Chapter15—The Recording
1325 Words
The room went silent.
Adrian stared at the former driver.
Certain he had heard wrong.
Certain there had to be another explanation.
"My mother?"
The words felt foreign in his mouth.
Impossible.
Yet every clue kept leading back to her.
The wedding planner.
The security guards.
The payments.
The airport footage.
Now this.
The older man looked away.
Like he couldn't bear looking Adrian in the eye.
"I shouldn't have said anything."
Marcus immediately stepped forward.
"You already did."
The driver's face tightened.
Years of fear were written across every line.
Every wrinkle.
Every exhausted expression.
"You don't understand what she's capable of."
Adrian felt something cold settle in his chest.
"Then help me understand."
The older man laughed bitterly.
There wasn't any humor in the sound.
Only regret.
"I worked for your family for almost fifteen years."
He rubbed his trembling hands together.
"People think power looks loud."
His eyes met Adrian's.
"But real power is quiet."
Nobody spoke.
The rain continued pounding against the windows.
The storm outside suddenly felt insignificant compared to the one building inside the room.
"What happened after the wedding?" Adrian asked.
The driver swallowed.
"Your mother came to see me."
A chill moved through Adrian.
"Personally?"
The man nodded.
"Three days after you disappeared."
Marcus and Adrian exchanged a glance.
Neither interrupted.
"She offered me money."
The driver laughed again.
A broken sound.
"When I refused, she offered more."
"And when you still refused?" Marcus asked.
The older man's face darkened.
"She told me accidents happen every day."
The room went completely still.
Adrian felt sick.
"No."
The denial escaped automatically.
Because even now he couldn't fully believe it.
Victoria Vale was controlling.
Demanding.
Cold.
But threatening people?
Destroying lives?
His mind rebelled against it.
The driver noticed.
"I made excuses too."
Adrian looked at him.
The older man's eyes softened slightly.
"As long as you're someone's son, you'll always want to believe the best about them."
Those words landed harder than anything else.
Because they were true.
Painfully true.
The driver slowly stood.
Then disappeared into another room.
Neither Adrian nor Marcus moved.
A minute later he returned carrying an old metal box.
Small.
Worn.
Locked.
His hands shook as he placed it on the table.
"What is that?"
The man stared at the box.
Like it contained ghosts.
"In case I ever needed proof."
Adrian's pulse accelerated.
"What proof?"
The driver unlocked it.
The click sounded impossibly loud.
Then he pulled out a small digital recorder.
Ancient.
Dust-covered.
Forgotten.
Or at least supposed to be forgotten.
Marcus immediately leaned forward.
Adrian's heartbeat thundered inside his ears.
The driver held the recorder tightly.
For a moment it seemed like he might change his mind.
Like he might put it away.
Like fear would win again.
Instead he handed it over.
"I shouldn't have kept it."
Adrian stared at the device.
His stomach twisting.
"What is it?"
The driver's eyes filled with regret.
"A conversation."
The room suddenly felt smaller.
"Between who?"
The answer came quietly.
"Your mother and Cassandra."
Adrian froze.
Marcus cursed under his breath.
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
The driver sat down heavily.
"They didn't know I was there."
"What conversation?" Adrian asked.
The older man looked exhausted.
"An argument."
Every muscle in Adrian's body tightened.
"When?"
"The week before your wedding."
The world seemed to stop.
The week before the wedding.
Before Selena waited six hours at the altar.
Before Adrian disappeared.
Before five years of pain and hatred.
Before everything.
"Play it."
The words came out rough.
The driver hesitated.
Then nodded.
Marcus took the recorder.
Pressed the power button.
Static filled the room.
Crackling.
Distorted.
Old.
Then voices emerged.
A woman's voice came first.
Sharp.
Cold.
Familiar.
Victoria.
Adrian felt his stomach drop.
There was no mistaking it.
"Lower your voice."
His mother's voice.
Recorded.
Real.
The room seemed to tilt.
Another voice answered.
Younger.
Angrier.
Cassandra.
"I'm tired of waiting."
Adrian closed his eyes.
Hearing her voice after all these years felt wrong.
Like opening an old wound.
