“His real name is Adrian,” he admitted. “He used his middle name with you.”
My stomach twisted.
“I knew his family years ago. Before you were born, I was engaged to a woman named Claire. Later, she married Leonard—the wealthy developer. Together they had a son with a distinctive facial birthmark.”
Julian had a large red birthmark stretching across one side of his face.
“Claire was the first woman I ever loved,” Dad continued quietly. “But Leonard drew her into his world. Their marriage became ugly after a while. Around that same time, the construction company I worked for collapsed. Leonard helped hide financial fraud connected to it.”
“And Adrian came back because of that?”
Dad glanced uneasily toward the door.
“No. I think he came back because of Claire.”
At that moment, Elise opened the office door.
“Julian wants to speak with her alone.”
