THE QUESTION HE COULDN’T ASK🤫🌚
1733 Words
HIS POSSESSION
Chapter 36; THE QUESTION HE COULDN’T ASK
Adrian stared at the message.
ASK ISABELLA WHAT HAPPENED TO ETHAN’S FATHER.
He read it again.
Then again.
His expression didn’t change.
But something inside him did.
Ethan’s father.
Adrian had never asked.
Not properly.
He knew Ethan’s mother had been connected to his father’s organization. He knew her name appeared in old records. He knew the pendant had belonged to the De Luca family.
But Ethan’s father had never been part of the conversation.
Why?
Adrian’s thumb hovered over the screen.
He typed:
Who are you?
The reply came almost instantly.
You already know.
Adrian’s eyes narrowed.
Another message.
You’ve known for years.
Then the number disappeared.
Adrian immediately called his security team.
“Trace the number.”
“We’re trying.”
“Try faster.”
He ended the call.
A sound behind him made him turn.
Isabella.
She stood in the doorway.
Her eyes moved to the phone in his hand.
“You found something.”
Adrian’s face hardened.
“What happened to Ethan’s father?”
Isabella stopped.
There it was.
That tiny hesitation.
Adrian saw it.
“Answer me.”
She slowly closed the door.
“Where did you hear that?”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“Adrian”
“Where is Ethan’s father?”
Isabella’s expression changed.
“He’s dead.”
Adrian’s eyes narrowed.
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
“Wrong answer.”
“I genuinely don’t know.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“Then tell me what you do know.”
Isabella looked away.
“Your father knew him.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“That’s not new.”
“He wasn’t just an acquaintance.”
Adrian went still.
“What does that mean?”
Isabella hesitated.
“Your father hated him.”
“Why?”
“Because he knew too much.”
“About what?”
Isabella looked directly at him.
“The archive.”
Adrian’s expression darkened.
“Was Ethan’s father involved?”
“Yes.”
“With my father?”
“Against him.”
Adrian stared at her.
Isabella continued.
“Ethan’s father discovered what your father was hiding. He wanted to expose him.”
“Like you.”
“Yes.”
“Then why was he killed?”
Isabella looked away.
Adrian’s voice became colder.
“Isabella.”
“I don’t know if he was killed.”
Adrian froze.
“What?”
“He disappeared.”
“When?”
“Twenty seven years ago.”
Adrian’s eyes narrowed.
“That’s the year Ethan was born.”
“Yes.”
The room fell silent.
Adrian suddenly remembered Ethan’s face.
The way he’d spoken about his childhood.
The unanswered questions.
The pendant.
His mother’s silence.
Twenty seven years.
“Where was his mother?”
“With him.”
“Did she know he was in danger?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn’t she run?”
Isabella’s expression became sad.
“She did.”
Adrian stared at her.
“She ran with Ethan.”
“And?”
“Your father found them.”
Adrian’s blood ran cold.
“What happened?”
Isabella didn’t answer.
Adrian stepped closer.
“What happened to them?”
“Your father threatened her.”
“With what?”
“With Ethan.”
Adrian’s hands curled into fists.
“What did he want?”
“The pendant.”
Adrian looked toward the table.
Everything suddenly connected.
His father had wanted the pendant.
Ethan’s mother had refused.
She had disappeared.
Ethan had grown up carrying the key without knowing what it was.
And somewhere along the way
Someone had decided to start looking for it again.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Isabella’s expression hardened.
“Because I wasn’t sure you were different from him.”
Adrian’s eyes flashed.
“You think I’d hurt Ethan?”
“I didn’t know.”
“You know me.”
“I knew the boy you were.”
Adrian went quiet.
Isabella continued.
“You’re not the only person who changed after that fire.”
Adrian stared at her.
“What happened to Ethan’s father?”
Isabella’s voice dropped.
“That’s what I don’t know.”
Adrian frowned.
“But you just said he disappeared.”
“Yes.”
“Then how can you not know what happened?”
“Because I wasn’t there.”
“Where were you?”
Isabella’s eyes hardened.
“Dead.”
Adrian stared at her.
“For twenty years, everyone believed I was dead. I couldn’t investigate anything. I couldn’t contact anyone. I couldn’t protect anyone.”
She paused.
“And when I finally came back, Ethan’s father was already gone.”
Adrian’s expression remained hard.
“Who knows what happened?”
Isabella’s answer came quietly.
“Your father.”
Adrian’s eyes darkened.
“He died.”
“Yes.”
“Then who?”
Isabella looked at him.
“Someone who was there.”
“Who?”
Before she could answer, footsteps sounded outside.
Isabella immediately stopped.
Adrian reached for his weapon.
The door opened.
Ethan stood there.
Both of them froze.
Ethan looked between them.
“Am I interrupting?”
Adrian lowered his hand.
“No.”
