Chapter 66 Strange place
Adrian's POV - Study - 11:23 AM
I sat at the desk in what the safe house called a study, reviewing files Marcus had compiled on Cortez Industries.
My head throbbed. Every time I tried to remember Vanessa tried to pull up any memory of dating her, proposing to her, planning a wedding there was nothing. Just blank space where eighteen months of my life should have been.
But the documentation she'd brought was extensive. Photos, emails, texts. If they were all fabricated, someone had spent incredible time and resources creating a false narrative.
The question was why.
A knock at the door. "Come in," I called.
Marcus entered, his expression grim. "We have a problem."
"Another one?" I asked tiredly. "Because I'm currently dealing with at least five unsolvable problems. What's one more?"
"This one's urgent," Marcus said. "I just got word from James. The board of Cole Enterprises is calling an emergency meeting. They want to declare you mentally incompetent and remove you as CEO."
I stared at him. "On what grounds?"
"On the grounds that you've been behaving erratically since the accident. Disappearing to Scotland without explanation. Refusing to attend board meetings. And—" Marcus hesitated. "The situation with Vanessa has leaked. Somehow the board knows you're holed up in a safe house with both your fiancée and another pregnant woman. They're arguing it shows impaired judgment and decision-making."
"How did they find out?" I demanded. "This location is supposed to be secure."
"Someone talked," Marcus said. "Either from Vanessa's security detail, or from someone in the Cole organization, or" He paused meaningfully. "Someone who's been watching and waiting for exactly this kind of opportunity to destabilize you."
"Stirling-Hale," I said.
"That would be my guess," Marcus confirmed. "They tried to kill you and failed. Now they're trying to destroy your credibility and remove your authority. If the board declares you incompetent, you lose control of Cole Enterprises. And with it, your ability to fight back."
I stood up, ignoring the protest from my still-healing ribs. "When is the meeting?"
"Tomorrow. In New York."
"Then I'm going to New York," I said.
"Adrian, you just woke from a coma a few days ago. You're not strong enough"
"I don't care if I'm strong enough," I interrupted. "That company is my legacy. My family's legacy. I'm not letting them take it because I'm dealing with complicated personal circumstances."
"Complicated personal circumstances like having no memory of your fiancée and potentially fathering two children in the same time period?" Marcus asked bluntly.
"Yes," I said. "Exactly like that. Which is why I need to be there in person to explain what's happened. To tell the board about Project Tabula Rasa, about the memory manipulation, about Stirling-Hale's role in all of it."
Marcus was quiet for a moment. "If you tell the board that your memories were manipulated, they'll use it as proof that you're not competent to run the company."
"Then I won't tell them everything," I said. "But I need to be there. I need to show them I'm in control, I'm capable, I'm still the man they chose to lead Cole Enterprises."
"Even though you're not sure who that man is anymore?" Marcus asked softly.
The question hit harder than I wanted to admit. "Especially because I'm not sure. Because if I don't fight for this if I just let them take it away then Stirling-Hale wins. They get to erase me completely. And I refuse to let that happen."
Marcus nodded slowly. "All right. I'll arrange transport. But Adrian you're not going alone. I'm coming with you. And" He glanced toward the door. "I think you should bring Emily."
"Why?"
"Because," Marcus said, "if the board is going to question your judgment, having the woman you've chosen by your side the mother of your child, the person who's been helping you navigate all of this shows stability. Shows you've made conscious choices despite the chaos. It's better optics than going alone or bringing Vanessa."
"That's cold," I said.
"That's strategy," Marcus corrected. "And right now, you need strategy more than sentiment."
Conference Room - 2:47 PM
I called everyone together Emily, Vanessa, Marcus, Dr. Ashford, Dr. Morrison.
"The board of Cole Enterprises is attempting to remove me as CEO," I announced without preamble. "The meeting is tomorrow in New York. I'm going. Marcus is coming with me. And—" I looked at Emily. "—I'd like you to come too."
Emily's eyes widened. "Me? Why?"
"Because I trust you," I said simply. "And because I need someone there who knows the full truth about what's happened. Someone who can corroborate the story if necessary."
"What about me?" Vanessa asked quietly.
I hesitated. "Vanessa, I don't think—"
"I understand," she interrupted. "If you bring both of us, it looks worse. Like you can't make decisions, can't choose. Better to bring one woman than two."
There was pain in her voice, but also understanding.
"I'm sorry," I said.
"Don't be," Vanessa said. "You're making the strategic choice. The one that gives you the best chance of keeping your company. I get it."
Dr. Ashford cleared his throat. "There's something you should all know before you make any travel plans. The paternity test results came back."
The room went silent.
