"Fine!" Sophia's voice was pure venom. "Then I'll tell them about the child. How you hid him from the world. How his mother is some corporate spy who infiltrated your company—"
"Careful," Adrian warned. "You're talking about the mother of my son. And if you spread lies about her, my lawyers will bury you."
"Your lawyers? Please." Sophia laughed, harsh and bitter. "I have dirt on you, Adrian. On your father. On the whole Blackwell empire. You really want to play this game?"
Adrian's face went white.
I grabbed his arm, and he looked at me with something like panic.
"What does she have?" I mouthed.
Adrian put the call on speaker.
"—financial records that would make the SEC very interested," Sophia was saying. "Offshore accounts. Questionable deals. All with your father's fingerprints all over them."
My stomach dropped. Corporate fraud. That's what she was threatening.
"Those records are fake," Adrian said, but his voice lacked conviction.
"Are they?" Sophia purred. "Want to test that theory? Or do you want to meet with me and discuss a more... mutually beneficial arrangement?"
"What arrangement?"
"Fifty million dollars. In exchange for my silence and these very real documents disappearing forever."
Blackmail. She was blackmailing him.
Adrian's jaw clenched so hard I thought he might crack a tooth. "You're blackmailing me."
"I'm offering you a business deal. Fifty million, and I disappear from your life. You get to keep your reputation, your company, and your little family secret."
"And if I refuse?"
"Then tomorrow morning, every major news outlet gets these documents. Your father goes to prison. Your company tanks. And that merger you're so desperate to close? Dead in the water." Sophia paused. "Oh, and I'll make sure everyone knows about the secret love child you've been hiding. Imagine the scandal."
I felt sick. This was what loving Adrian Blackwell meant—constant threats, constant drama, constant danger.
"I need time to think," Adrian said.
"You have twenty-four hours. I'll text you a meeting location." Sophia's voice turned saccharine sweet. "And Adrian? Bring the money. Don't bring the wife."
The line went dead.
Adrian stood frozen, phone in his hand, looking like the world had just collapsed around him.
"Your father committed fraud," I said slowly. "And Sophia has proof."
"I don't know." Adrian sank onto the couch, head in his hands. "My father has always been ruthless in business. I wouldn't be surprised if he crossed legal lines. But I never thought—"
"That it would come back to destroy you?"
"That it would put you and Ethan in danger." Adrian looked up at me, and I saw real fear. "If she goes public, reporters will swarm. They'll dig into your life, Ethan's life. He's just a child, Elena. He doesn't deserve this."
He was right. Ethan didn't deserve any of this.
But neither did I.
"So pay her," I said coldly. "Give her the fifty million and make her disappear."
"And what happens when she comes back asking for more? Blackmailers never stop at one payment."
"Then what do you suggest?"
Adrian stood and started pacing. "I need to see those documents. Verify if they're real. If my father actually did commit fraud—"
"Then you turn him in before Sophia can."
Adrian stopped pacing and stared at me. "That's my father."
"Who threw me out of your house like garbage," I reminded him. "Who called me 'the help' at family dinners. Who probably celebrated when you divorced me."
Adrian flinched but didn't deny it.
"If he committed crimes, he should face consequences," I continued. "But more importantly, if you turn him in yourself, you control the narrative. You show you have integrity."
"It would destroy the company. The merger would definitely fail."
"Maybe." I crossed my arms. "But at least you'd destroy it on your terms, not Sophia's."
We stood there, two people who used to love each other, now allies against a common threat.
"I need to talk to my father," Adrian said finally. "Find out the truth."
"And I need to protect Ethan." I moved toward my room. "If reporters come sniffing around, I'm taking him and disappearing again."
"Elena, wait—"
I turned.
Adrian looked at me with desperation in his eyes. "Don't run. Please. Whatever happens, don't run again. Let me protect you this time."
"You couldn't protect me five years ago. Why should I trust you now?"
"Because I'm not the same man I was then." Adrian stepped closer. "Because I've spent five years regretting every choice I made. Because I love—"
"Don't." I held up a hand. "Don't say words you don't mean."
"I do mean them—"
A loud crash from the hallway made us both jump.
Adrian moved to the door and looked out. His whole body went rigid.
"What is it?" I asked.
He turned to me, his face pale.
"Sophia's here. In the hospital."
My blood turned to ice. "What?"
"I just saw her walk past with a photographer."
No. No no no.
She was here. At the hospital where my son was recovering from heart surgery. Where he was vulnerable and scared and—
I ran.
Out of the suite, down the hallway, straight to Ethan's room.
But when I got there, the room was empty.
The bed was made. The machines were quiet. Ethan's stuffed dinosaur sat alone on the pillow.
My heart stopped.
A nurse appeared beside me. "Ms. Hart? Is everything okay?"
"Where's my son?" My voice was shaking. "Where is Ethan?"
"Dr. Winters took him for some tests about ten minutes ago. They should be back soon—"
I didn't hear the rest.
Because standing at the end of the hallway, phone out and camera clicking, was Sophia Carrington.
She smiled at me—cold and cruel and victorious.
And I realized with horror that this was just the beginning.
Sophia wasn't here to blackmail Adrian.
She was here to take everything from both of us.
Starting with our son.