The Billionaire’s Missing Wife

chapter 3

The detective reopened your case.

Those words replayed in my head long after Adrian left the balcony.

I stood frozen beneath the cold night air, my heart pounding harder with every passing second.

A detective.

Someone outside this mansion was looking for answers too.

Maybe answers Adrian didn’t want me to find.

I walked back inside slowly, closing the balcony doors behind me. The bedroom suddenly felt too large. Too quiet.

My eyes drifted toward the hallway.

Adrian’s voice echoed faintly downstairs, sharp and controlled.

“…I said no reporters.”

A pause.

Then colder—

“She doesn’t remember anything.”

Something about hearing him say it made my chest ache.

Doesn’t remember anything.

As if I were broken.

As if pieces of me had been stolen.

I moved toward the vanity table again, staring down at the bloody wedding ring resting against the wood surface.

Why had it been hidden?

And why did seeing it make fear twist inside me?

Carefully, I slid the ring onto my finger.

The moment the metal touched my skin, another flash hit me violently.

A dark road.

Rain pouring down.

Me crying inside a car.

Then Adrian’s voice beside me—

“You need to trust me.”

“I can’t!” I screamed back.

Bright headlights suddenly appeared behind us.

Too fast.

Too close.

A crash.

My body jerked violently as the memory disappeared.

I grabbed the edge of the vanity, breathing hard.

Car accident.

That part had been real.

But was it really an accident?

A soft knock interrupted my thoughts.

I spun around quickly.

The older maid from earlier stood nervously outside the partially open bedroom door.

“The master asked if you needed anything, ma’am.”

I studied her carefully.

She still looked frightened of me.

“What’s your name?”

“Clara.”

“Clara… why does everyone in this house act like I’m a ghost?”

Her face paled instantly.

“I shouldn’t say.”

“Please.”

She hesitated before stepping inside and quietly shutting the door behind her.

“When you disappeared,” she whispered, “the police believed you were dead.”

My stomach tightened.

“But Adrian didn’t?”

Clara shook her head slowly.

“He searched for you himself.”

Something in her voice sounded strange.

Not admiration.

Fear.

“For two years?” I asked softly.

“Yes.”

A cold shiver ran through me.

“Why?”

Clara looked toward the hallway nervously again.

“Mr. Vale loved you very much.”

Loved.

Past tense.

Before I could ask another question, footsteps echoed outside the room.

Heavy.

Male.

Clara immediately stepped away from me.

The bedroom door opened.

Adrian entered without saying a word.

His gray eyes landed instantly on Clara.

The tension in the room shifted immediately.

“I told the staff to leave Elena alone tonight.”

Clara lowered her head quickly. “I was only checking if she needed anything, sir.”

“You can go.”

She practically rushed out.

The moment the door closed, silence swallowed the room again.

Adrian loosened his tie slowly while watching me.

“You shouldn’t wander around the mansion alone.”

I crossed my arms. “Why? Afraid I’ll discover something?”

A flicker of irritation crossed his face.

“You’re not safe here yet.”

“Safe from who?”

He didn’t answer.

Instead, he noticed the wedding ring on my finger.

His gaze darkened instantly.

“You put it back on.”

“I found it hidden in a drawer covered in blood,” I snapped. “I think I deserve an explanation.”

For a moment, neither of us spoke.

Then Adrian walked toward me slowly.

“There was blood because you were injured the night you disappeared.”

“You expect me to believe that’s all?”

“No,” he admitted quietly.

The honesty surprised me.

Adrian stopped directly in front of me.

Close enough that I could feel warmth radiating from his body.

Close enough that my pulse betrayed me again.

“I think part of you already knows I’m lying,” he said softly.

The words sent chills down my spine.

“Then tell me the truth.”

His jaw tightened.

“If I tell you everything too soon, you’ll run.”

A strange ache hit my chest.

“Maybe I should.”

Something painful flashed across his expression before disappearing completely.

“You said that the night you vanished.”

My breath caught.

“What happened that night?”

Adrian stared at me silently for several long seconds.

Then—

“You found something you weren’t supposed to.”

The room suddenly felt colder.

“What kind of something?”

His eyes darkened.

“Proof.”

