THE LAWYER WHO LOVED HER ENEMY

Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN

THE NIGHT HE REMEMBERED

I didn't sleep.

Not even for a minute.

I stayed awake until morning, sitting beside my bedroom window while the rain tapped against the glass.

My mother's words wouldn't leave me.

Your father wasn't alone that night.

Adrian Cross was with him.

I had spent days trying to understand Adrian.

Trying to decide whether he was someone I could trust.

Trying to convince myself that he was different from his father.

And now I had learned that he had been there.

The night my father died.

The night that had destroyed my family.

The night that had shaped the person I became.

Adrian had been there.

How could I have missed it?

How could he have looked into my eyes every day knowing that?

I felt betrayed.

But beneath the anger was something worse.

Fear.

Because if Adrian knew what happened that night, then every conversation we'd ever had suddenly had another meaning.

Every time he told me he didn't remember.

Every time he told me he couldn't tell me.

Every time he looked at me with those guilty eyes.

He had been hiding something.

And I needed to know what.

---

I arrived at the university before sunrise.

The campus was still quiet.

I walked straight to the law library.

I didn't want to see Adrian.

Not yet.

I needed time to think.

I found an empty table in the farthest corner and opened my notebook.

At the top of a fresh page, I wrote:

JUNE 14, 2011

Underneath it, I began listing everything I knew.

1. Daniel Vale was investigating Cross Holdings.

2. He discovered financial irregularities.

3. He was accused of accessing company records.

4. Victor Cross was involved.

5. Marcus Reyes was connected to the investigation.

6. Someone inside Daniel's own law firm may have betrayed him.

7. Daniel believed someone wanted him dead.

Then I wrote the final line.

8. Adrian Cross was with him that night.

I stared at the words.

My pen remained motionless.

Then I heard a chair scrape across the floor.

I looked up.

Adrian stood across from me.

His eyes were tired.

He looked like he hadn't slept either.

"You knew."

My voice was barely above a whisper.

He didn't pretend not to understand.

"I know."

"You were there."

He pulled out the chair.

"Can I sit?"

"No."

He stopped.

I looked at him.

"Answer me first."

"Yes."

My heart clenched.

"You were with my father."

"Yes."

"On the night he died."

"Yes."

I stood.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

He looked at me.

"Because I was afraid."

"Of me?"

"No."

"Then of what?"

"Of what you'd think of me."

I laughed bitterly.

"You had no right to decide what I should know."

"I know."

"Then why?"

He lowered his eyes.

"Because I don't remember everything."

"You've said that."

"It's true."

"Then tell me what you remember."

He was silent.

I stepped closer.

"Adrian."

He looked at me.

"I'll tell you."

My heart began pounding.

"Everything."

---

He sat down.

I remained standing.

He took a slow breath.

"I was thirteen."

"I know."

"My father had been arguing with your father for weeks."

"About what?"

"Documents."

"What documents?"

"I don't know."

I crossed my arms.

"Keep going."

"On June 14, my father told me to stay upstairs."

"Why?"

"He said there was a meeting."

"Between him and my father?"

"Yes."

"Then how did you end up downstairs?"

Adrian stared at his hands.

"I heard shouting."

My stomach tightened.

"I went down."

"What did you see?"

"Your father was standing near the desk."

"Was he hurt?"

"No."

"Was my father angry?"

"Yes."

"At Victor?"

"Yes."

Adrian's eyes darkened.

"They were arguing."

"What did they say?"

"I remember your father saying..."

He paused.

"You can't erase what you've done."

I swallowed.

"What did Victor say?"

"He told him that nobody would believe him."

My hands began trembling.

"And then?"

"Your father put a folder on the desk."

"What folder?"

"I don't know."

"You said there were documents."

"Yes."

"Did you see them?"

"Some."

"What were they?"

"Bank statements."

I stared at him.

"From Cross Holdings?"

He nodded.

"Your father said the money had been moved through several accounts."

"Whose accounts?"

"I don't know."

He rubbed his forehead.

"I remember your father saying there was someone inside the company helping them."

"Who?"

"I don't know."

"Adrian."

"I don't!"

His voice echoed through the library.

Several students looked toward us.

He lowered his voice.

"I'm sorry."

