PART 5
"The person who took Lily..."
"Is someone you trust."
The words echoed through the room.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
I stared at my former head of security, Adrian Cole.
Four years ago, Adrian was the one person I trusted with my life.
He had protected me during business wars.
He had followed me through dangerous negotiations.
He knew every enemy I had.
Every weakness.
Every secret.
And then, the night after the hotel incident...
He disappeared.
I spent years believing he had betrayed me.
But now he was standing in front of me.
Telling me that my daughter was alive.
And that someone close to me had hidden her.
"Who?"
My voice was cold.
"Tell me who has my daughter."
Adrian looked at Sophia.
She immediately shook her head.
"No."
The fear in her voice stopped me.
"Sophia?"
She looked at Adrian.
"How did you find out?"
Adrian hesitated.
"Because I was the one who helped hide her."
The room exploded with silence.
My eyes narrowed.
"You?"
Adrian lowered his head.
"I didn't know what else to do."
My anger rose.
"You hid my daughter from me?"
"No."
His voice became desperate.
"I protected her from them."
"From who?"
Adrian looked at the children playing in the other room.
Then back at me.
"From everyone."
I stepped closer.
"That isn't an answer."
Adrian took a deep breath.
"Four years ago, after Sophia left the hotel, Victor's people followed her."
Sophia's face changed.
"You knew?"
Adrian nodded.
"I knew Victor had planned everything."
My fists tightened.
"Then why didn't you tell me?"
His eyes filled with regret.
"Because you weren't yourself, Lucas."
The words hit me.
"You woke up angry. Confused. You believed Sophia had manipulated you."
I looked away.
Because I remembered.
I remembered the coldness.
The frustration.
The feeling that someone had taken control of my life.
"You ordered me to find her," Adrian continued.
"I did."
"But before I could..."
He stopped.
"What?"
Adrian swallowed.
"Victor's men found Sophia."
Sophia covered her mouth.
"No..."
"They tried to take the babies."
My heart stopped.
"The triplets?"
Adrian nodded.
"But Sophia escaped."
He looked at her.
"She was running with four newborns."
Four.
The number felt impossible.
"She had all four children?"
Sophia looked down.
Tears filled her eyes.
"Yes."
My breath caught.
"Lily was born first."
She whispered.
"Then came the triplets."
I stared at her.
"You never told me."
"I was scared."
Her voice broke.
"Victor wanted to use them against you."
She looked at me.
"And I thought if you knew about them, he would find you."
I couldn't speak.
She had been protecting me.
Protecting our children.
While I thought she had betrayed me.
"Then what happened?"
I asked Adrian.
"Why was Lily separated?"
Adrian's expression darkened.
"Because someone betrayed Sophia."
Everyone became still.
"Who?"
Adrian looked toward the hallway.
"Someone who knew where she was hiding."
My mind raced.
Someone close.
Someone trusted.
The possibilities were endless.
Then Sophia suddenly whispered:
"No..."
Her face turned pale.
"What?"
She looked at Adrian.
"You said someone close."
Adrian nodded.
Sophia slowly shook her head.
"That's impossible."
"Who?" I demanded.
She didn't answer.
Instead, she whispered a name.
A name that made my entire body freeze.
"Your father."
The room went silent.
My father.
Richard Hart.
The man who built Hart Group before passing everything to me.
The man who taught me business.
The man who always told me:
"Family is everything."
"No."
I shook my head.
"My father died five years ago."
Adrian looked at me.
"Everyone thought he did."
A cold chill went through me.
"What are you saying?"
Adrian pulled out a folder from his jacket.
"I found these documents three weeks ago."
He placed them on the table.
Inside were photographs.
Bank transfers.
Medical records.
And one image.
A man entering a private facility.
A man I recognized immediately.
My father's face.
But older.
Alive.
My hands started shaking.
"This is impossible."
Adrian's voice was low.
"Your father never died."
The room spun.
"He faked his death."
I stared at the photograph.
Why?
Why would my own father disappear?
Why would he hide?
Why would he take my daughter?
Then I noticed the final document.
A custody agreement.
A signature.
My father's signature.
And underneath it...
A child's name.
Lily Hart.
My heart stopped.
"He has her."
Adrian nodded.
"Yes."
I looked at Sophia.
She was crying silently.
"Why?"
My voice cracked.
"Why would my own father take my daughter?"
Nobody answered.
Then Daniel spoke.
"Because Richard Hart never wanted you to become CEO."
I turned toward him.
"What?"
Daniel looked at me seriously.
"Your father believed you were weak."
The words burned.
"He thought your emotions would destroy the company."
Sophia whispered:
"He wanted an heir who could control Hart Group."
My blood ran cold.
"And Lily?"
Adrian looked at the documents.
"She wasn't taken because she was a child."
A pause.
"She was taken because she was insurance."
Insurance.
A bargaining chip.
A weapon.
My own daughter.
I felt something inside me break.
For years, I thought I had lost my family because I was afraid of commitment.
But the truth was worse.
Someone had been fighting a war around me...
And my children had become the battlefield.
I looked at Sophia.
"I'll bring her home."
She stared at me.
"You don't know where he is."
I picked up the documents.
A strange calm settled over me.
"No."
I looked at Adrian.
"But you do."
Adrian was silent.
Then he nodded.
"Yes."
"Where?"
He hesitated.
Then said:
"The old Hart estate."
My blood froze.
The mansion where I grew up.
The place my father supposedly abandoned after his death.
The place that had been locked for years.
Adrian looked at me.
"But Lucas..."
"What?"
His expression turned serious.
"Before you go there, you need to know something."
"What?"
He took a deep breath.
"Richard didn't just hide Lily."
"He has been preparing her."
I frowned.
"For what?"
Adrian looked at me.
And whispered:
"To become the next heir of Hart Group."
At that moment...
I realized this was never just about a child.
This was about power.
And my father had been planning this war long before I even knew it had begun.