“Proof of what?”

“That there are people far more dangerous than me.”

Fear curled low in my stomach.

Because for the first time since meeting him…

I believed him.

A loud ringtone suddenly cut through the tension.

Adrian pulled his phone from his pocket, irritation flashing across his face.

But the moment he saw the screen, his expression changed completely.

Dangerous.

“What?” he answered sharply.

Silence.

Then his eyes slowly lifted toward me.

And something about that look made my blood run cold.

“Are you sure?” he asked quietly.

Another pause.

Then—

“Don’t let him out of custody.”

He ended the call.

“What happened?” I whispered.

Adrian slipped the phone back into his pocket.

“The man who broke into the mansion tonight…”

He paused.

“He escaped police custody.”

Ice flooded my veins.

Before I could react, the lights in the bedroom suddenly went out.

Darkness swallowed the room instantly.

I gasped.

Somewhere downstairs, alarms exploded throughout the mansion.

Red emergency lights began flashing through the hallways.

Adrian moved immediately.

One arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me tightly against him.

“Stay behind me,” he ordered.

My heart slammed violently against my ribs.

“What’s happening?”

But Adrian was already reaching for his gun again.

Then—

A gunshot echoed somewhere inside the mansion.

Not outside.

Inside.

I flinched hard against him.

Adrian’s grip tightened protectively around my waist.

And suddenly…

Another memory flashed through my mind.

The same sound.

The same fear.

Me screaming while Adrian shoved me behind him—

“Get down!”

Pain exploded through my head so violently that I nearly collapsed.

“Elena?”

I grabbed Adrian’s shirt desperately as the memory crashed over me in broken pieces.

Blood on white marble.

A masked man.

Adrian fighting someone.

Then—

A woman’s voice screaming:

“She knows everything!”

I gasped sharply as the vision disappeared.

Adrian caught my face in his hands immediately.

“What did you remember?”

I stared at him, shaking.

“There was someone else there that night.”

The emergency lights flashed across his face, painting him in red shadows.

“Who?”

“I don’t know.”

Another gunshot echoed closer this time.

Too close.

Adrian cursed under his breath.

Then suddenly the bedroom door handle moved slowly.

Someone was trying to get inside.

The bedroom door handle turned slowly.

Once.

Twice.

My entire body locked with fear.

Adrian instantly pushed me behind him, his gun raised toward the door.

The red emergency lights flashed across the room, casting shadows over his sharp features.

“Stay quiet,” he ordered softly.

The handle stopped moving.

Silence.

Then—

Three slow knocks echoed through the room.

Not loud.

Almost calm.

A chill crawled down my spine.

“Adrian,” a male voice called from the other side of the door. “We need to talk.”

Adrian’s expression darkened instantly.

“You shouldn’t be here, Noah.”

Detective Noah.

The detective who reopened my case.

Something strange twisted inside my chest at the sound of his name.

Like I knew it.

Like I’d heard it before.

“You have ten seconds before I break this door down,” Noah warned calmly.

Adrian actually smirked.

Cold.

Dangerous.

“You’re welcome to try.”

The tension in the room became suffocating.

Then suddenly—

Another loud crash echoed downstairs followed by shouting.

Noah cursed behind the door.

“They’re inside the house already.”

Adrian’s entire body went rigid.

“What?”

“The men who took Elena.”

Fear sliced through me instantly.

Adrian unlocked the bedroom door without hesitation.

The second it opened, a tall man in a dark coat stepped inside holding a gun of his own.

Detective Noah Cross.

The moment his eyes landed on me, something in his expression changed completely.

Relief.

“Elena.”

The way he said my name felt different than Adrian.

Softer.

More personal.

A sharp pain flashed behind my eyes.

Memory.

Me laughing somewhere bright and sunny—

“Noah, if Adrian finds out—”

The image disappeared before I could grab onto it.

I stumbled slightly.

Noah noticed immediately. “You remembered something?”

Adrian stepped between us before I could answer.

“She’s not talking to you.”

Noah’s jaw tightened. “You don’t get to decide that anymore.”

The two men stared at each other with open hatred.

And suddenly I realized—

This wasn’t new.

Whatever happened before I disappeared…

These two already hated each other.