He took a breath.

"I was scared. I didn't understand everything."

I sat down across from him.

"What happened next?"

"My father saw me."

"What did he do?"

"He told me to go upstairs."

"Did you?"

"Yes."

I stared at him.

"And then?"

"I heard another voice."

"Whose?"

"I don't know."

"You don't remember?"

"I remember it wasn't my father's."

"Was it a man?"

"Yes."

"Did you recognize him?"

"No."

I watched his expression.

He was trying to remember.

"And then?"

"I heard something fall."

"What?"

"I don't know."

"Then what happened?"

"I came downstairs again."

His voice became quieter.

"Your father was on the floor."

Everything inside me stopped.

"Was he alive?"

"Yes."

My eyes filled with tears.

"What did you do?"

"I ran to him."

"Did you call someone?"

"Yes."

"Who?"

"My mother."

"What did she do?"

"She came downstairs."

"What happened?"

"She told me to go back upstairs."

"Why?"

"I don't know."

"Adrian..."

He looked at me.

"My mother was crying."

I swallowed.

"Then what?"

"My father told me something."

"What?"

Adrian's eyes filled with tears.

"He told me..."

He stopped.

"What?"

"He said, 'If you want to protect your mother, forget this night.'"

My heart broke.

"Then what happened to my father?"

Adrian looked away.

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"My mother took me upstairs."

"And?"

"When I came back down..."

He swallowed.

"...your father was gone."

I stared at him.

"Gone?"

"Yes."

"Where?"

"I don't know."

"Then how did he die?"

"I didn't know he was dead until the next morning."

Silence.

I couldn't breathe.

For fifteen years, I had believed my father had died that night.

But Adrian was telling me something completely different.

He hadn't seen my father die.

He had seen him alive.

And then—

someone had taken him away.

I whispered:

"You're saying my father was alive when you left him?"

"Yes."

"Then who killed him?"

"I don't know."

I closed my eyes.

Tears slipped down my cheeks.

For years, I had imagined my father's final moments.

Now I realized I had been imagining the wrong night entirely.

---

"Why didn't you ever tell anyone?"

Adrian looked at me.

"I tried."

"Who?"

"The police."

"What did you tell them?"

"That your father was alive when I last saw him."

"Did they believe you?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because my father told them I was confused."

I clenched my fists.

"Of course."

"My testimony was dismissed."

"Because you're a Cross."

"Yes."

The bitterness in his voice was unmistakable.

"After that, my father warned me never to talk about it again."

I looked at him.

"And you listened."

"I was thirteen."

"You were a child."

He nodded.

"Exactly."

I looked down.

My anger had begun to change.

I was still angry.

But now I understood.

Adrian hadn't been protecting his father.

He had been a frightened thirteen-year-old boy trapped inside a family that controlled everything around him.

"Why did you say you couldn't tell me?"

"Because I promised my mother."

"She knew?"

"She knew what I saw."

"What did she tell you?"

"She told me your father was dangerous."

I frowned.

"What?"

"She said he had discovered something that could destroy several powerful people."

"She believed he was dangerous?"

"No."

Adrian shook his head.

"She believed the people he discovered were dangerous."

I stared at him.

Then everything suddenly became clear.

My father hadn't been the threat.

He had discovered the threat.

---

"Serena."

I looked up.

Adrian's voice was gentle.

"I'm sorry."

I didn't answer.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

I looked at him.

"You should have."

"I know."

"You should have trusted me."

"I was afraid you'd hate me."

"I did."

He flinched.

I immediately regretted saying it.

"For a while," I added.

He looked at me.

"And now?"

I didn't know.

"I don't know."

He nodded.

"I'll accept that."

I looked down at my hands.

"You know what hurts the most?"

"What?"

"I spent my whole life thinking your family took everything from mine."

He waited.

"And now I don't even know who the enemy is."

His voice was quiet.

"Neither do I."

I looked at him.

"Then let's find out."

He stared at me.

"What?"

"I want to investigate the case."

"Together?"

I nodded.

"Together."

For the first time, a small smile appeared on his face.

"Okay."

"But there are rules."

"Of course there are."

"One: no more secrets."

He nodded.

"Agreed."

"Two: if you remember anything, you tell me."

