THE BRIDES DIARY

The Lie She Told Him

The woman in white stood in the middle of the smoke.

She looked completely calm.

Around her, armed men moved through the chamber, taking positions behind broken pillars and abandoned railway equipment. Yet she seemed unconcerned by the weapons pointed in her direction.

Her eyes remained fixed on Adrian.

There was something familiar about her.

Not her face.

Her confidence.

The way she stood.

The way she seemed certain that everyone around her would eventually obey.

Adrian tightened his grip around Elena's diary.

"Who are you?"

The woman smiled.

"You already heard my name."

"Vivian."

She nodded.

"Vivian Cross."

Claire's expression changed.

"You."

Vivian finally looked at her.

"Still alive?"

Claire stepped closer to Adrian.

"You tried to kill me."

Vivian shrugged.

"You were difficult to find."

Daniel raised his weapon.

"Stay where you are."

Vivian laughed softly.

"You still think that little gun makes you dangerous?"

Daniel didn't lower it.

"Want to find out?"

Arthur stepped forward.

"Enough."

Vivian looked at him.

For several seconds, the two older people stared at one another.

There was history between them.

Deep history.

"You haven't changed," Vivian said.

Arthur's face remained expressionless.

"Neither have you."

"That's not true."

She glanced at the gray hair covering his head.

"You're older."

Arthur smiled.

"And you're still bitter."

Vivian's smile disappeared.

"I learned from the best."

Her eyes returned to Adrian.

"And now Elena has left you with her mess."

Adrian stepped forward.

"Stop talking about her as though she belongs to you."

Vivian raised an eyebrow.

"You still love her."

It wasn't a question.

Adrian said nothing.

"Interesting."

Vivian slowly walked closer.

"After everything she did to you..."

"You still love her."

"What did she do?"

Vivian laughed.

"She never told you?"

"Then perhaps I should."

Arthur immediately interrupted.

"Don't."

Vivian ignored him.

"Five years ago, Elena Hart wasn't the woman you thought she was."

Adrian felt his stomach tighten.

"What happened five years ago?"

Vivian smiled.

"That's when your story began."

"My story?"

"Yes."

"You just didn't know it."

Claire shook her head.

"She's lying."

Vivian looked at her.

"You should ask your sister."

Claire's eyes widened.

"What about Elena?"

"Ask her why she approached Adrian."

"Ask her why she followed him."

"Ask her why she became his friend before becoming his lover."

Adrian's mind raced.

He turned toward Claire.

"Do you know what she's talking about?"

Claire shook her head.

"I don't."

Vivian smiled.

"Of course you don't."

"You were never told everything."

Adrian looked at Vivian.

"What was Elena's reason for coming into my life?"

Vivian paused.

Then answered quietly.

"Revenge."

The word seemed to drain the warmth from the room.

Adrian stared at her.

"No."

Vivian nodded.

"Yes."

"Your father destroyed her family."

Adrian's face hardened.

"My father?"

Arthur looked away.

Vivian continued.

"Twenty years ago, the Wolfe family was involved in a financial operation that ruined the Hart family."

"My father was a businessman."

"Exactly."

"He knew how to hide things."

Adrian shook his head.

"That's impossible."

"I know everything about my father's business."

Vivian laughed.

"Do you?"

"Then tell me why the Hart family lost everything."

Adrian couldn't answer.

Because he had never known.

His father had always told him that the Harts were victims of bad investments and unfortunate circumstances.

Elena had never spoken about it.

Not once.

Vivian stepped closer.

"Your father didn't simply take their money."

"He destroyed their reputation."

"He made sure Elena's father was blamed for crimes he didn't commit."

Adrian's breathing became heavier.

"Why?"

"Because your father wanted control of a company."

"What company?"

Vivian's eyes flickered toward Arthur.

Arthur answered instead.

"Blackridge Holdings."

Adrian froze.

His family's first major company.

The company that had eventually become the foundation of the Wolfe empire.

He remembered the old portraits hanging inside his father's mansion.

His father standing proudly beside the company's original building.

His grandfather smiling beside him.

None of them had ever mentioned the Harts.

Vivian continued.

"Elena spent years investigating what happened."

"She believed your family destroyed hers."

"So she came after you."

Adrian shook his head.

"You're lying."

"Am I?"

Vivian reached into her coat.

She removed an old photograph.

Then she threw it onto the ground.

Adrian bent down and picked it up.

His blood ran cold.

It showed him and Elena.

But they weren't adults.

They were teenagers.

Standing together outside a school building.

Adrian stared at the photograph.

"I've never seen this."

Vivian smiled.

"Of course you haven't."

"Because Elena never told you."

Daniel looked over his shoulder.

"When was this taken?"

Vivian answered.

"Five years before your first official meeting."

Adrian's hands began trembling.

He looked at Elena's face in the photograph.

She was smiling at him.

He remembered meeting her for the first time at a charity event.

At least...

He thought he remembered.

But if this photograph was real, then they had met years earlier.

Why didn't he remember her?

Vivian's voice softened.

"Because someone changed your memories."

Daniel looked at her sharply.

"That's ridiculous."

Vivian smiled.

"Is it?"

Arthur suddenly stepped forward.

"Enough."

Vivian turned toward him.

"You've protected this secret long enough."

Arthur's expression hardened.

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"I know exactly what I'm talking about."

She looked back at Adrian.

"Your father wasn't the only person responsible."

Adrian's eyes narrowed.

"Who else?"

Vivian hesitated.

Then she pointed directly at Arthur.

"Him."

The chamber fell silent.

Claire stared at Arthur.

Daniel lowered his weapon slightly.

Adrian looked at the old man.

"You?"

Arthur didn't respond.

Adrian stepped closer.

"Did you know my father?"

Arthur remained silent.

"Did you know Elena before she met me?"

Still nothing.

Adrian's voice rose.

"Answer me!"

Arthur finally looked into his eyes.

"Yes."

Adrian felt something inside him break.

"How long?"

Arthur swallowed.

"Since you were a child."

Adrian stepped backward.

The world seemed unreal.

Every person he had trusted was connected to Elena.

His father.

Arthur.

Martin.

Claire.

Even the woman he had loved.

Everyone had known something he didn't.

Then Arthur spoke softly.

"But there is something Vivian doesn't know."

Adrian looked at him.

"What?"

Arthur's eyes moved toward the diary.

"Elena never came into your life for revenge."

Vivian laughed.

"Don't listen to him."

Arthur ignored her.

"She came because she was trying to save you."

Adrian stared at him.

"Save me from what?"

Arthur's expression changed.

For the first time, genuine fear appeared in his eyes.

"From your own father."

A sudden gunshot echoed through the chamber.

Arthur's body jerked.

Blood spread across his chest.

Claire screamed.

Vivian immediately turned toward the tunnel.

"Find the shooter!"

But before anyone could move, Arthur fell to his knees.

Adrian caught him.

"Arthur!"

The old man's hand gripped Adrian's jacket.

His voice was barely audible.

"Page..."

He struggled to breathe.

"Forty..."

"Two..."

Then he whispered the final word.

"Remember."

His hand went limp.

Adrian stared at him in horror.

And somewhere inside the darkness...

A woman began to laugh.

It was a voice Adrian knew.

A voice he had spent a year mourning.

A voice he had believed belonged to the dead.

Elena.