Bound to my Rival

Chapter Five

I didn’t speak during the drive back.

The folder rested on my lap, but I kept one hand over it as though Adrian could somehow reach through the leather and take the evidence back from me. My mind kept returning to the same words I had heard outside the estate.

She’ll have nothing left to come back to.

I had spent years believing my marriage was the safest part of my life. Now I was beginning to understand that Adrian had been quietly preparing for a future in which I had no place in it.

Roman glanced at me once before returning his attention to the road.

“You’re thinking about confronting him.”

I looked out of the window. “Wouldn’t you?”

“No.”

His answer came so quickly that I turned toward him.

“Why?”

“Because he’ll deny everything.”

“He can’t deny what I saw.”

“He can deny what you heard. He can claim you misunderstood. He can accuse me of manipulating you. If you confront him tonight, you give him time to destroy whatever evidence remains.”

I hated that he was right.

Adrian had always been good at making me question myself. Even when I had caught him in small lies, he knew exactly how to explain them away without making me feel as though he was explaining anything at all.

I looked down at the folder.

“What would you do?”

Roman was silent for a moment.

“I would let him believe he still has control.”

The words settled heavily between us.

By the time we reached my house, I had made a decision. I would say nothing to Adrian.

At least for now.

The house was quiet when I walked inside. Marcus was waiting near the entrance with several files in his hands. His expression changed when he saw Roman beside me, then his eyes moved to the folder I was carrying.

“Mrs. Vale.”

I nodded.

“Where’s Adrian?”

“He’s in his study.”

I felt my stomach tighten.

Of course he was.

“Has he been there long?”

Marcus hesitated.

“About an hour.”

Roman’s gaze shifted toward him.

Marcus lowered his eyes. “He asked me to bring him the financial reports from the eastern territories.”

Something about the way he said it made me pause.

“Which reports?”

“The ones concerning the transfers from the family accounts.”

My fingers tightened around the folder.

Roman noticed.

“Have you already given them to him?” I asked.

Marcus shook his head.

“No. I couldn’t find the final copies.”

I studied him carefully.

For the first time, I noticed how tired he looked. There were faint shadows beneath his eyes, and his usual composed expression seemed strained.

“Leave them with me,” I said.

He looked surprised.

“Mrs. Vale—”

“I’ll take them to him.”

Marcus hesitated again before handing me the files.

Our fingers touched briefly.

His eyes met mine.

There was something in his expression I couldn’t place, something almost like a warning.

Then he stepped aside.

Roman waited until we were alone before speaking.

“You trust him?”

“I don’t know.”

“Then don’t yet.”

I nodded.

Roman reached into his coat and handed me a small piece of paper.

“Write down every account you remember giving Adrian access to.”

I looked at the paper.

“Tonight?”

“Tonight.”

“And what happens tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow, we find out how much he has already taken.”

I looked toward the study door.

“And Vivienne?”

Roman’s expression hardened.

“I’ll deal with her.”

There was something in his voice that made me believe he meant more than confronting her.

Before he could leave, I caught his arm.

He stopped.

“Roman.”

His eyes dropped briefly to my hand before returning to my face.

“Thank you.”

For the first time since I had met him, his expression softened.

“You don’t owe me gratitude.”

“Why are you helping me?”

His gaze remained on mine for several seconds.

“Because I know what it feels like to discover that the person you trusted was never who you believed they were.”

There was something painfully honest beneath his words, but before I could ask what he meant, he stepped away.

“I’ll contact you tomorrow.”

Then he left.

I stood in the hallway for several seconds, watching the door close behind him.

I should have been thinking about Adrian.

Instead, I found myself wondering what Roman had been through to make him speak with such certainty about betrayal.

I pushed the thought away.

There would be time for questions later.

I took a breath and walked toward the study.

Adrian looked up when I entered.

His sleeves were rolled to his elbows, and several documents were spread across the desk. He smiled when he saw me.

“There you are. I was wondering where you’d gone.”

I forced myself to smile back.

“Marcus couldn’t find these.”

I placed the files on his desk.

He glanced at them, then at me.

“Thank you.”

His hand reached for mine.

I let him take it.

His thumb brushed across my knuckles in the same familiar way it had countless times before.

“You look tired.”

“I am.”

“Come upstairs.”

He pulled me gently toward him.

For one horrible second, I remembered how many nights I had fallen asleep believing I was safe in his arms.

Then I remembered Vivienne leaning into his hand.

I stepped back.

Adrian’s smile faded slightly.

“Is something wrong?”

I shook my head.

“I’m just tired.”

He studied me, but I kept my expression calm.

After a moment, he nodded.

“All right.”

I turned toward the door.

“Elara.”

I stopped.

“I’m sorry if I’ve been distant lately.”

I looked back at him.

There was regret in his eyes.

Or at least, he was very good at making it look like regret.

“I know you’ve had a lot on your mind,” he continued. “But I love you. You know that, don’t you?”

My chest tightened.

For years, those words would have been enough.

Tonight, they weren’t.

“I know,” I whispered.

Then I walked out.

Once I reached our bedroom, I closed the door behind me and leaned against it, finally allowing myself to breathe.

My eyes fell on the wardrobe.

The coat was still hidden behind his clothes.

And suddenly, I remembered something else.

The small silver key I had found in Adrian’s pocket on the night everything began.

17.

I crossed the room and opened the drawer where I had hidden it.

The key lay exactly where I had left it.

I picked it up and turned it between my fingers.

For three days, I had forgotten about it.

Now I couldn’t stop wondering what Adrian had been so determined to keep locked away.

I slipped the key into my palm and closed my fingers around it.

If Adrian thought he had already taken everything from me, he had made one mistake.

He had forgotten that the woman he was planning to leave with nothing was still his wife.

And I was finally paying attention.