The recording continued.
"You promised me."
Cassandra sounded furious.
"You said he'd choose me."
Victoria's response was immediate.
"He will."
Adrian's eyes snapped open.
Marcus looked equally shocked.
Neither spoke.
The argument continued.
"What if he doesn't?"
Cassandra demanded.
"What if he actually marries her?"
The sound of something breaking echoed through the recording.
Glass.
Maybe a vase.
Maybe a drink.
Nobody knew.
Then Victoria spoke again.
Calm.
Controlled.
Dangerously calm.
"He won't."
"How can you be sure?"
"Because I'll make sure of it."
The room went silent except for the recording.
Adrian felt sick.
Physically sick.
His own mother.
His own mother discussing his wedding like a business deal.
Like his life belonged to her.
The voices continued.
Cassandra sounded increasingly frustrated.
"You keep saying that."
"Because it's true."
"You don't know that."
"I know my son."
Adrian clenched his fists.
The irony nearly made him laugh.
She clearly hadn't known him at all.
Not then.
Not now.
Static crackled briefly.
Then Cassandra spoke again.
The next words changed everything.
"What about Selena?"
The room became perfectly still.
Every person listening focused harder.
Victoria's response came immediately.
"Selena doesn't matter."
Adrian's chest tightened.
Five years ago that sentence would have sounded normal.
Now it felt cruel.
Unforgivable.
Cassandra laughed.
"You underestimate her."
"No."
Victoria's voice sharpened.
"You do."
Another pause.
Then:
"She's stronger than she looks."
Adrian frowned.
That didn't sound like hatred.
It sounded like concern.
Almost fear.
The argument continued.
Back and forth.
Growing louder.
Growing uglier.
Then came the moment that changed everything.
Cassandra's voice dropped.
"Are you sure she doesn't know?"
Silence.
Several seconds of silence.
Then Victoria answered.
"No."
The single word echoed through the room.
Adrian frowned.
Know what?
"What if she finds out?"
Cassandra pressed.
Victoria's voice hardened.
"She won't."
"What if she does?"
"Then we'll handle it."
Adrian's pulse accelerated.
Handle what?
The tension inside the room became unbearable.
Marcus looked just as confused.
The driver stared at the floor.
Like he already knew what was coming.
And dreaded hearing it again.
The recording crackled.
Then Cassandra spoke.
The anger in her voice had disappeared.
Fear had replaced it.
Real fear.
"What if Selena tells Adrian?"
Adrian sat forward.
Every nerve in his body on fire.
The answer came from Victoria.
Cold.
Precise.
Terrifying.
"She won't get the chance."
A chill swept through the room.
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
Then Cassandra whispered the words.
The words that shattered everything.
"What if Selena finds out about the baby?"
Adrian's entire body locked.
The baby.
The baby?
The room spun.
His mind raced.
What baby?
Whose baby?
The recording continued.
But Adrian barely heard it.
His heart hammered violently.
Then Victoria answered.
Every word crystal clear.
Every word devastating.
"If Selena finds out about the baby..."
A pause.
A long pause.
The kind that changes lives.
Then:
"Everything is ruined."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
The recording ended.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Adrian stared at the device.
Unable to think.
Unable to process.
A baby.
Five years ago.
Before the wedding.
Before Selena disappeared.
Before Aria.
His mind immediately jumped to one possibility.
Then another.
Then another.
None of them made sense.
Across from him, the driver looked exhausted.
Like finally sharing the burden had drained him completely.
Marcus slowly lowered the recorder.
His face pale.
"What baby?"
Nobody answered.
Because nobody knew.
But Adrian suddenly realized something.
This wasn't about Cassandra.
It wasn't about the wedding.
It wasn't even about his mother.
Not entirely.
This was something bigger.
Something they still couldn't see.
And for the first time since the investigation began, Adrian wasn't thinking about revenge.
Or betrayal.
Or lost years.
He was thinking about Selena.
Because if someone had gone to these lengths to hide a baby...
Then maybe Selena wasn't the only victim.
Maybe she'd never known the truth either.
And if that was true
Then everything they believed about the past was wrong.
- Writer
