His Dangerous Obsession

Chapter 8: The Man Who Should Be Dead

Elena couldn't breathe.

The man standing in the doorway looked like Adrian.

Not similar.

Not vaguely familiar.

Exactly like him.

Same dark hair.

Same sharp jaw.

Same cold eyes.

But there was something different in his expression.

Adrian's eyes always carried something beneath the surface—anger, calculation, restraint.

This man's eyes were empty.

Older.

Colder.

Isabel tightened her grip around Elena's wrist.

"Don't speak to him."

The man smiled.

"Still afraid of me, Isabel?"

Elena's blood ran cold.

She knew that voice.

Not personally.

From the memories that had begun breaking through.

Her father's voice.

Her mother's screams.

A red door.

And this man standing behind it.

"You..." Elena whispered.

The man stepped into the room.

"My name is Victor Blackwood."

Isabel moved in front of Elena.

"You should be dead."

Victor laughed softly.

"That's what everyone believed."

"Adrian thinks you're dead."

"Adrian believes whatever people have told him."

His gaze shifted to Elena.

"Unfortunately, his father wasn't very good at telling the truth."

Elena stared at him.

"You killed my father."

Victor's expression changed.

For the first time, the amusement disappeared.

"Your father betrayed me."

"He tried to stop you."

"He tried to destroy everything we'd built."

"Human trafficking?"

Victor's eyes narrowed.

"You've been talking to your mother."

"She told me enough."

"No."

He stepped closer.

"She told you enough to make you angry. She hasn't told you enough to make you understand."

Elena's heart pounded.

"Then explain."

Isabel grabbed her arm.

"Elena, don't."

Victor looked at Isabel.

"You've spent sixteen years hiding the truth from her."

"Because she was a child."

"And now?"

"Now she's still my daughter."

Victor smiled.

"Exactly."

He looked at Elena again.

"Which means she deserves to know what her father did."

"My father didn't deserve to die."

"No."

Victor's voice became quiet.

"He didn't."

Elena froze.

"Then you admit it?"

"I didn't kill him."

Silence.

Isabel stared at him.

"You're lying."

Victor looked at her.

"Ask Elena."

Elena frowned.

"What?"

"Ask her what she remembers."

She didn't answer.

"Ask her about the red door."

The words struck something inside her.

Pain exploded behind her eyes.

A hallway.

Red paint.

Her father kneeling in front of her.

A teenage boy standing behind him.

Adrian.

Someone shouting.

A gun.

Then her father's voice.

Run, Elena.

She stumbled.

Her mother caught her.

"Elena!"

"I remember..."

Victor smiled.

"Good."

Elena looked at him.

"What happened?"

"You saw everything."

"Then tell me."

Victor's eyes moved toward Isabel.

"Your mother wants you to believe I murdered your father."

"Did you?"

"No."

"Then who did?"

Victor didn't answer.

Elena looked at Isabel.

Her mother was crying.

"Mom?"

Isabel shook her head.

"Don't."

"Who killed him?"

Her mother whispered:

"I did."

The room went silent.

Elena stared at her.

"No."

"I didn't mean to."

"You said—"

"I was trying to save you."

Victor closed his eyes.

"That's what she tells herself."

Isabel turned toward him.

"You weren't there."

"I was."

"You don't know what happened."

"I know exactly what happened."

Elena's voice trembled.

"Tell me."

Victor looked at her.

"Your father was going to hand you over to the Black Rose."

Elena shook her head.

"No."

"He believed they would spare you if he gave them what they wanted."

"My father would never do that."

"He changed his mind."

Victor's expression hardened.

"At the last moment, he decided to protect you."

Elena stared at him.

"Then what happened?"

"Your mother arrived."

Isabel looked away.

"She confronted him."

"And?"

Victor's voice became quieter.

"They fought."

Elena's breath caught.

"My mother shot him."

Isabel covered her face.

"I was trying to save you."

Elena stepped backward.

"Where was Adrian?"

Victor looked at her.

"Watching."

