The Boy With the Scar My Billionaire Father Never Forgot

Adrian didn't move until the black SUV pulled away from the curb.

Then he turned toward Victor.

“You know who called me.””

Victor's eyes remained fixed on the street.

“I know the voice.””

“Whose?””

“My father's former security chief. Malcolm Reed.””

Adrian frowned.

“Malcolm died eight years ago.””

“That was what the family was told.””

Danielle took Eli's hand.

“We need to leave. Now.””

Victor nodded.

“For once, Danielle is right.””

Adrian looked at his brother with disbelief.

“You've spent the last ten minutes telling me what I should and shouldn't do. You're not going anywhere until you tell me everything.””

Victor stepped closer.

“Adrian, listen to me. Malcolm was the person who managed our father's private security. He knew where the cameras were, which guards could be trusted, and how to move people through the hospital without leaving a trail.””

“And you worked with him?””

“I was twenty-eight. I thought I was protecting the family.””

“From what?””

Victor looked at Eli.

“From the people who wanted your children dead.””

The words settled over the terrace.

Eli's grip tightened around Danielle's hand.

“Both of us?””

Victor nodded.

“Both of you.””

Adrian felt the world tilt.

“Why would anyone want newborn babies dead?””

Victor opened his briefcase and removed the sealed envelope bearing Saint Catherine's logo.

“Because your father had discovered that someone was using the Blackwood Foundation to move money through medical charities. Millions of dollars were being stolen from programs meant to help children.””

Adrian stared at him.

“Our father?””

“Your father found evidence shortly before the crash. He planned to expose the people involved.””

“And what does that have to do with my sons?””

Victor looked toward the SUV's empty parking space.

“Your father kept copies of everything. He believed that if anything happened to him, the evidence would protect the family. But the documents disappeared the night Vanessa died.””

Adrian shook his head.

“That's impossible. The foundation's accounts were audited.””

“By people who were being paid to look the other way.””

“Who was behind it?””

Victor hesitated.

Then he said, “I never found out the entire list. But I know one person who signed the transfers.””

He placed a document on the table.

The signature at the bottom belonged to Malcolm Reed.

Beneath it was another signature.

*Adrian Blackwood.*

Adrian stared at his own name.

“I never signed this.””

“I know.””

“Then someone forged my signature.””

Victor nodded.

“And whoever did it needed the twins to disappear before your father could expose the fraud.””

Danielle's breathing became shallow.

Adrian turned toward her.

“You knew about the money?””

“Only what your father told me. He came to the hospital that night because Vanessa had called him. She'd found something in his study, something she thought could prove someone was stealing from the foundation.””

Adrian remembered the phone call.

Vanessa had called him shortly before the crash, her voice unusually tense. She told him she needed to talk to him about something important.

He had been in a business meeting.

He told her he'd be home in an hour.

An hour later, the police called.

Adrian gripped the table.

“What did she find?””

Danielle shook her head.

“She never told me. She said she was afraid the phones were being monitored.””

Victor opened the envelope.

Inside were two photographs and a handwritten note.

The first photograph showed Vanessa in a hospital bed, holding two newborn babies. She looked exhausted but radiant, her face turned toward the tiny faces pressed against her chest.

Adrian's eyes filled with tears.

He had never seen the picture.

On the back, Vanessa had written:

For Adrian. Our boys are stronger than anyone knows. No matter what happens, promise me you'll keep them together.

Adrian pressed the photograph against his chest.

For a moment, the billionaire disappeared. There was only a grieving husband staring at the last message his wife had left him.

Eli watched him.

“That's my mom's name,” he whispered, pointing at Vanessa.

Adrian nodded.

“Your birth mother.””

Eli looked at the photograph for a long time.

“She looks kind.””

“She was,” Adrian said, his voice breaking.

“She was the kindest person I ever knew.””

“Did she love me?””

Adrian knelt beside him.

“With everything she had.””

Eli's lips trembled.

“Then why didn't she come get me?””

Adrian couldn't answer.

Victor unfolded the handwritten note.

The second photograph showed two men standing outside the hospital's old surgical wing. One was their father. The other was Malcolm Reed.

Between them stood a younger man holding a blanket.

Adrian leaned closer.

The man holding the blanket was Victor.

But that wasn't what made Adrian's heart stop.

The blanket was wrapped around a baby.

A second baby lay in a small transport carrier beside him.

Both children were alive.

Both had the same curved surgical scar visible near their necks.

Adrian looked at his brother.

“You knew.””

Victor's eyes glistened.

“I knew they were alive that night.””

“You let me bury an empty coffin.””

“I thought I could bring them back.””

“You let me believe Vanessa died and our son died with her!””

Victor's voice broke.

“I was trying to protect you!””

Adrian struck the table with his palm.

“From what? The truth?””

Victor stepped backward.

“Our father told me to move the boys. He said people were coming for them. Malcolm was supposed to take them somewhere safe.””

“And?””

“Malcolm took one child. I stayed with the other. When I returned to the room, the second baby was gone.””

Adrian stared at him.

“Which baby did you have?””

Victor's face crumpled.

“Eli.””

Danielle pulled the boy against her.

Adrian's voice became dangerously quiet.

“Then who took Noah?””

Victor shook his head.

“I don't know.””

A loud metallic bang sounded from the street.

Everyone turned.

The black SUV had returned.

This time, it stopped directly behind Adrian's sedan.

The driver's door opened.

A Black man in his sixties stepped onto the pavement. He wore a dark suit and carried a cane, though his movements were steady. A deep scar crossed his left cheek.

Victor whispered, “Malcolm.””

The man walked toward the café without hurrying.

Marcus stepped into his path.

“Sir, this area is reserved for guests.””

Malcolm looked at him.

“Move.””

“I'm afraid I can't do that.””

Malcolm reached into his jacket and produced a badge.

Marcus glanced at it, then stepped aside.

Adrian watched the man approach.

“Malcolm Reed?””

The older man smiled faintly.

“Mr. Blackwood. You look just like your father.””

“Where is my son?””

Malcolm's smile disappeared.

“You'll have to be more specific.””

Adrian took a step forward.

“Where is Noah?””

Malcolm glanced at Eli.

Then he looked at Victor.

“You should have destroyed those records.””

Victor's voice trembled.

“I couldn't.””

Malcolm sighed.

“Then you have made this much harder than it needed to be.””

He turned toward Adrian.

“Your father wasn't killed because of the money. He was killed because he discovered who was stealing it.””

Adrian felt cold spread through his chest.

“Our father died of a heart attack.””

“That's what the death certificate says.””

Danielle covered her mouth.

Malcolm continued.

“Your father left evidence behind. Evidence that could put powerful people in prison. But before he could hand it over, someone made sure he would never speak again.””

Adrian stared at him.

“Who?””

Malcolm looked directly at Eli.

“The same person who ordered the second child taken.””

Eli stepped backward.

Adrian moved protectively in front of him.

“Tell me the name.””

Malcolm reached into his pocket and removed a small photograph.

He placed it on the table.

It showed a teenage boy standing outside a brick building, his face turned slightly toward the camera.

He had Eli's eyes.

Eli's mouth.