Everyone turned to look at him.
"Already?" I asked. "You said forty-eight hours—"
"I expedited the process," Dr. Ashford said. "Given the circumstances, I thought everyone deserved answers as quickly as possible."
"And?" Emily prompted when he didn't continue.
Dr. Ashford looked at Vanessa, his expression sympathetic. "Ms. Cortez, the baby you're carrying is not Adrian's."
Vanessa's face went white. "That's impossible. I only slept with I remember—"
"Your memories were manipulated," Dr. Morrison said gently. "Just like Adrian's were. Someone made you believe you were in a relationship with him, made you believe he fathered your child. But the DNA doesn't lie."
"Then whose baby is this?" Vanessa whispered, her hand pressed to her stomach.
"We don't know," Dr. Ashford said. "We'd need a sample from the biological father to make that determination."
Vanessa stood abruptly, her chair scraping against the floor. "I need—I need air. I need to think."
She fled the room before anyone could stop her.
I looked at Emily, who looked stricken.
"She was telling the truth," Emily said. "She genuinely believed she was engaged to me. Genuinely believed the baby was yours. And now—"
"Now she knows she's been living a lie," I finished. "Just like the rest of us."
Dr. Morrison stood. "I should go talk to her. Make sure she's all right."
After she left, the remaining four of us sat in heavy silence.
"At least that's one complication resolved," Marcus said finally. "The baby isn't yours. Which means the engagement probably wasn't real either. Someone created an elaborate fiction to manipulate both of you."
"But why?" I demanded. "What's the purpose? To stop the merger between Cole Enterprises and Cortez Industries? They could have done that without creating a fake engagement and impregnating Vanessa with someone else's child."
"Unless," Emily said slowly, "the pregnancy is the point. Not whose baby it is, but the fact that she believes it's yours. Think about it if you'd remembered your engagement to Vanessa, if you'd known she was pregnant with your child, what would you have done?"
"Married her," I said immediately. "Honored my commitment."
"Exactly," Emily said. "You would have gone through with the merger, combined the companies, given Stirling-Hale access to both Cole Enterprises and Cortez Industries through you. But something went wrong with their plan. Either you started remembering things you weren't supposed to, or I showed up in your life and disrupted their timeline. So they had to improvise."
"They erased my memories of Vanessa to prevent the merger," I said, following her logic. "But they couldn't erase her memories without tipping their hand. So they left her believing we were engaged, planted a baby that isn't mine, and waited to see what would happen."
"And now she's here," Marcus added. "At the safe house. With access to all of us, all of our information, all of our plans. The perfect inside observer."
We all looked at each other as the implication sank in.
"You think Vanessa is a spy?" I asked.
"Not intentionally," Emily said. "But if her memories were manipulated, if she was conditioned to believe certain things she might not even know she's reporting back to someone. Might not remember the phone calls or messages or whatever method they're using."
"We need to search her room," Marcus said, already standing. "Her phone, her belongings, anything that might be transmitting data."
"Do it quietly," I said. "I don't want her to know we suspect anything. If she is unknowingly compromised, alerting her could trigger some kind of defensive protocol."
Marcus nodded and left.
I looked at Emily. "This is getting worse by the hour."
"Yes," she agreed. "But at least now we know one thing for certain."
"What's that?"
"The baby I'm carrying is definitely yours," Emily said. "No question. No ambiguity. Whatever else is uncertain, that's real."
I moved to sit beside her, taking her hand. "I'm sorry you're caught up in all of this."
"I'm not caught up in it," Emily corrected. "I created it. Remember? I'm Dr. Evelyn Grant. I designed Project Tabula Rasa. Everything that's happened to you, to Vanessa, to everyone I'm responsible."
"You don't know that for certain—"
"But I'm starting to remember," Emily interrupted. Her voice was strained. "Little pieces. Being in a lab. Designing neural pathway modifications. Being excited about the possibilities. And then—" She stopped. "And then realizing what they were going to do with my research. Trying to stop them. Failing."
"Then we stop them now," I said. "Together. We expose Stirling-Hale, dismantle Project Tabula Rasa, and make sure they can never use your research to hurt anyone else again."
"And if stopping them means I have to remember everything?" Emily asked quietly. "Every detail of what I did, what I created, who I hurt? Can I live with that?"
"You'll have to," I said bluntly. "Because the alternative is letting Stirling-Hale continue using your work to destroy lives. And I don't think the woman you're becoming whoever she is would be able to live with that either."
Emily was quiet for a long moment. Then she squeezed my hand. "You're right. Which means I need to stop running from my past and start facing it. Even if it destroys me."
"It won't destroy you," I said. "I won't let it."