"Your father's business partners."
"I know."
"People you've known your entire life."
"I said I know."
Martin studied him.
Adrian's voice became quieter.
"I lost the first years of my children's lives because people decided my reputation mattered more than the truth."
He looked at Noah's name on the trust document.
"I'm not protecting anyone anymore."
That evening, Adrian returned to Clara's house long after dinner.
The kitchen lights were still on.
Clara was sitting alone at the table.
She didn't ask him what happened.
She could see it in his face.
Adrian placed the folder in front of her.
Clara read the first page.
Her mouth opened slightly.
Then she saw the amount.
She stared at him.
"Two million dollars?"
"My mother created it for Noah and Mia."
Clara looked down again.
"I didn't know."
"I know."
She continued reading.
When she reached the amendment, her expression changed.
"No."
"That's not my mother's real signature."
Clara's fingers trembled.
"No. I mean this."
She pointed to a date.
Adrian looked.
"What?"
Clara stood and hurried toward a cabinet.
She opened a drawer and searched through several envelopes.
Finally, she pulled out an old folded piece of paper.
"I've kept everything."
She placed it beside the trust amendment.
It was a letter from Adrian's mother.
Adrian recognized the handwriting instantly.
Clara pointed to the date.
The letter had been written three days after the supposed amendment.
Adrian read aloud.
"Clara, the children's future has been secured. No one can take from them what belongs to them."
He stopped.
Clara's eyes filled with tears.
"She thought the trust was still intact."
Adrian looked at the forged document.
Victoria had submitted it before the letter was written.
Which meant Adrian's mother never knew the money had been redirected.
Clara covered her mouth.
"She died thinking she had protected them."
Adrian closed his eyes.
The anger he had felt in Martin's office returned, but now it was mixed with something worse.
Grief.
His mother had tried.
She had found Clara.
She had acknowledged the children.
She had created something for them.
And someone had undone it behind her back.
Noah appeared at the end of the hallway.
"Mom?"
Clara quickly wiped her eyes.
"What are you doing awake?"
"I heard voices."
He looked at Adrian.
"Are you mad?"
Adrian crouched.
"Not at you."
"At Mom?"
"Never."