Chapter 3 - Isabella’s Letter
I wanted to scream at my mother.
Instead, I read.
That was worse for her.
Isabella’s handwriting shook across the pages.
Mason,
I need you to understand something before anything else.
Naomi Carter is Noah’s biological mother.
I did not know when he was born.
I swear to you.
My eyes blurred.
I stopped.
Naomi sat beside Noah on the old nursery rug.
She was crying silently.
Victoria remained by the door.
“Keep reading,” she said coldly. “You’ll see how paranoid Isabella had become.”
I looked at her.
“You already know what’s in this letter?”
She didn’t answer.
I continued.
Your mother told me the egg donor was anonymous and the carrier had surrendered all parental claims.
After Noah’s birth, I began noticing discrepancies.
Dates that did not match.
Forms with missing signatures.
A consent document bearing Naomi Carter’s name that looked altered.
When I confronted Dr. Hargrove, he begged me to forget it.
I couldn’t.
Naomi whispered, “She tried.”
I nodded.
The next paragraph was harder.
When Noah was almost two, I found Naomi.
She did not know Noah was alive.
She believed her son died at birth.
Mason, I have never felt shame like I felt watching that woman collapse when I showed her his photograph.
Naomi covered her face.
I put the paper down.
“You met Isabella?”
She nodded.
“Once.”
“Why didn’t you come to me?”
“Because I was terrified.”
“Of me?”
“No.”
She looked at Victoria.
“Of her.”
My mother rolled her eyes.
“This performance is absurd.”
I almost lunged at her.
Instead, I forced myself back to the letter.
I wanted to tell you immediately.
Naomi wanted proof first.
We agreed.
Then your mother discovered what I was doing.
Victoria took one step backward.
My pulse roared.
She threatened Naomi.
She told her that if she approached you, she would be arrested for extortion and never see Noah.
She threatened me too.
She said the scandal would destroy Hale Holdings, your father’s legacy, and eventually Noah’s life.
I was weak.
For months, I let fear control me.
I hate myself for that.
I heard Naomi whisper, “I never hated her.”
I looked at her.
She wiped her eyes.
“She was trapped too.”
My throat tightened.
The letter continued.
I have copies of everything.
If something happens to me, do not accept the first explanation.
Victoria will say I was emotional.
She will say grief after the miscarriages damaged me.
She will say I became obsessed.
Please remember the woman you married.
Remember that I loved you enough to tell you the truth, even if I waited too long.
My hands shook.
Then I reached the final lines.
There is one more thing.
Noah’s birth was not the only crime.
Ask your mother why she paid Conrad Price two hundred thousand dollars three days before my accident.
I stopped reading.
The room went silent.
I lifted my eyes.
My mother was staring at me.
“Why?”
She said nothing.
“Why did you pay Conrad?”
Victoria laughed once.
“Mason, you cannot possibly believe—”
“Answer me.”
“It was business.”
“What business?”
“Private business.”
I stood.
“What happened to Isabella?”
Naomi pulled Noah closer.
Victoria’s attorney appeared behind the guards.
“Mrs. Hale should not answer further questions without counsel.”
I stared at him.
“She has counsel.”
“I advise my client to leave.”
“No.”
Victoria straightened.
“You cannot imprison me in your home.”
“You’re right.”
I stepped aside.
“You’re free to leave.”
Her expression relaxed slightly.
Then I added, “My security team has already forwarded every document to the district attorney.”
The color vanished from her face.
“You did what?”
“I sent copies while we were downstairs.”
“Mason!”
“You taught me never to enter a negotiation without leverage.”
Her mouth opened.
No words came out.
I turned toward my security director, Grant.
“Make sure nothing leaves this property except her personal clothing.”
Victoria stared at me.
“You think you can strip me of my belongings?”
“Anything belonging to Hale Holdings stays.”
“I built that company with your father.”
“My father built it.”
“I protected it.”
“Is that what you call this?”
I held up Isabella’s letter.
Victoria’s face twisted.
“I protected you from scandal.”
“You stole a woman’s child.”
“I gave him a family!”
Naomi stood.
“You gave him my funeral.”
The words cut through everyone.
My mother stared at her.
Naomi’s voice trembled.
“You gave me an empty box to bury.”
I turned sharply.
“What?”
Naomi looked at me.
“The hospital gave me ashes.”
I felt the floor tilt.
“They told me my son had been cremated.”
Noah looked confused.
I didn’t want him hearing more.
I knelt.
“Buddy, will you go with Miss Ruth for a little while?”
Our elderly housekeeper stood nearby.
Noah immediately clung to Naomi.
“She comes too.”
Naomi kissed his forehead.
“I’ll be right here.”
“No.”
His lip trembled.
“I lost you already.”
Naomi broke.
She hugged him tightly.
“You didn’t lose me.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
Eventually Ruth took him downstairs.
The second he was gone, Naomi turned toward Victoria.
“You made me grieve a living child.”
Victoria’s voice remained cold.
“You were not equipped to raise a Hale.”
I had never hated anyone in my life.
Not competitors.
Not enemies.
Not even the drunk driver I had believed responsible for Isabella’s death.
But I hated my mother in that moment.
Naomi whispered, “He was my baby before he was your Hale.”
Victoria looked at me.
“This is exactly why I did it. Emotion over reason.”
I stepped close.
“No.”
My voice barely carried.
“You did it because you thought money gave you the right to decide who deserved a child.”
My mother’s jaw tightened.
“You would have lost everything.”
“I would have survived.”
“Your company—”
“Would have survived.”
“Our name—”
“Could have burned.”
She stared at me.
I had never spoken that way before.
All my life I had protected the Hale name.
Now it tasted rotten.
Grant entered.
“Sir.”
“What?”
“We located Conrad Price.”
My mother spun around.
Grant continued.
“He died eighteen months ago.”
Victoria exhaled.
Too quickly.
I noticed.
Grant looked at me.
“But his widow kept his files.”
My mother’s eyes snapped toward him.
“She called after seeing tonight’s news leak.”
“What files?”
Grant handed me his phone.
“She found a ledger.”
I looked at the image.
Dates.
Payments.
Initials.
Two hundred thousand dollars from Victoria Hale.
Then another payment.
Fifty thousand.
The day after Isabella died.
Next to it were three words.
VEHICLE DISPOSAL — COMPLETE.
My blood turned to ice.
Naomi whispered,
May you like
“Oh my God.”
My mother ran for the door.
