Chapter 3 - THE DEAD WIFE'S SECRET
The room was vast, filled with tall bookshelves, a cold marble fireplace, and covered dust sheets over velvet furniture. On the wall above the mantle hung a massive oil painting of Evelyn Kane—radiant, laughing, wearing a yellow silk dress.
Claire stood near the center of the room, clutching Nora tightly against her chest after Adrian finally handed the toddler over. Nora nestled into her mother's neck, yawning softly.
Adrian paced in front of the cold fireplace like a caged tiger.
"Your sister," Adrian said, stopping to face Claire. "What was her name?"
"Evelyn," Claire whispered, her voice trembling. "Evelyn Bennett."
Adrian's breath caught. "Evelyn was my wife. She told me she was an orphan. She said she had no living family in the world."
Claire looked down at the floor, fresh tears spilling down her cheeks. "Because my family disowned her when she was eighteen, Mr. Kane. My father was a cruel, controlling man. When Evelyn ran away to the city, he forbade any of us from speaking her name. But three years ago... three years ago, she called me in the middle of the night."
Adrian stepped closer, his shadow falling over her. "What did she say?"
"She was terrified," Claire recalled, her throat tight. "She was pregnant. She said she was living at the Kane estate, but she had discovered something horrific about your family's inner council—about your uncle, Marcus Kane."
Adrian's jaw clutched tightly at the mention of his uncle's name. Marcus Kane was the current acting CEO of Kane Global, the man who had managed the family business ever since Adrian withdrew from the world following the crash.
"Evelyn told me that Marcus found out she was pregnant," Claire continued. "He didn't want an heir to be born. An heir would mean Marcus losing control of the company trust when Adrian turned thirty-five. Evelyn said Marcus was poisoning her food, trying to cause a miscarriage."
Adrian felt a surge of violent rage boil in his chest. "Poisoning her? She never told me!"
"She couldn't!" Claire cried softly. "She said Marcus threatened to kill you if she spoke a word! He made her believe that you were in on it—that you only married her for her bloodline!"
"That's a lie!" Adrian roared, slamming his fist against the mahogany desk, causing the lamps to rattle. "I loved her! I worshipped the ground she walked on!"
"I know that now," Claire said softly, looking up into his tortured eyes. "But three years ago, she was terrified and desperate. So she faked her own escape. She hired a driver to get her out of Blackwood. But Marcus's men followed the car."
Adrian's eyes widened. "The crash... the burning car at the cliff..."
"Evelyn wasn't in that car when it blew up," Claire revealed, her voice shaking violently. "She had already jumped out into the brush near the lower bridge. The driver crashed trying to evade them. Evelyn crawled through the forest to my small apartment in the next town. She was bleeding, weak, and in labor."
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Adrian took a slow, agonizing step forward, his hands trembling as he stared at the little girl sleeping peacefully in Claire's arms.
"She gave birth to Nora in my kitchen," Claire wept. "And two hours later... Evelyn passed away from internal bleeding. Her last words were to name the baby Nora, and to make sure Marcus Kane never found her."
