Adrian did not chase us.

At least, not immediately.

For the first ten minutes after I left the Gu residence, my phone remained silent.

Then it began vibrating nonstop.

Adrian.

His mother.

Vivian.

Even Ethan.

I turned it off.

Nora was sitting beside me in the taxi, both hands clutching the little backpack I had packed for her that morning.

Inside were only three dresses, a stuffed rabbit, her medical records, and the notebook where she secretly drew pictures.

Five years in that mansion.

And my daughter owned so little that everything fit inside a child’s backpack.

“Mom?”

I looked at her.

“Hmm?”

“Are we really not going back?”

Her voice was so careful that my chest hurt.

“We’re not going back.”

“Even if they say sorry?”

I swallowed.

“Even then.”

Nora slowly smiled.

It was tiny.

Almost uncertain.

But it was the first smile I had seen from her in weeks.

That alone told me I had made the right decision.

The next morning, the Gu Group board meeting began at nine.

At 8:57, I sent the email.

One attachment contained the DNA reports.

Another contained years of transfers Adrian had made to Vivian.

The final folder contained something Adrian didn’t know I had found.

The children’s birth registration records.

At 9:06, my phone rang.

Adrian.

I answered this time.

His voice exploded through the speaker.

“What did you do?”

“Good morning.”

“Withdraw the email.”

“No.”

“Do you understand what happens if the board sees those documents?”

“They already have.”

Silence.

Then he lowered his voice.

“You’re trying to destroy my children.”

“No, Adrian.”

I looked at Nora eating breakfast across from me.

“You did that when you built their lives on lies.”

“They are innocent.”

“So was Nora.”

He stopped speaking.

I continued.

“And yet you watched while they treated her like a servant.”

“I didn’t know it was that bad.”

That sentence almost made me laugh.

“You didn’t know because you never looked.”

Another voice appeared faintly in the background.

Vivian.

“Adrian, don’t tell her anything!”

I smiled.

“So she’s with you.”

He ignored that.

“Listen carefully. The children are legally mine. Whatever happened between Vivian and me has nothing to do with the company.”

“That depends.”

His breathing changed.

“What does that mean?”

“You should read attachment four.”

He went silent.

I heard papers moving.

Then nothing.

Finally:

“Where did you get this?”

There it was.

Fear.

Attachment four was a copy of the Gu family trust.

The controlling shares of Gu Group could only pass to Adrian if his recognized heirs met the conditions established by his grandfather.

Legitimate lineage.

Verified parentage.

No concealed claims that could trigger inheritance disputes.

Adrian had falsified the children’s birth dates because two of them had been conceived before our marriage.

And Lucas?

Lucas had been born only six months after Adrian publicly announced our engagement.

His grandfather had noticed.

That’s why the DNA test existed.

Adrian had spent years hiding it.

“What exactly do you want?” he asked.

“Nothing from you.”

“You sent this to the board for nothing?”

“I sent it because you asked which of your children I wanted.”

My voice became colder.

“Now the board can decide which of them qualifies as your heir.”

He hung up.

Thirty-seven minutes later, Gu Group shares were temporarily frozen pending an internal investigation.

By noon, the family was in chaos.

But the real surprise came at two.

My lawyer called.

“Ms. Ye, there is a problem.”

“What kind?”

“The DNA reports Adrian kept may not be authentic.”

I frowned.

“What?”

“We contacted the laboratory.”

My hand tightened around the phone.

“They verified Lucas’s test.”

“And?”

“The report shows Adrian Gu is not his biological father.”

I froze.

“That can’t be right.”

My lawyer continued.

“And after reviewing the archived records, it appears the samples for Ethan and Noah were submitted under altered identification numbers.”

I sat down slowly.

“Are you saying…”

“We don’t yet know who their biological father is.”

Everything inside me went quiet.

Adrian had betrayed me.

That much I knew.

But what if Vivian had betrayed him too?

That evening, the Gu residence called again.

This time, it wasn’t Adrian.

It was his mother.

Her voice had lost all arrogance.

“Come back.”

“No.”

“Not for Adrian.”

She paused.

“For Nora.”

I looked toward my daughter.

“What about her?”

The old woman whispered:

“There’s something you were never told about the night she was born.”

My blood went cold.

“What?”

“Bring Nora’s original birth certificate.”

Before I could answer, she continued.

“And don’t let Adrian know you’re coming.”

I stood.

“Why?”

Her next sentence made my hands tremble.

“Because Adrian believes Nora is your daughter from before the marriage.”

“Yes.”

Silence.

Then she said:

“But five years ago, someone switched two newborn identification bracelets at Saint Matthew’s Hospital.”

I stopped breathing.

“What are you trying to say?”

She began crying.

I had never heard that woman cry before.

“When I saw Nora today, I noticed the birthmark behind her ear.”

My eyes immediately moved toward my daughter.

A small crescent-shaped mark.

She had had it since birth.

Adrian’s mother whispered:

“Every child born into the Gu family has the same mark.”

My heart started pounding.

“No.”

“Listen to me.”

“No.”

“If I’m right, Nora isn’t only your daughter.”

I gripped the phone.

“Then whose is she?”

There was a long silence.

Finally, the answer came.

“Adrian’s.”

I couldn’t move.

Then she added the part that made everything worse.

“And if Nora is Adrian’s biological child…”

Her voice broke.

“…then the baby you gave birth to five years ago may still be somewhere inside that house under another name.”