Collateral for the devil

Chapter 8- the woman who died

Elena stared at the photograph.

She couldn't breathe.

The image was old, slightly faded around the edges, but there was no mistaking the woman standing beside Adrian.

Isabella.

She was beautiful.

Dark hair. Bright eyes. A smile Elena had never seen on Adrian's face.

Not the cold, controlled expression he wore when speaking to his men.

Not the dangerous stare that made grown men lower their eyes.

This Adrian looked young.

Happy.

Almost human.

Elena slowly turned the photograph over again.

SHE'S NOT REALLY DEAD.

Four words.

Four words that had just turned Adrian Vale's entire past into a lie.

"Who sent this?"

Her voice came out quieter than she intended.

Adrian didn't answer.

He was staring at the photograph as though it had reached through the years and grabbed him by the throat.

"Adrian."

His jaw tightened.

"Marco."

The man appeared almost instantly.

"Boss."

"Lock the house down."

Marco's expression changed.

"Already?"

"Nobody leaves."

Marco nodded.

"And nobody comes in."

"Understood."

He disappeared.

Elena looked at Adrian.

"You believe it."

His eyes met hers.

"I believe someone wants me to believe it."

"That's not what I asked."

Silence.

Then Adrian stepped closer.

"I don't know what to believe."

That frightened her more than anything else.

Because Adrian always knew.

He always had an answer.

He always seemed ten steps ahead of everyone in the room.

But now?

He looked lost.

Elena lowered the photograph.

"What really happened to her?"

"I told you."

"You told me what you thought happened."

His expression hardened.

"I watched them bury her."

Elena's stomach twisted.

"Then how could she be alive?"

"I don't know."

"You said you identified the body."

"I identified the clothes."

She froze.

"What?"

Adrian looked away.

"They had burned most of the body."

Elena's eyes widened.

"You never saw her face?"

"No."

The room seemed to shrink around them.

"Then you never knew for certain."

Adrian's silence was answer enough.

Elena stared at him.

For the first time since meeting him, she saw something beyond anger in his eyes.

Fear.

Real fear.

The kind that didn't belong to a man like Adrian Vale.

"What if she's alive?"

His gaze snapped back to hers.

"Don't."

"Why?"

"Because if she is alive, then whoever took her has been watching me for years."

Elena swallowed.

"And now they're watching me."

Adrian didn't answer.

He didn't have to.

A sudden noise echoed from upstairs.

A door.

Both of them turned.

Adrian's hand immediately moved toward the weapon beneath his jacket.

"Stay here."

"No."

"Elena."

"I'm not staying alone."

Something flickered across his face.

Not irritation.

Concern.

He walked toward her.

"Then stay behind me."

They moved through the hallway.

Every light seemed too bright.

Every shadow looked alive.

Elena could hear her own heartbeat.

Adrian moved silently, his entire body alert.

They reached the staircase.

Nothing.

Then—

A soft sound came from above.

Like footsteps.

Elena's fingers caught Adrian's sleeve.

He looked down at her hand.

For one second, neither moved.

Her fingers were still curled around him.

She released him quickly.

"I didn't mean—"

"I know."

His voice was low.

Too low.

He turned back toward the stairs.

They climbed.

At the end of the corridor, Elena's bedroom door was open.

She knew she had locked it.

Adrian knew it too.

His expression turned murderous.

"Stay behind me."

This time, Elena listened.

He pushed the door open.

Nothing.

Her room looked untouched.

Then Adrian noticed something on the bed.

A small black box.

He crossed the room and picked it up.

Elena watched his face change.

"What is it?"

He didn't answer.

He opened it.

Inside was a necklace.

A delicate silver necklace with a small emerald pendant.

Adrian stopped breathing.

Elena had never seen him react like that.

His fingers trembled.

Barely.

But they did.

"That's hers," he whispered.

"Isabella's?"

He nodded.

Elena stepped closer.

"How do you know?"

"I gave it to her."

Before either of them could say anything else, Adrian's phone rang.

He answered.

"Speak."

Marco's voice came through.

"Boss, we found something."

"What?"

"One of the security cameras was disabled for exactly three minutes."

Adrian's eyes narrowed.

"Where?"

"Your private wing."

Elena felt cold.

"Who disabled it?"

"We're checking."

Adrian's gaze moved toward the necklace.

"Find out."

He ended the call.

Elena stared at him.

"Someone got into your private wing."

"Yes."

"How?"

"I don't know."

"And they left Isabella's necklace in my room."

His eyes met hers.

"Which means they wanted you to find it."

Elena's pulse quickened.

"Why me?"

Adrian stepped closer.

"Because you're the only person in this house who can make me lose control."

Her breath caught.

The words hung between them.

Neither moved.

Adrian's gaze dropped briefly to her lips.

Elena noticed.

And hated that she noticed.

She hated the way her heartbeat changed whenever he stood this close.

She hated that some dangerous part of her wanted to know what would happen if she didn't step away.

But she still hated him.

She hated what he represented.

The world he'd dragged her into.

The control.

The secrets.

The fear.

So she stepped back.

"Don't say things like that."

Adrian's expression softened.

"Why?"

"Because I don't know when you're telling the truth."

He looked at her for a long moment.

"Neither do I anymore."

That answer hurt.

More than she expected.

Then his phone rang again.

Adrian answered.

"Yes?"

Marco's voice sounded different this time.

Urgent.

"Boss, we found the person who disabled the camera."

Adrian's entire body went still.

"Who?"

A pause.

Then—

"One of the guards."

