Part 2 of 3

Grant remained near the doorway.

“But I need one answer. Are they mine?”

Tessa looked toward the children.

Then back at him.

“Biologically?”

Grant’s pulse quickened.

“Yes.”

She nodded once.

“Yes, Grant. They’re yours.”

The room seemed to lose all sound.

Grant sat slowly in a chair.

Four sons.

Six years.

Birthdays he had missed.

First words.

First days of school.

Christmas mornings.

He pressed a hand over his mouth.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Tessa stared at him in disbelief.

“I tried.”

Grant looked up.

“No. You disappeared.”

Her expression hardened.

“I disappeared because your family made it very clear that you wanted me gone.”

She opened one of the travel bags and removed an old envelope protected inside a plastic folder.

“The day after my doctor confirmed the pregnancy, a lawyer named Everett Cole came to see me.”

Grant knew the name immediately.

Cole had served as outside counsel for the Hollowell family for decades before abruptly retiring.

Tessa continued.

“He gave me a letter supposedly signed by you. It said you had chosen your family, that you wanted no involvement with the pregnancy, and that contacting you would only create problems for everyone.”

Grant stood.

“I never wrote that.”

Tessa laughed without humor.

“He also showed me documents saying you were preparing to marry Camille Redford.”

“Camille and I weren’t even dating then.”

Tessa’s eyes began to shine.

“He said your mother would make sure I lost everything if I tried to force myself into your life.”

Grant shook his head.

“Tessa, my mother showed me a completely different story.”

She went still.

“What story?”

“She told me you accepted a large payment and moved to California with someone else.”

Tessa stared at him.

“I have never lived in California.”

“She showed me a lease cancellation with your signature.”

“I never signed one.”

Grant’s voice weakened.

“She told me the pregnancy had ended and you didn’t want me contacting you.”

Tessa slowly lowered herself into a chair.

For several moments, neither of them spoke.

They had spent six years blaming each other.

Now they were beginning to understand that both of them had been handed carefully constructed lies.

The Mother Who Arrived Too Quickly

Grant’s phone rang.

His building manager was calling.

“Mr. Hollowell, your mother is downstairs.”

Grant looked toward Tessa.

Fear returned to her face immediately.

“How did she know I was here?”

Grant already knew the answer.

Vivienne Hollowell always knew where her son went.

“Is she alone?” Grant asked.

“She arrived with her driver and two members of her private staff.”

“The staff remain downstairs. Send her up alone.”

Tessa moved closer to the children.

“Grant, please don’t let her speak to them.”

He looked directly at her.

“She won’t.”

Minutes later, the elevator opened.

Vivienne Hollowell entered wearing a cream wool coat and pearl earrings, looking every inch like the polished chairwoman of a century-old family company.

She began speaking before she had fully crossed the foyer.

“Grant, Camille’s family is furious. Redford Capital has already requested an emergency discussion, and there are guests still waiting at the rooftop—”

Then she saw Tessa.

Her sentence stopped.

For a fraction of a second, Vivienne looked genuinely frightened.

Grant noticed.

So did Tessa.

Vivienne recovered quickly.

“I see.”

She placed her handbag on the console.

“So this is why you embarrassed two families tonight.”

Grant stepped between the women.

“Do you remember Everett Cole?”

Vivienne’s eyes narrowed.

“Of course.”

“Did you send him to Tessa six years ago?”

Silence.

“Grant, this is not the time—”

“Did you send him?”

Vivienne straightened.

“I handled a difficult situation because you were young and emotional.”

Tessa inhaled sharply.

Grant stared at his mother.

“So you did.”

“I protected you.”

“From what?”

Vivienne gestured toward Tessa.

“From throwing away your entire future because you were infatuated with someone who had no understanding of the responsibilities attached to your name.”

Grant almost laughed.

Instead, he pulled his phone from his pocket.

For three years, he had quietly investigated several unusual payments made through an old Hollowell charitable account. Until that night, he had never understood their purpose.

Now he did.

“I found payments to Cole’s consulting company beginning six years ago.”

Vivienne’s face tightened.

“Those were legal expenses.”

“One payment happened the same week Tessa disappeared.”

Grant stepped closer.

“Another went to a document service that prepared her lease cancellation.”

For the first time, his mother had no immediate answer.