CHAPTER 6: LAUREN’S LAST SECRET
Lauren woke late that evening to find Alexander sitting beside her hospital bed.
Sophia was asleep in the adjoining room under the watch of a nurse.
Alexander placed Edward’s trust documents on the blanket.
Lauren read the first page and closed her eyes.
“You knew,” he said.
She nodded.
“Your father told me shortly before he died.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I tried.”
Lauren’s voice was weak, but steady.
“The night I planned to show you the papers, Victoria came to our apartment.”
Alexander leaned forward.
“What happened?”
“She already knew I was pregnant. She said the child would destroy the family.”
Lauren’s fingers tightened around the blanket.
“She offered me ten million dollars to leave you before Sophia was born.”
Alexander felt a surge of anger.
“I refused,” Lauren continued. “The next morning, the trust documents disappeared from my desk.”
“Why didn’t you go to the police?”
“Because two men followed me for three days. One of them showed me photographs of you entering your office.”
Her voice trembled.
“He said accidents happened to powerful men. He said your father’s heart attack should have taught me that.”
Alexander stared at her.
“Did you think my father was murdered?”
“I didn’t know what to think.”
She looked toward Sophia’s room.
“I only knew I had to protect you and the baby.”
“But you stayed with me.”
“I loved you.”
“What changed?”
“After Sophia was born, your mother became more aggressive. Then you left for Singapore to close the Hawthorne deal.”
Alexander remembered the trip. He had been gone for nine days.
“When I returned, you were gone.”
“Because Victoria came with Nathan and a police officer.”
Lauren’s eyes filled with tears.
“They showed me documents claiming you had filed for emergency custody. They said you believed I was mentally unstable. Nathan told me that unless I signed the divorce papers and disappeared, they would place Sophia in state custody until the case was resolved.”
Alexander’s face went numb.
“They threatened to take her from you.”
“They promised I could keep her if I never contacted you again.”
Lauren reached toward the nightstand and removed a small silver necklace.
A tiny recording device was hidden inside the pendant.
“I recorded part of the conversation.”
Alexander stared at it.
“Why didn’t you use it?”
“I had nowhere to use it. Every attorney I contacted withdrew after speaking with Nathan. One disappeared with my documents. Another told me I should take Sophia and run.”
“Why did you come back to New York?”
“My mother died last year. I had nowhere else.”
Lauren looked ashamed.
“I thought a city this large would be the easiest place to remain invisible.”
“And my mother found you.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“I applied for a cleaning job at one of the hotels owned by Sterling Hospitality. Two days later, Victoria appeared at the basement apartment.”
Alexander’s expression darkened.
“What did she say?”
“That you were engaged.”
“I wasn’t.”
“She said you had another family. She offered me five hundred dollars a month to stay quiet.”
“Did you take it?”
“For Sophia.”
Lauren looked away.
“Most months, it never arrived.”
Alexander stood and walked to the window.
Below them, Manhattan glittered with wealth and possibility.
Somewhere in the city, his mother was still attempting to control the story.
He turned back.
“Lauren, I need to ask you something.”
She looked at him.
“Do you still have the original recording?”
Lauren pointed to the necklace.
“It contains more than Victoria’s threats.”
“What else?”
“Nathan admitted where the monthly payments were going.”
Alexander picked up the pendant.
May you like
Lauren’s next words changed the investigation.
“He said the money was being used to pay the people who kept us apart.”
