Chapter 42 THE TRUTH COMES OUT
Ava's POV
I stared at Adrian while the street noise faded into background static and all I could hear was my own heartbeat pounding in my ears.
"You're Sarah's brother," I repeated slowly, trying to make the words make sense in my brain.
He nodded and looked down at his feet like he couldn't meet my eyes anymore.
"My real name is Adrian Chen and Sarah is my older sister by three years, we grew up in Queens together before our parents died in a car accident when I was sixteen."
Dominic stepped between us and grabbed Adrian by the collar of his shirt.
"You've been working for me for two years and you never thought to mention that you're related to one of my employees?" he said and his voice was dangerously quiet in that way that meant he was furious.
"I couldn't tell you, Sarah made me promise when she got me the job, she said it would be easier if no one knew we were connected."
"Why would that matter unless you were planning something," I said and my voice came out sharper than I intended.
Adrian finally looked up at me and his eyes were wet like he might cry.
"We weren't planning anything at first, I really did just need a job and Sarah helped me get it, but then about six months ago someone approached her with an offer."
"What kind of offer," Dominic demanded, still holding his collar.
"Money, a lot of it, if she could get dirt on you and everyone close to you, they wanted photos, videos, anything that could be used as leverage."
"And she brought you in on it."
"She didn't have a choice, they threatened to expose something about our past, something that would destroy both our lives if it got out."
I moved closer and crossed my arms trying to hold myself together.
"What could possibly be worth all this?" I asked him.
Adrian pulled away from Dominic and ran his hands through his hair looking more stressed than I'd ever seen him.
"Our parents didn't die in an accident like I said, they were murdered and Sarah and I were the ones who found the bodies, we were just kids and we were scared so we ran instead of calling the police."
"That doesn't make sense," Dominic said, "why would running make you guilty of anything."
"Because the police never found out who killed them and eventually the case went cold, but Sarah and I know who did it, we saw him that night and we've been keeping it secret ever since because he's someone powerful and if he found out we could identify him he'd kill us too."
The pieces started clicking together in my head.
"The person who's blackmailing us is the same person who killed your parents," I said slowly.
Adrian nodded and wiped at his eyes.
"Robert Davidson, he's on the board at Hayes International now but back then he was just starting out in business and our father worked for him, he found out our dad was going to blow the whistle on some illegal dealings and he killed both our parents to shut him up."
Dominic's face went pale and he took a step back.
"Robert Davidson has been on my board for five years," he said quietly like he was talking to himself.
"I know and when he found out Sarah worked for you he saw an opportunity, he approached her six months ago and said he knew she'd been at the house that night, he said he had proof and he'd use it to frame us for the murders unless we helped him."
"Helped him do what," I asked.
"Destroy you," Adrian looked at Dominic, "he wants control of Hayes International and the only way to get it is to force you out, so he's been having us collect evidence of anything he could use against you."
My legs felt weak and I sat down on the curb because this was too much information coming too fast.
"All those times you drove me places, all those conversations we had, you were reporting back to him," I said to Adrian.
"I'm so sorry Ava, I never wanted to hurt you, everything between us was real, my feelings for you were real."
"Don't," I held up my hand, "don't say that like it makes it better."
Dominic pulled out his phone and started typing furiously.
"What are you doing," I asked him.
"Calling an emergency board meeting, if Robert thinks he can blackmail his way into control of my company he's got another thing coming."
"You can't do that," Adrian said quickly, "if you confront him directly he'll release everything he has and go to the police about our parents, Sarah and I will go to prison."
"Then what do you suggest we do," Dominic snapped.
"I have an idea but you're not going to like it."
We all stood there on the street corner while cars passed and people walked by living their normal lives not knowing that ours were falling apart.
Adrian took a deep breath and looked between us.
"We give Robert what he wants, we make it look like you're stepping down from the company willingly, that way he gets control and has no reason to release the blackmail material or go after Sarah and me."
"Absolutely not," Dominic said immediately.
"It's the only way to protect everyone."
"I'm not giving up my company to a murderer."
"Then people are going to get hurt and not just Sarah and me, what about Ava's mom, what about Isabella, what about Marcus and Maya, how many people are you willing to sacrifice to save your company."
The question hung in the air and I saw Dominic's jaw clench because he knew Adrian was right even if he didn't want to admit it.
I stood up slowly and walked over to Dominic.
"Maybe there's another way," I said quietly.
"What way," he asked.
"We record Robert confessing, if we can get him to admit what he did on tape then we can go to the police and Sarah and Adrian will be witnesses instead of suspects."
"How do we get him to confess," Adrian asked.
"We set a trap, we tell him we're ready to pay the blackmail money but we want to meet in person to hand it over, then we wire someone up and get him talking."
Dominic looked at me like he was seeing me for the first time.
"That might actually work," he said.
"It's risky," Adrian pointed out, "if Robert figures out what we're doing he'll disappear and we'll never get another chance."
"Then we make sure he doesn't figure it out," I said with more confidence than I felt.
My phone buzzed in my pocket and I pulled it out to see another message from the unknown number which I now knew was Robert.
"Time's almost up, I want an answer in the next hour or I start releasing files."
I showed the message to Dominic and Adrian.
"We don't have time to plan this perfectly," Dominic said, "we need to move now."
"I'll text him back and set up a meeting," I said and started typing before I could second guess myself.
"We're ready to pay, meet us at the warehouse on Pier 47 in two hours, come alone."
I hit send and we all waited and after what felt like forever the three dots appeared showing he was typing.
"Agreed, bring the money in cash and come alone or I release everything immediately."
"He's not going to come alone," Adrian said, "Robert always has backup."
"Then we'll have backup too," Dominic pulled out his phone and called someone, "Marcus, I need a favor and I need it fast."
While he talked I looked at Adrian who was still standing there looking guilty and miserable.
"Why are you helping us now," I asked him, "you could have just kept quiet and let Robert win."
"Because you were right earlier, my feelings for you were real and I can't keep lying to someone I care about, even if it means facing the consequences."
"You're going to go to prison for lying to the police about your parents' murders."
"Maybe, but at least I'll finally be free of Robert and all his threats."
Dominic hung up and turned to us.
"Marcus is meeting us at the warehouse with Tom from IT, Tom's going to set up recording equipment and Marcus is going to be our backup in case things go wrong."
"What about Isabella," I asked.
"She's staying at the penthouse where it's safe, I'm not risking anyone else tonight."
We got into the car and Adrian drove us across the city to the warehouse district while I tried not to think about all the ways this could go wrong.
The pier was dark and mostly abandoned at this time of night with only a few security lights casting long shadows across the empty buildings.
Marcus and Tom were already there waiting by Tom's van and they both looked nervous when we got out of the car.
"This is insane," Marcus said immediately, "you're really going to try to trap Robert Davidson."
"You got a better idea," Dominic asked.
"Yeah, we pay him the money and get the hell out of town."
"Running isn't going to solve anything."
Tom pulled out a small device that looked like a button.
"This is a recording device, it'll pick up everything said within twenty feet and transmit it directly to my laptop in the van," he explained while attaching it to my shirt.
"Why is Ava wearing it," Marcus asked, "shouldn't you be the one talking to Robert."
"Robert knows Dominic will be defensive and guarded, but he thinks Ava is just some girl who got caught up in all this, he'll be more likely to talk freely around her," Adrian explained.
I tried not to think about the fact that a murderer would be more comfortable talking around me and focused on checking that the device was hidden properly.
"Everyone ready," Dominic asked and we all nodded even though none of us looked ready.