"Agreed."

"Three: we don't trust anyone."

He smiled faintly.

"Not even Professor Reyes?"

"Not even Professor Reyes."

"Fair."

I stood.

"Then we start tonight."

"Tonight?"

"Yes."

"Where?"

"The old Cross Holdings building."

His smile disappeared.

"No."

I frowned.

"Why?"

"Because it's abandoned."

"Exactly."

"Serena, that's not a good idea."

"Why?"

"Because that's where it happened."

I stepped closer.

"Which means that's where we'll find answers."

He looked at me for several seconds.

Then sighed.

"You're impossible."

"You already knew that."

He smiled.

"Unfortunately."

---

That night, Adrian picked me up outside my house.

He was driving.

I sat beside him, staring through the window.

Neither of us spoke much.

The city lights passed us.

Finally, I broke the silence.

"Adrian."

"Hm?"

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For telling me."

He glanced at me.

"I should have told you sooner."

"You were scared."

"Still."

I looked down.

"I believe you."

His hands tightened slightly around the steering wheel.

"You do?"

"Yes."

A quiet smile appeared on his face.

"That's the first good thing you've said to me all week."

"Don't get used to it."

He laughed.

For a moment, the tension disappeared.

Then the old Cross Holdings building appeared ahead.

The abandoned structure stood behind a rusted iron gate.

The windows were dark.

The walls were covered with years of dirt.

Adrian parked.

We stepped out.

I looked at the building.

"This is where my father was?"

"Yes."

I took a breath.

"Let's go."

We entered through a broken side door.

The inside smelled of dust and old paper.

Our footsteps echoed through the empty hallway.

Adrian walked beside me.

"His office was upstairs."

We climbed the stairs.

At the end of the hallway was a door.

Adrian stopped.

"This was my father's office."

I looked at him.

"Are you sure?"

He nodded.

I pushed the door open.

The room was almost empty.

Broken furniture.

Old cabinets.

Dust-covered shelves.

Then I noticed something.

A small metal box beneath the desk.

I knelt.

"Adrian."

He came closer.

"What?"

I pulled the box out.

It was locked.

He examined it.

"Maybe there's a key."

We searched the desk.

Nothing.

Then I noticed a small engraving on the side.

D.V.

My breath caught.

"Daniel Vale."

Adrian looked at me.

"This belonged to your father."

I touched the initials.

"My father had something hidden here."

We searched again.

Then Adrian noticed a loose floorboard.

He knelt and pulled it upward.

Beneath it was a small key.

I stared at him.

"Try it."

He inserted the key into the metal box.

It clicked.

We opened it.

Inside was a photograph.

A flash drive.

And a handwritten note.

I picked up the note.

My father's handwriting.

Again.

I unfolded it.

Only one sentence was written.

If you're reading this, then they failed to bury the truth.

My heart pounded.

Below the sentence was another line.

Trust the person who was there.

I looked at Adrian.

He looked at me.

Neither of us spoke.

Then we heard footsteps outside.

Someone was coming.

Adrian immediately grabbed my hand.

"Hide."

We moved behind the old filing cabinet.

The footsteps grew louder.

A shadow appeared beneath the door.

The handle slowly turned.

Adrian pulled me closer.

I could feel his heartbeat.

Fast.

Terrified.

The door opened.

A man stepped inside.

He walked toward the desk.

Then stopped.

He whispered:

"Where is the box?"

Adrian looked at me.

I looked back.

Neither of us breathed.

The man began searching the room.

Then his eyes moved toward the loose floorboard.

His expression changed.

"They found it."

He reached for his phone.

"I need to make a call."

He turned toward the door.

Before leaving, he said something that made my blood run cold.

"Tell Victor the girl knows."

The door closed.

I looked at Adrian.

"The girl?"

He slowly released my hand.

Then whispered:

"Serena..."

"What?"

He looked at the photograph inside the box.

His face had gone completely pale.

"You need to see this."

I took the photograph.

And when I saw it, I forgot how to breathe.

It was my father.

Victor Cross.

Marcus Reyes.

And Adrian.

But there was one more person standing beside them.

A woman.

My mother.

And written on the back of the photograph were four words:

THEY ALL KNEW.