Not afraid.
Just watching.
Observing the adults around him like he was finally understanding the shape of something that had existed before he was born.
Then he spoke again, softer this time.
“So… you didn’t know I existed?”
Adrian’s entire expression collapsed at that sentence.
He stepped forward, stopping just short of the table.
“No,” he said again, more firmly now, as if trying to anchor himself in it.
“I didn’t know.”
And this time—
I believed him too.
Because denial doesn’t look like this.
This looked like someone watching their entire life rewrite itself in real time.
Margaret straightened.
“This is being handled,” she said quickly.
“It’s a misunderstanding that will be contained.”
I turned to her.
“No,” I said calmly.
“This is already exposed.”
I tapped the final folder.
“And if that contract is signed today, every illegal transfer tied to his identity becomes public record.”
Adrian’s eyes snapped to it again.
His breathing changed.
Shorter now.
Unstable.
“Which contract?” he asked.
I didn’t answer immediately.
I didn’t need to.
Because the answer was already in the room.
Margaret’s silence confirmed it before I did.
For the first time, her composure slipped.
Not fully.
But enough.
Adrian saw it.
And that was when everything finally cracked open.
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