Bound to my Rival

Chapter Six

I woke before Adrian the following morning, but I stayed in bed until I was certain he was still asleep. The room was quiet except for his breathing, and for a moment I watched the man beside me with a strange sense of distance. A few days ago, I would have looked at him and felt safe. Now I found myself wondering how many mornings I had woken beside him without realizing that another part of his life existed beyond the walls of our bedroom.

When I finally got up, I took the folder from the drawer and carried it into the dressing room. I closed the door behind me before spreading the documents across the desk. The photographs of Adrian and Vivienne were difficult enough to look at, but the financial records bothered me more. Those photographs had confirmed a betrayal. The numbers showed me that the betrayal had been planned around something much larger.

I began writing down everything I could remember about the accounts and properties I had placed under Adrian’s management after our marriage. There were more than I expected. My father had left me territories, businesses, investments and several private accounts, and over the years I had gradually allowed Adrian to take responsibility for almost all of them. He had always presented it as something practical. He would tell me that I had enough to worry about with the council and social obligations, while he could handle the numbers and negotiations.

I had believed him because I loved him.

Now I could barely look at the list without feeling ashamed of how easily I had handed over control.

I heard movement from the bedroom and quickly gathered the papers, slipping them back into the folder before Adrian opened the door. He was already dressed when he appeared, adjusting the cuff of his shirt as he walked toward me.

“You’re awake early,” he said.

“I didn’t sleep much.”

He stopped in front of me and looked at my face. “Again?”

I nodded.

His expression softened, and he reached for me, pulling me gently against his chest. “You’ve been worrying too much.”

I allowed him to hold me because pushing him away would have raised questions I wasn’t ready to answer. His hand moved slowly over my back, familiar and comforting in a way that almost made me forget why I was standing there.

Then the image of him with Vivienne returned to me.

I swallowed and stepped back before my expression could betray me. “I need to get ready.”

He studied me for a second, then smiled. “All right. I’ll see you downstairs.”

Once he left, I waited until I heard the bedroom door close before taking a breath. I had spent years making Adrian feel secure in our marriage. Now I needed him to remain secure in the belief that I still trusted him.

That meant I couldn’t suddenly become suspicious.

I couldn’t start asking questions.

And I certainly couldn’t let him know that Roman Blackwood had become the person helping me uncover what he had done.

I dressed and went downstairs, where Marcus was already waiting with several files. He looked toward the staircase before approaching me.

“Mrs. Vale, I checked the reports you asked about.”

He handed me a folder.

I opened it and immediately recognized several of the account numbers from the records Roman had shown me. Marcus pointed to the dates beside the transfers.

“These were processed before your authorization was recorded.”

I looked at him. “Are you certain?”

“I checked them twice.”

My eyes returned to the documents. “Who approved them?”

Marcus hesitated before answering.

“Mr. Vale.”

I closed the folder slowly.

“How long have you known?”

“Not long enough to understand everything,” he admitted. “But long enough to know something wasn’t right.”

There was something different about him that morning. He looked exhausted, and there was a nervousness in his expression that hadn’t been there before.

“Why are you telling me now?”

He lowered his voice. “Because I think you’re being kept in the dark about more than the money.”

I studied him for several seconds before taking the folder from his hands.

“Then keep looking.”

His eyebrows lifted.

“And Marcus,” I added quietly, “don’t tell Adrian that you’ve spoken to me about any of this.”

He nodded.

“I won’t.”

After he left, I carried the folder upstairs and hid it beneath several old council documents in my desk. I didn’t want Adrian finding anything if he happened to search through my belongings, and I certainly didn’t want him seeing evidence that I had started investigating his finances.

Later that afternoon, I received a message from an unfamiliar number.

The east side council archives. Four o’clock. Come alone.

I deleted it immediately.

Roman had kept his word.

I spent the next few hours behaving exactly as I normally would. I answered correspondence, reviewed household matters and even discussed dinner plans with Adrian when he called to tell me he would be home late. When he asked what I had been doing, I mentioned the council paperwork and nothing more.

He seemed satisfied.

That was exactly what I needed.

At four, I left the house alone and told the driver I wanted to visit the council archives to collect some documents. The meeting place Roman had chosen was an old records building that was rarely used anymore, tucked behind the main council offices. There were enough people coming and going nearby that my presence wouldn’t attract attention, but few enough inside the building that we could speak privately.

Roman was waiting in one of the smaller rooms at the back.

He stood when I entered, closing the door behind me.

“I received the financial records,” I said, placing Marcus’s copies on the table.

Roman looked through them carefully. “These confirm what we suspected.”

“What happens now?”

“We find out where the money went.”

I sat across from him while he opened another folder. Inside were company records and property documents connected to several territories outside our pack.

“He’s moving the assets through private companies,” Roman explained. “Some of them are controlled by people who have been trying to gain influence in your council for years.”

I stared at the documents.

“So Adrian isn’t just stealing from me.”

“No. He’s trying to make sure that when you discover what he’s done, you won’t have enough influence left to stop him.”

The thought left me silent for a moment.

My father’s warning returned to me again, and this time I understood it differently. He hadn’t been warning me never to trust anyone. He had been warning me never to surrender control of my own future simply because I loved someone.

“I need access to the original records,” I said.

Roman looked at me.

“You’re going to investigate him yourself.”

“I have to.”

A faint expression of approval crossed his face. “Good.”

I closed the folder and looked at him. “But if Adrian discovers that I’m investigating the accounts, he’ll know something has changed.”

“Then don’t give him a reason to notice.”

I nodded.

For the first time, this didn’t feel like Roman was rescuing me from my own situation. We were working together, carefully and quietly, each bringing something the other didn’t have.

When I returned home that evening, Adrian was already there. He kissed my forehead when I walked through the door and asked how my afternoon had gone.

I smiled and told him I had spent most of it dealing with council paperwork.

He didn’t question me.

He had no idea where I had actually been.

And for now, that was exactly how I wanted it.