Her heart stopped.

"From where?"

"Behind the red door."

The memory returned.

Adrian.

Thirteen years old.

Terrified.

Watching Elena's father collapse.

Watching Isabel holding a gun.

And Elena standing beside the door.

Crying.

Then Adrian had grabbed her hand.

He had pulled her away.

And someone had hit him.

The memory vanished.

Elena gasped.

"Adrian saved me."

Victor nodded.

"Yes."

"But you said he made my father a promise."

"He did."

"What promise?"

Victor looked directly into her eyes.

"That he would protect you."

Elena's chest tightened.

"From the Black Rose?"

"From everyone."

A noise came from the hallway.

Everyone turned.

Footsteps.

Victor raised his weapon.

Isabel stepped backward.

Then the door burst open.

Adrian stood there.

Blood covered his shirt.

His gun was raised.

His eyes locked onto Victor.

For several seconds, neither moved.

"Father."

Victor smiled.

"My son."

Elena looked between them.

Adrian's face was unreadable.

"I watched you die."

Victor laughed.

"You watched a man who looked like me die."

Adrian's eyes narrowed.

"The body was yours."

"No."

Victor slowly lowered his weapon.

"It was your uncle."

Adrian froze.

"What?"

"The man you buried wasn't me."

Elena stared.

Victor continued.

"Your father died sixteen years ago."

Adrian's expression changed.

"Then who are you?"

Victor smiled.

"The man who raised you was not your biological father."

Adrian went completely still.

Elena looked at him.

"What is he saying?"

Victor looked at Elena.

"Your mother knows."

Isabel closed her eyes.

Adrian turned toward her.

"Is that true?"

Isabel couldn't answer.

"Mother."

Her lips trembled.

"Adrian..."

"Tell me."

Victor stepped closer.

"She can't."

Adrian's eyes darkened.

"Why?"

"Because your real father was the man Elena's father was trying to expose."

Adrian stared at him.

Victor pointed toward Elena.

"And your mother was the last person who knew where he was."

Elena's confusion deepened.

"Where who was?"

Victor smiled.

"Your real father."

Adrian's expression became cold.

"Stop."

Victor ignored him.

"He isn't dead."

Elena's heart pounded.

"Who is he?"

Victor looked at her.

Then at Adrian.

And finally said:

"The founder of the Black Rose."

Silence.

Adrian's hand tightened around his gun.

Victor's final words came softly.

"And Elena..."

He looked directly at her.

"He's been looking for you since the night you were born."

A sudden gunshot shattered the room.

Victor staggered.

Adrian turned toward the window.

A sniper.

"DOWN!"

He grabbed Elena and pulled her to the floor.

Glass exploded across the room.

Isabel screamed.

Victor collapsed against the wall.

Adrian crawled toward Elena.

"Are you hurt?"

"No."

He looked at her face.

Then pulled her against him.

For one brief moment, neither spoke.

Elena could feel his heartbeat.

Fast.

Unsteady.

Human.

She whispered:

"Adrian."

"Yes?"

"Did you know?"

He didn't answer.

"Did you know who my real father was?"

Adrian's silence was enough.

Elena pulled away.

"You knew."

His eyes met hers.

"Yes."

Her chest tightened.

"How long?"

"Since before I hired you."

She stared at him.

"Then everything was a lie."

"No."

"You knew my family."

"Yes."

"You knew my mother was alive."

"Yes."

"You knew what happened to my father."

"Yes."

"And you still brought me here."

Adrian's voice dropped.

"Because I couldn't protect you from a distance anymore."

"Why?"

He stared at her.

"Because I promised your father."

Elena's eyes filled with tears.

"And what exactly did you promise him?"

Adrian stepped closer.

His voice was barely above a whisper.

"That no matter what happened..."

He looked into her eyes.

"...I would never let you face it alone."

Outside, another gunshot rang through the night.

And somewhere far beyond the estate, a phone began to ring.

The caller's name appeared on the screen.

Daniel Vale.

Elena's dead father.