Chapter 38 Children’s Question
"Papa is not really your Papa, but Uncle Adrian is your real Papa," Eva finished.
Both her children looked at her in silence.
Their small faces showed how much they were trying to make sense of what Eva said.
Lily's brow furrowed in confusion. "Papa is not Papa?"
Eva gave a small nod.
Ethan didn't say a word but went very still. His hands were clenched into tiny fists. His head was down as he stared at his hands.
"But Mommy, we already have a papa," Lily said slowly. "Papa Derek."
"Yes, but Papa Derek is fake Papa."
"Fake Papa?" Lily's face stretched, "Like Bennie from Copycat Family?"
"Right. It's like Bennie from Copycat Family. Papa Derek is like Bennie, and Uncle Adrian is like Rone."
"So Papa is not Papa, and Uncle Adrian is Papa?"
"Yes, baby."
"But why is he our Papa?"
Eva found it hard to explain. How could she say she had been with Adrian and got pregnant, but married Derek, so he was named as their father?
"Because you are his babies…"
"But why did Papa leave then?"
"He... because he was away on a secret mission."
Lily stared at her, confused. Then she put her hands on her head, pretending to be an adult. "Oh, head pain. Mommy, I don't understand."
Eva couldn't help but smile at her daughter's little act.
They might not understand everything now, but Eva knew they would when they were older.
She had chosen this moment because secrets never truly stayed hidden, and she wanted her children to hear the truth from her, not from whispers or angry voices later on.
The recent upheaval had reminded her just how quickly life could change. For Eva, being honest—even if it was confusing for them—felt like the only way to protect their trust in her.
"I know, sweetheart. This is hard to understand." Eva reached out, holding both their hands. "Sometimes, people are not what they seem. Derek is the daddy you've always known, but Adrian is the daddy whose... whose blood runs in you. Does that make sense?"
"Oh, I know, like in my book!" Lily's face lit up. "Where the princess finds out she has a different daddy who's actually a king?"
Eva laughed despite herself. "Something like that. Yes."
"So is Mister Adrian a king?"
"He is. A very important and powerful man. Not really a king, but close."
Lily seemed happy with the answer. Eva could tell she was already imagining a fairy tale in which she was a secret princess, and Adrian was the noble king who would rescue her.
Ethan was a different matter.
He sat quietly, thinking, his dark eyes, much like Adrian's, fixed on Eva with an intense stare.
"Did he leave us?" Ethan asked finally. "Our real daddy. Did he leave because he didn't want us?"
Eva felt her heart break.
"No, sweetheart. Of course not." She pulled Ethan close and hugged him. "Adrian didn't know you were coming. When Mommy found out, he was far away, dealing with very serious problems. By the time he learned about you, Mommy was already married to Derek."
"So he didn't choose to leave."
"No. He would have stayed if he could. He wanted to stay."
Ethan stayed quiet for a long moment.
Then: "Does he want to be our Papa now?"
"Yes." Eva's voice cracked. "He wants that very much."
"And you, Mommy?" Ethan looked up at her. "Do you want him to be our daddy?"
Eva thought of Adrian, remembering his patience with Lily's chatter, his quiet understanding with Ethan, and the way he looked at them as if they were the most precious things in the world.
"Yes," she whispered. "I want that too."
Ethan nodded slowly.
"Okay," he said. Just that. Okay.
It wasn't complete acceptance. Eva knew her son would need time to understand, get used to it, and learn to trust. But it was a start.
And for now, a start was enough.
Later that night, after the children were asleep, the adults gathered in Richard's study.
The mood in the room was tense. Daniel had spent the day contacting people he knew abroad, trying to find out who the mysterious "forces" Helena had talked about were.
Adrian's team was doing the same from their end.
And Leonard was going over all the evidence they had, looking for links they might have missed.
"Here's what we know," Daniel began, spreading documents across the desk.
"Helena didn't work alone. Over the last twenty years, she has been connected to different criminal groups—hiding illegal money, spying on companies, even human trafficking."
"Human trafficking?" Eva felt sick.
"Not directly. She helped hide money for a group that operated in Eastern Europe." Daniel's jaw tightened.
"The point is, she is connected to people with a lot of power. People who might not like us revealing one of their partners."
"You think they'll come after us?" Richard spoke for the first time. He looked older tonight, worn down by what he had learned about his wife.
"I think they'll check if we're a threat." Adrian's voice was calm, but his eyes were hard. "If they decide we know too much, or that we're likely to dig deeper into Helena's network... then yes, they might act."
Eva's hands tightened in her lap. "What kind of action?"
"That depends on who they are." Adrian turned to Daniel. "What do your contacts say?"
"Most of them are nervous. Whatever group Helena was connected to, it's powerful enough that people don't want to talk about it." Daniel hesitated. "But one name kept coming up. A group called the Consortium."
"The Consortium?"
"From what I understand, they are a secret group made of businessmen, politicians, and criminals who work together for their own benefit. They work across countries, have ties to real companies, and are very hard to find. Just last month, a journalist in Prague investigating a suspicious merger disappeared overnight. People say the Consortium was behind it, but no one dares to look into it further."
"Why have I never heard of them?" Adrian frowned.
"Because that's the idea. They stay hidden. Anyone who tries to expose them usually... disappears."
The room fell silent.
Eva thought of her children sleeping upstairs. She wanted a life without fear, without being controlled, and without people trying to trick her.
And now there was a new threat—a bigger one.
"What do we do?" she asked quietly.
Adrian took her hand. "We stay alert. We make security stronger. Starting tonight, we will limit who can come and go from the house, and Daniel's team will install additional cameras near the entrances. If we see anything unusual, we report it right away. We keep watching carefully until we understand what we are dealing with."
"And Helena?"