“Someone explain what’s happening,” I snapped.

Noah finally looked at me again.

“The official story is that you disappeared two years ago.”

“Official story?”

His eyes darkened.

“Because the truth is much worse.”

Adrian’s voice turned lethal. “Watch yourself.”

Noah ignored him completely.

“The night Elena vanished, three people died.”

My blood went cold.

“What?”

“A journalist, a bodyguard…” Noah paused carefully. “And your brother.”

The room spun.

Brother?

I had a brother?

Pain exploded through my head again—

A smiling man hugging me tightly.

“Elena, if anything happens, you run.”

Another flash.

Blood spreading across white marble floors.

Then gone.

I grabbed the side of the wall hard.

“My brother is dead?”

Neither man answered immediately.

That silence told me enough.

Tears burned suddenly behind my eyes.

I couldn’t even remember his face fully.

And he was gone.

“How?” I whispered shakily.

Noah looked directly at Adrian.

“That depends who you ask.”

Adrian’s eyes turned ice cold.

“You’re not doing this tonight.”

“The hell I’m not,” Noah snapped. “She deserves to know.”

“Know what?” I shouted.

Noah hesitated.

Then finally—

“Your brother died trying to protect you.”

The words shattered something inside me.

Protect me from what?

Before I could ask, gunfire suddenly exploded downstairs.

Real gunfire.

Too close.

Adrian grabbed my wrist instantly.

“We’re leaving.”

Noah blocked him immediately. “You’re not taking her alone.”

Adrian stepped forward slowly.

Dangerously.

“You think I can’t protect my own wife?”

“I think people keep dying around her.”

Silence.

Deadly silence.

Then suddenly the lights came back on throughout the mansion.

For one brief second, everything looked normal again.

Until a scream echoed from downstairs.

Clara.

My stomach dropped instantly.

Without thinking, I ran toward the hallway.

“Elena!” Adrian shouted.

I ignored him.

The upstairs hallway was chaos now. Guards rushed through the mansion with weapons while alarms screamed overhead.

I reached the staircase and froze.

Clara lay unconscious at the bottom.

Blood stained the marble beneath her head.

“Oh my God—”

Before I could move, strong arms suddenly grabbed me from behind.

I gasped sharply.

A gloved hand clamped over my mouth.

“Miss me?” a voice whispered against my ear.

Panic exploded through me.

I fought violently, but the man dragged me backward down the hallway.

Adrian shouted my name somewhere in the distance.

Then a gunshot rang out.

The man holding me jerked suddenly.

Blood splattered across the wall.

His grip loosened just enough for me to break free.

I stumbled away gasping.

Adrian stood at the far end of the hallway holding the gun.

His face looked terrifying.

Not human.

Murderous.

The injured attacker laughed weakly from the floor.

“She remembers more than you think…”

Adrian walked toward him slowly.

Too slowly.

And suddenly fear twisted through me again.

Not fear of the attacker.

Fear of Adrian.

Because the look in his eyes…

Looked like he wanted to kill him.

“Adrian,” Noah warned sharply from behind me.

But Adrian never looked away from the bleeding man crawling across the floor.

“You should’ve stayed away from my wife,” Adrian said quietly.

The attacker smiled through the blood.

“She told us everything before she disappeared.”

My breath caught.

What?

Adrian froze.

Even Noah looked shocked.

The attacker coughed painfully before laughing again.

“She betrayed you first.”

The words hit Adrian like a knife.

I saw it happen.

The tiny flicker of pain he couldn’t hide fast enough.

Then suddenly another memory slammed into me—

Me screaming at Adrian inside this mansion.

“I had no choice!”

Then Noah’s voice—

“They know you took the files!”

Files?

What files?

Pain ripped through my skull so violently that I collapsed to my knees.

“Elena!” Noah rushed toward me instantly.

But Adrian got there first.

He pulled me against his chest protectively while the world spun around me.

“It hurts,” I whispered shakily.

“I know.”

His voice sounded rough now.

Almost desperate.

The attacker started laughing again from the floor.

“She’s remembering.”

Adrian’s entire expression changed.

Pure rage.

Then suddenly—

The attacker grabbed a hidden knife and lunged straight toward me.