I stared at the dead phone screen.
“A birth certificate?”
Mariana took the phone from my hand.
“Call him back.”
I did.
Straight to voicemail.
Again.
Nothing.
The detective immediately asked for Cameron's number.
“We need to know whether he's safe.”
My mother called next.
She was crying.
“What did he say?”
“Mom, where is Cameron now?”
“I don't know.”
“When did you last see him?”
“Yesterday morning.”
“Did he say he was going somewhere?”
“No.”
“Did Adrian contact him?”
Another pause.
“I don't know.”
“Mom.”
“I don't know.”
The detective gestured for silence.
“Everyone stop calling him for a moment.”
He had the calm voice of someone accustomed to people making fear-driven mistakes.
“We need to establish where he is before anyone alerts whoever may be watching.”
The sentence made my stomach tighten.
Whoever may be watching.
The same possibility that had seemed absurd two days earlier now felt like the only reasonable assumption.
Mariana opened the photograph of the handwritten note.
“Cameron Lewis.”
She enlarged the address.
Then searched it.
“It's the same storage district.”
I looked at her.
“What?”
“The address written on the old note.”
She turned the screen toward me.
“Cameron's workplace is three miles from here.”
That could have been coincidence.
But nothing felt like coincidence anymore.
The detective contacted local officers.
Within twenty minutes, we learned Cameron's car was still at his workplace.
His phone had last connected to a tower near the storage facility.
My mother began crying again.
I felt Lucy move.
Once.
Twice.
I placed both hands over my stomach.
“She's okay.”
Mariana looked at me.
“That's what matters.”
I nodded.
But my mind was already racing.
Why would my father-in-law create an account using my initials before he knew me?
Why was Cameron's name on the original note?
Why did Adrian have the box?
And why had he never told me any of it?
The detective opened another file from the storage locker.
“This may answer part of it.”
It was a bank document.
The account was labeled CML Trust.
Opening date: eleven years ago.
Beneficiary: Camila Lewis.
I stared.
The date was impossible.
I had been twenty-three.
I didn't know Adrian.
I wasn't married.
I didn't even live in the same state.
“How could I be the beneficiary?”
Mariana looked at the signature.
“Your name is printed. Not signed.”
“Whose signature is that?”
She studied it.
“Daniel Vega.”
Teresa sat down.
“My husband did this?”
Apparently.
But why?
The detective opened the next page.
The account contained no money.
It had been closed two years later.
The balance had been transferred.
To another account.
Account holder:
Cameron Lewis.
My brother.
My mouth went dry.
“So my father-in-law created an account for me, then transferred it to Cameron?”
“Not exactly,” Mariana said.
She pointed at the transaction.
“The transfer was authorized by someone else.”
“Who?”
She zoomed in.
A name appeared.
Adrian Vega.
I felt sick.
He had been involved from the beginning.
Maybe not in the way I thought.
Maybe he had known about the account long before he ever met me.
Teresa whispered, “He was twenty-five.”
“He was old enough to know what he was doing.”
She looked at me.
“I know.”
We searched the rest of the documents.
The CML account had been used as a holding account.
Small amounts.
Five hundred.
Two thousand.
Eight thousand.
Nothing huge.
Then one final transfer.
Forty-eight thousand dollars.
To Cameron.
After that, the account disappeared.
I called my brother again.
This time he answered.
“Camila?”
“Where are you?”
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“I can't tell you.”
“Cameron.”
“I need you to listen.”
His voice shook.
“I shouldn't have given Adrian that box.”
“What was in it?”
“A certificate.”
“You said birth certificate.”
“Yes.”
“Whose?”
He hesitated.
“Yours.”
“I don't understand.”
“Neither did I.”
“Then explain.”
“The certificate wasn't a normal birth certificate.”
My pulse quickened.
“What does that mean?”
“It was a corrected record.”
“Corrected from what?”
“Your original name.”
I stared at my mother.
She had gone completely still.
“Mom?”
She looked away.
My blood ran cold.
“Mom, what is he talking about?”
She began to cry.
The detective stood.
“Put him on speaker.”
I did.
Cameron's voice came through.
“Camila, you were not supposed to find out this way.”
“Find out what?”
My mother whispered, “I'm sorry.”
I turned toward her.
“What did you do?”
She covered her face.
Cameron answered for her.
“You weren't born under the name Lewis.”
The room became silent.
I felt as if the floor had disappeared.
“What was my name?”
No answer.
“Cameron.”
He exhaled.
“Cameron Vega.”
My heart stopped.
Mariana looked at Teresa.
Teresa looked as shocked as I was.
“No,” I whispered.
Cameron continued.
“Our father was Daniel Vega.”
I stared at Teresa.
She shook her head violently.
“No.”
“I don't understand,” I said.
Cameron's voice broke.
“Neither do I.”
“How can Daniel Vega be my father?”
“He wasn't your biological father.”
My breath caught.
“He adopted you.”
The words barely registered.
My mother finally spoke.
“You were born to someone else.”
“Who?”
She cried.
“I don't know.”
“That is not an answer.”
“I knew your mother had died. Daniel took you in.”
“Why?”
“Because your biological mother was in danger.”
“From who?”
Silence.
Then Cameron said:
“Northstar.”
The name came through the phone like a gunshot.