Ethan’s eyes narrowed.
“You two were talking about me.”
Neither answered.
Ethan crossed his arms.
“I knew it.”
Adrian sighed.
“Ethan.”
“No. Don’t ‘Ethan’ me.”
He stepped into the room.
“What did you find?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re lying.”
Adrian stared at him.
“You seem to be developing a habit of accusing me of that.”
“Because you keep doing it.”
Isabella watched them.
Ethan looked at her.
“What happened to my father?”
Silence.
Ethan’s expression changed.
“That’s what you were talking about.”
Adrian looked at Isabella.
She closed her eyes briefly.
Then said:
“Your father disappeared when you were a baby.”
Ethan’s face went blank.
“What?”
Adrian watched him carefully.
“Your mother never told you?”
Ethan shook his head.
“No.”
His voice had changed.
“She told me he left.”
Isabella’s expression softened.
“She wanted you to believe that.”
“Why?”
“Because she wanted you to have a normal childhood.”
Ethan laughed quietly.
“Well, that worked out beautifully.”
Adrian stepped toward him.
Ethan immediately stepped back.
Adrian stopped.
That small movement hurt more than he expected.
Ethan looked at Isabella.
“Was he involved with the De Lucas?”
“Yes.”
“Was he involved with the archive?”
“Yes.”
“Did Adrian’s father kill him?”
Isabella hesitated.
Ethan’s eyes widened.
“Did he?”
“No.”
The answer came from Adrian.
Ethan turned toward him.
Adrian’s voice was firm.
“My father may have been many things, but if he had killed your father, I would have found evidence of it.”
Ethan stared.
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because I’ve spent years studying his records.”
Ethan’s expression shifted.
“You’ve been investigating your father?”
“Since I was nineteen.”
“Why?”
Adrian looked at Isabella.
“Because I wanted to know what happened to her.”
Then he looked at Ethan.
“And because I wanted to know what kind of man he really was.”
Ethan’s anger softened slightly.
But only slightly.
“Then investigate my father.”
Adrian blinked.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
Ethan stepped closer.
“You want to know what happened to him?”
Adrian nodded.
“Then find out.”
Ethan’s eyes held his.
“With me.”
Adrian didn’t hesitate.
“Yes.”
Something eased in Ethan’s chest.
He hadn’t realized how much he needed that answer.
Then Isabella spoke.
“There’s something else.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
“Of course there is.”
Isabella almost smiled.
“Your father wasn’t alone when he disappeared.”
Ethan looked at her.
“Who was with him?”
Isabella’s gaze moved toward Adrian.
“Someone from the De Luca family.”
Adrian’s expression hardened.
“Who?”
Isabella didn’t answer.
Ethan looked between them.
“Who?”
She finally said:
“Your grandmother.”
Ethan froze.
“My grandmother?”
“Your father’s mother.”
Ethan shook his head.
“She’s dead.”
Isabella’s face went pale.
“No.”
Silence.
Ethan stared.
Isabella’s voice dropped.
“She’s not.”
Ethan couldn’t speak.
Adrian looked just as stunned.
Isabella continued.
“Your grandmother disappeared the same night your father did.”
Ethan’s mind raced.
“Why didn’t my mother tell me?”
“Because she was afraid.”
“Of what?”
Isabella looked at Adrian.
“Of the people who were looking for your father.”
Ethan’s voice cracked.
“Who?”
Isabella’s answer was barely a whisper.
“The same people looking for you now.”
Ethan’s blood ran cold.
Adrian immediately moved toward him.
This time, Ethan didn’t step back.
Adrian stopped directly in front of him.
“Ethan.”
Ethan looked up.
“Don’t.”
Adrian’s expression softened.
“You’re safe.”
Ethan gave a bitter laugh.
“Am I?”
“Yes.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do.”
“How?”
Adrian’s eyes held his.
“Because I’ll make sure of it.”
Ethan stared at him.
The words should have frightened him.
Instead, they calmed something inside him.
Adrian reached for his hand.
Ethan let him.
Their fingers intertwined.
Neither spoke.
Isabella watched them quietly.
Then Ethan whispered:
“What are we going to do?”
Adrian looked down at their joined hands.
Then at Ethan.
“Find your father.”
Ethan’s eyes widened.
“You think he’s alive?”
Adrian’s expression darkened.
“No.”
A pause.
“But I think someone knows what happened to him.”
Ethan swallowed.
“And we’re going to find that person.”
Adrian squeezed his hand.
“Yes.”
Ethan looked at him.
“Together?”
Adrian’s eyes softened.
“Together.”
And somewhere across the city, an old photograph was placed on a table.
Three people stood in it.
Ethan’s father.
Adrian’s father.
And a woman Ethan had never seen before.
On the back of the photograph were four words:
THE FOUR NEVER FORGOT.
End of chapter 36 🖤
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