chapter three
871 Words
The sunlight that flooded the master suite the next morning was bright. Liana was already awake when a young maid named Elena entered, pushing in a cart laden with silver domes and fresh coffee.
Elena stopped when she saw Liana fully dressed in a minimalist charcoal silk dress, her hair pulled into a knot so tight it looked painful. There was no trace of the wedding chaos or the discarded gown.
“Good morning, Madam,” Elena stammered, her eyes darting around for any sign of a honeymoon glow. Finding only a chillingly tidy room, she cleared her throat. “Shall I serve breakfast here, or would you prefer the morning room with Mr. Harrington?”
Liana didn't answer. She reached into her pocket, pulled out a small, leather-bound notepad, and scribbled a few words. She tore the page and handed it to the girl.
[ The morning room. Please take the coffee down. I will follow.]
Elena stared at the paper as if it were a coded message from a spy. “Yes, Madam. Of course.”
As the maid hurried out, Liana heard the muffled whispers starting in the hallway. “She didn't say a word. Just handed me a slip of paper like a doctor’s note.” “The ‘Mute Bride’... I told you there was something wrong with that family.”
Liana’s expression didn't flicker. She picked up her pen, checked the ink, and followed the scent of coffee downstairs.
Adrian was already at the head of the long mahogany table, hidden behind the financial section of the morning paper. He didn't look up when Liana entered. He had spent the dawn hours convincing himself that her silence was a gimmick, a desperate plea for attention from a child who had lived in her sister’s shadow.
Liana pulled out her chair with a soft scrape. She poured her own tea, her movements fluid and devoid of the nervous clinking of silverware he expected.
Ten minutes passed in a vacuum of sound.
“Milk?” Adrian asked suddenly, his voice raspy from lack of sleep. He held the small silver pitcher out without looking at her.
Liana shook her head.
Adrian lowered the paper, his eyes narrow. “A simple ‘no’ would suffice, Liana. This isn’t a silent retreat. It’s a household.”
Liana didn't flinch. She set her teacup down, opened her notepad, and wrote:
[The tea is excellent. Thank you.]
She slid the pad across the table. Adrian looked at the paper, then back at her. His jaw tightened. He ignored the note, shoved his chair back, and stood up.
“I’ll be at the office until late. Don’t wait up,” he snapped.
Liana simply nodded once, a polite, distant acknowledgement and went back to her tea.
______
The atmosphere at Harrington holdings was tense. Marcus, Adrian’s long-time head of security and personal fixer, stood in the center of the executive office with a file folder in his hand. He had been working through the night to track Selena’s private jet coordinates.
Adrian walked in, tossing his briefcase onto the desk. He looked like he hadn't slept in forty-eight hours.
“Sir,” Marcus began, opening the file. “We’ve tracked a credit card hit in Zurich that matches Selena’s alias. I have a team moving toward the hotel now. We should have her back within...”
“Stop,” Adrian interrupted, holding up a hand.
Marcus blinked. “Sir? You want me to pull the team back?”
Adrian sat in his leather chair, staring at the window. The image of Liana at the wedding, the way she hadn't flinched when he threatened her, the way she looked at him with those void-like eyes, was playing on a loop in his mind.
“Leave Selena,” Adrian said quietly.
“I’m sorry?”
“She ran. Let her stay hidden for now,” Adrian’s voice dropped into a dangerous register. “I want you to pivot. Everything you have, every resource, every contact. I want a full-spectrum background check on Liana.”
Marcus paused, his pen hovering over his legal pad. “The new Mrs. Harrington? Her file was part of the initial family vetting, sir. It was... unremarkable.”
“Then you missed something,” Adrian snapped, leaning forward. “Look deeper. Medical records, school history, any incidents at the family estate. I want to know exactly when she stopped talking, and more importantly, I want to know if she’s truly unable to speak or if she’s just waiting for the right moment to burn the house down.”
Adrian looked at the empty space on his desk where Liana's note should have been.
“Find out why her mother looked like she was burying a child yesterday. And Marcus?”
“Yes, sir?”
“Check the sister’s room at the family estate. See if there’s any correspondence between the two of them. I want to know what Selena was actually afraid of.”
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