My mother's shoulders shook.
The detective stepped closer.
“Your father discovered that your birth mother was connected to Northstar,” Cameron said.
“Connected how?”
“She had evidence.”
“What evidence?”
“I don't know.”
“Then why was I involved?”
“Because you were used as protection.”
My mind couldn't keep up.
“What does that mean?”
“The CML account was created to hide money that belonged to your mother.”
“What money?”
“The six hundred thousand.”
I looked at Teresa.
She went pale.
“The money you said disappeared,” Cameron continued. “It was never Adrian's.”
I couldn't speak.
“Daniel hid it under your identity.”
My mother whispered, “He was trying to keep it from Northstar.”
“And Teresa had the key.”
“Yes.”
The detective took the phone.
“Cameron, where are you?”
“I can't say.”
“You need to come to us.”
“I will.”
“Now.”
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because Adrian isn't the only one looking for me.”
The call ended.
I looked at the detective.
“Find him.”
“We're trying.”
Mariana sat beside me.
“Camila.”
I couldn't answer.
My entire childhood felt different.
My father wasn't my biological father.
My mother had hidden it.
Cameron knew.
Teresa knew.
Adrian knew.
How long had Adrian known?
I asked the only question that mattered.
“Did Adrian marry me because of this?”
Nobody answered.
That was answer enough.
The detective took the phone.
“We need to understand Adrian's connection to your identity.”
Mariana nodded.
“We also need to understand Northstar's interest in her.”
Teresa stood.
“I can tell you.”
We all turned.
She looked exhausted.
“Adrian knew before the wedding.”
My heart broke.
“How long?”
“Six months.”
Six months.
The same length as the affair.
Another six-month secret.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because Daniel made me promise.”
“My father?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He believed if Northstar ever learned who you were, they would come after you.”
“So you let Adrian marry me?”
Teresa cried.
“I thought he would protect you.”
I laughed.
It sounded hollow.
“You gave me to the one person who couldn't.”
“I was wrong.”
“You were.”
She nodded.
Mariana's phone rang.
It was Lauren.
Mariana answered.
“What happened?”
She listened.
Then looked at me.
“What?”
Lauren said something.
Mariana's expression hardened.
“Send it.”
She ended the call.
“What?”
“Your husband has been suspended.”
I felt nothing.
Then Mariana added:
“Rachel too.”
“That's fair.”
“There's more.”
Of course.
“What?”
“Lauren says compliance found the original Northstar files.”
“Where?”
“Inside Adrian's company.”
“Can we get them?”
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
“Because someone accessed the records thirty minutes ago.”
“Who?”
She shook her head.
“Your husband's employee credentials.”
Adrian.
But he wasn't at work.
Unless he had help.
My phone buzzed.
A message.
ADRIAN: You need to stop asking questions.
I stared at it.
Another:
You don't know what your father did.
Another:
You don't know what your mother did.
Then:
And you definitely don't know what your husband married you for.
I felt sick.
Mariana took the phone.
“Don't answer.”
I nodded.
A final message appeared.
If you want the truth about your birth, go to the apartment.
I stared at it.
The old apartment.
The place Rachel had shared with him.
The address connected to CML.
The place we had deliberately avoided because it might contain evidence.
The detective shook his head.
“No.”
“I have to go.”
“No.”
“He says the truth is there.”
“That is exactly why you shouldn't go.”
Mariana agreed.
“Let the police search it.”
Then the message disappeared.
Not deleted.
The entire conversation vanished from my phone.
The detective's expression changed.
“That's interesting.”
“What?”
“Someone may have remote access to the account.”
My skin prickled.
“They can erase my messages?”
“Possibly.”
“Then they know everything.”
“Maybe.”
The detective called for a digital forensics officer.
While we waited, Teresa quietly approached me.
She held the brass key.
“I need to tell you what Daniel said when he gave me this.”
I looked at her.
“What?”
“He told me the key wasn't for the money.”
“Then what was it for?”
“He said it opened the place where he kept the truth.”
“The locker?”
“No.”
My stomach tightened.
“Then where?”
Teresa looked toward the hallway.
“Your old apartment.”
I stared at her.
“That apartment belongs to you.”
“Yes.”
“And you never sold it.”
“No.”
“Then why did Rachel think she lived there?”
“Because Adrian used it without my permission.”
“But the key?”
Teresa shook her head.
“Daniel had another key made.”
“Where is it?”
She looked at me.
“Adrian has it.”
I closed my eyes.
The entire apartment suddenly became more important than ever.
Not because of the affair.
Not because of Rachel.
Because my father-in-law had hidden something there.
Something about me.
Something Northstar wanted.
Something Adrian had known about before he married me.
The detective's phone rang.
He answered.
His face changed.
“Cameron has been found.”
I stood.
“Where?”
“Three blocks from your brother's office.”
“Is he hurt?”
“He's alive.”
I exhaled.
Then the detective added:
“But he wasn't alone.”
My heart sank.
“Who was with him?”
He looked at me.
“Adrian.”
Click here to continue reading: PART 7: Adrian Finally Stood Before Me With the Truth in His Hands, But His First Confession Was About Why He Married Me
I Thought My Husband Was Planning a Baby Shower Speech Until One Message Made Me Question Everything I Knew About Him
Part 6 of 20
