Billionaire Ordered in a Foreign Language to Humiliate the Waitress — Her Reply Left Him Speechless
Chapter 4
Amelia didn’t speak to Adrian for three days.
She ignored his calls.
She refused his messages.
Then, on the fourth morning, she found an envelope under her apartment door.
Inside was a photograph.
Her mother.
Pregnant.
Standing beside a younger Adrian.
Amelia stared at it for almost a minute before her hands began to shake.
Behind the photograph was an address.
No explanation.
Just an address in an old neighborhood near the river.
She went there alone.
The building looked abandoned.
Inside, dust covered the floor.
A man waited in a chair near the window.
Thomas.
“You’re Amelia?”
“Yes.”
He stood.
“I was Adrian’s friend.”
“Why am I here?”
“Because Adrian believes you deserve the truth.”
Amelia laughed bitterly.
“Truth from a billionaire who just humiliated me in his restaurant?”
Thomas looked uncomfortable.
“He didn’t know you understood French.”
“He knew exactly what he was doing.”
“I know.”
Amelia’s anger softened slightly.
“He’s not proud of that night.”
“He shouldn’t be.”
“He isn’t.”
Thomas handed her a box.
Inside were letters.
Dozens of them.
All addressed to Claire.
Most had never been sent.
Amelia opened one.
Claire,
If you’re reading this, it means I’ve found a way to reach you. My father says you left willingly. I don’t believe him.
Her eyes filled with tears.
She opened another.
I will keep looking. I don’t care how long it takes.
Another.
If you have our child, tell her I never abandoned you.
Amelia stopped.
“Our child.”
Her breathing changed.
She read the line again.
Then again.
Thomas looked away.
“She never told you?”
“No.”
“She protected you.”
“From what?”
Thomas didn’t answer.
Amelia slammed the letter onto the table.
“From what?”
Thomas finally spoke.
“Your grandfather.”
She stared at him.
“My grandfather?”
“Victor Blackwood.”
The name meant nothing to her.
Thomas continued.
“He had powerful enemies. Powerful friends. He was involved in financial operations that weren’t exactly legal.”
“How illegal?”
“Money laundering. Offshore accounts. Political bribery.”
Amelia stepped backward.
“And my mother knew?”
“She discovered something.”
“What?”
“A network of shell companies.”
Thomas opened a second folder.
Inside were copies of bank transfers.
Names.
Dates.
Account numbers.
At the center of it all was a company called Blackwood International Holdings.
Amelia’s stomach tightened.
“My mother found this?”
“Yes.”
“Then why wasn’t she killed?”
Thomas looked at her.
“We don’t know that she wasn’t.”
The room went silent.
Amelia’s face drained of color.
“What are you saying?”
“The body from the accident was never identified.”
She stared at him.
“You think my mother could still be alive?”
Thomas didn’t answer.
But his silence was enough.
That evening, Adrian met Amelia at the river.
He looked exhausted.
She approached him holding the letters.
“You loved her.”
“Yes.”
“You searched for her.”
“Yes.”
“You thought she was dead.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you never find out about me?”
Adrian looked down.
“Because I was a coward.”
Amelia frowned.
“What?”
“I believed my father.”
He looked toward the water.
“I believed Claire chose to leave me. I was angry. I let that anger become more important than the truth.”
Amelia’s voice softened.
“Did you know she was pregnant?”
Adrian looked at her.
“No.”
“Then why did you write that?”
“Because she told me.”
“When?”
“The last night I saw her.”
Amelia’s eyes filled.
“You knew?”
“I knew there was a possibility.”
He stepped closer.
“I didn’t know she was carrying you.”
Amelia looked away.
After a long silence, she asked:
“If she were alive, where would she be?”
Adrian didn’t answer.
Because his phone had just begun ringing.
Thomas.
Adrian answered.
His friend’s voice was barely above a whisper.
“We found a hospital record.”
Adrian froze.
“For Claire?”
“No.”
Thomas paused.
“For a woman admitted under another name.”
Adrian’s heart raced.
“What name?”
“Eleanor Hayes.”
“And?”
“She was admitted twenty-two years ago.”
Thomas took a breath.
“The record says she was pregnant.”
