Chapter 11 - Ivy's father
Brad knew.
That was the first thing.
He had always known Ivy wasn't biologically his.
Willow was already pregnant when they reconciled after a brief separation.
She told him the father was someone from her past.
Not Adrian.
Someone else.
Brad chose to raise Ivy.
For all his failures, that part had been real.
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
Willow refused to tell him.
Then why was the birth certificate hidden with corruption evidence?
Because Ivy's father mattered.
Lena found another note.
Initials:
D.K.
Dr. Keene?
No.
He laughed bitterly when asked.
“I'm not Ivy's father.”
Then he told us D.K. was Daniel Knox.
Former state prosecutor.
The man who led the original corruption investigation against Adrian Vale eleven years ago.
That case collapsed.
Knox resigned.
Then disappeared from public life.
Willow met him while cooperating secretly.
They had an affair.
Ivy was conceived.
That meant my granddaughter was the daughter of the prosecutor Adrian blamed for nearly destroying him.
Now Adrian's obsession made more sense.
Noah was his son.
Ivy was his enemy's daughter.
Both raised under Brad's roof.
Brad hadn't merely been hiding Willow.
He had been standing between two children tied to opposite sides of Adrian's past.
“Where is Daniel Knox?”
Missing.
For eight years.
Presumed dead by some.
No body.
Of course.
I was beginning to hate that phrase.
Then the black SUV appeared outside Harper Family Market.
Alexandra stepped out.
Alone.
Police moved.
She raised both hands.
“I came to surrender.”
Why?
Because Adrian had gone too far.
She admitted arranging payments.
Threats.
Surveillance.
But claimed she had been protecting Noah.
“My brother wanted the boy.”
“Then why help him?”
“Because if I refused, he took Willow.”
She looked exhausted.
Then:
“Adrian doesn't want money anymore.”
“What does he want?”
“Ivy.”
My stomach turned.
“Why?”
“Daniel Knox is alive.”
Silence.
“And Adrian has spent eight years trying to find him.”
Ivy wasn't ransom for Willow.
She was bait for her biological father.
Then Alexandra said:
“He'll exchange Willow and Noah for Ivy.”
Brad lunged toward her.
I stopped him.
“No.”
For the first time, I understood exactly what I had to protect.
Not the money.
Not the truth.
The children.
No trade.
No bargain.
No adult would use Ivy again.
Then my phone rang.
Ivy.
“Grandpa?”
Her voice was shaking.
I froze.
“Where are you?”
“I don't know.”
My blood turned cold.
Brad looked at me.
“She was at school.”
Not anymore.
May you like
Ivy whispered:
“Mommy's here.”