Adrian's eyes became ice.

"Bring him to me."

"He's already gone."

Silence.

"What?"

"He disappeared from the east gate."

Adrian's jaw clenched.

"Find him."

"We're trying."

Adrian ended the call.

Elena looked at him.

"What does this mean?"

"It means someone inside my organization is helping whoever is behind this."

"And you still think Isabella might be alive?"

Adrian looked at the necklace.

"I don't know."

Then something crashed downstairs.

Elena jumped.

Adrian immediately pulled her behind him.

Another crash.

Then shouting.

Gunfire erupted.

Elena's blood ran cold.

Adrian drew his weapon.

"Stay here."

"Adrian—"

He looked back at her.

"If I tell you to run, you run."

"What about you?"

His expression softened for the briefest second.

"I'll find you."

Then he disappeared down the corridor.

Elena stood frozen.

Gunshots echoed through the mansion.

One.

Two.

Three.

Men shouted.

Something shattered.

She wanted to run.

Every instinct screamed at her to run.

But then she remembered Adrian's words.

I'll find you.

She didn't know why she trusted them.

She only knew that she did.

Suddenly, her bedroom light went out.

Elena gasped.

Darkness swallowed the room.

Her phone vibrated.

Unknown number.

A message appeared.

COME TO THE GREENHOUSE. ALONE.

Another message followed.

IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHETHER ISABELLA IS ALIVE.

Elena stared at the screen.

Her hands shook.

She knew it was a trap.

She knew Adrian would tell her not to go.

She knew she should wait.

But there was something she needed to know.

She slipped her phone into her pocket.

And left the room.

---

The greenhouse stood at the far end of the property.

Abandoned.

Dark.

Elena pushed open the door.

"Hello?"

Nothing.

The air smelled of rain and roses.

Then a woman's voice came from behind her.

"You shouldn't have come."

Elena spun around.

A woman stood in the shadows.

Dark hair.

Pale face.

Green eyes.

Elena's heart stopped.

The woman stepped forward.

And Elena recognized her immediately.

The photograph.

The necklace.

The ghost.

Isabella.

She was alive.

"You're Isabella."

The woman smiled sadly.

"Yes."

Elena couldn't speak.

Isabella looked past her toward the mansion.

"Does Adrian still look at you the way he used to look at me?"

Elena's stomach dropped.

"What?"

Isabella's smile disappeared.

"Then you need to leave him."

"Why?"

"Because Adrian Vale doesn't know the truth about what happened to me."

Elena stepped closer.

"What truth?"

Isabella looked terrified.

"I wasn't kidnapped by his enemies."

Elena's breath caught.

"Then who took you?"

Before Isabella could answer, headlights swept across the greenhouse windows.

Her expression changed instantly.

"They found me."

"Who?"

Isabella grabbed Elena's wrist.

"Whatever Adrian tells you—"

A gunshot cracked through the glass.

Isabella shoved Elena to the ground.

The greenhouse exploded into chaos.

Glass rained down.

Elena screamed.

Isabella pulled her behind a stone planter.

"Stay down!"

More gunshots.

Then—

"ELENA!"

Adrian.

His voice.

Furious.

Terrified.

He appeared through the broken doorway with Marco and several armed men behind him.

His eyes found Elena.

Relief flashed across his face.

Then he saw Isabella.

Everything stopped.

Adrian stared at the woman standing ten feet away.

His weapon lowered slightly.

His lips parted.

"Isabella?"

She looked at him.

Tears filled her eyes.

"Hello, Adrian."

He took one step forward.

Then another.

He looked like a man seeing a ghost.

"You died."

"I know."

"You were dead."

"I know."

His voice broke.

"Who did this to you?"

Isabella looked toward Elena.

Then back at Adrian.

"You did."

Adrian froze.

Elena felt the entire world go silent.

"What?"

Isabella's voice trembled.

"You were supposed to save me."

Adrian's face drained of color.

"I tried."

"No."

She shook her head.

"You tried to save the woman you thought I was."

Adrian stared at her.

"Then who were you?"

Isabella reached into her coat.

Adrian immediately raised his weapon.

"Don't."

She slowly pulled out an old photograph.

She held it toward him.

"This is the woman you buried."

Adrian took the photograph.

His face changed.

Elena looked over his shoulder.

The woman in the picture was not Isabella.

It was someone else.

Someone who looked almost exactly like her.

A twin.

Adrian's eyes widened.

And Isabella whispered—

"Because I was never the woman they buried."

A deafening silence followed.

Then the mansion alarm began screaming.

Marco touched his earpiece.

"Boss."

Adrian looked at him.

"What?"

Marco's face was grim.

"We have a problem."

"What?"

Marco swallowed.

"The gates have been breached."

Adrian turned toward the mansion.

"How many?"

"Too many."

Isabella grabbed Elena's arm.

"We have to go."

Adrian's gaze snapped toward them.

"No."

Isabella looked at him.

"They're not coming for me."

Her eyes moved to Elena.

"They're coming for her."

Elena's blood turned cold.

Adrian stepped between them.

"Nobody touches her."

From somewhere beyond the greenhouse came a voice amplified through the darkness.

"Adrian Vale."

He went still.

The voice laughed.

"You spent years searching for the wrong woman."

Another pause.

"And now you've finally found the right one."

Elena looked at Adrian.

His face was no longer merely angry.

It was murderous.

The voice continued.

"Let's see how long you can keep both of them alive."

The lights across the estate went out.

Darkness swallowed everything.

And somewhere in the distance—

A woman screamed.