Chapter 13 - MY FATHER'S PART
Adrian wanted Richard to be the whole monster.
Life was rarely that generous.
Graham told the truth in a conference room with prosecutors present.
Thomas Whitmore had discovered Daniel's identity years earlier.
Instead of approaching him, Thomas hired investigators.
He tracked Daniel's job, apartment, debt, marriage, and eventually Marissa's pregnancy.
"Why?" Adrian asked.
Graham looked exhausted.
"He was afraid Daniel would expose the trust structure."
"He was afraid of his own son."
"Yes."
Thomas also approved the first hush-money offer.
But after Daniel reported the concrete fraud, something changed.
Thomas ordered Graham to prepare a public acknowledgment and trust correction.
He planned to tell Adrian everything.
Then Thomas suffered a stroke.
He died six weeks later.
Richard took control of the unfinished paperwork.
"And buried it," Adrian said.
"Yes."
Graham produced a draft letter Thomas had written to Adrian.
I have spent most of my life calling cowardice responsibility.
Adrian almost stopped reading.
Thomas admitted hiding Daniel.
He admitted letting Richard convince him that family unity mattered more than truth.
And he wrote:
If Daniel will forgive nothing else, he should never forgive me for making him believe he was unwanted.
Marissa read the line and began crying.
"He did believe that."
Adrian had no words.
He could not apologize for a dead man.
He could only stop continuing the lie.
That afternoon, he filed the documents necessary to recognize Daniel posthumously as Thomas Whitmore's son and Owen as a beneficiary of the family trust.
Richard's attorneys immediately challenged it.
Their filing claimed Daniel had extorted the family using confidential safety records.
Marissa slammed the papers onto Adrian's desk.
"They're going to make him dirty because he's dead and can't answer."
Adrian looked at her.
"Then we answer."
Naomi entered.
"Before we do, you need to see this."
She had found Daniel's last expense report.
One charge appeared the day before his fall.
Twenty-eight dollars.
Infant formula.
Marissa stared at it.
"Owen wasn't born yet."
May you like
Adrian frowned.
"Then who was he buying formula for?"
