It's getting serious
1882 Words
Elara stood before the mirror, buttoning her white shirt and wear her brown long coat which is make look elegant on her.
Behind her reflection, Adrian’s ghostly figure drifted lazily near the window. “You know,” he said, “you look too serious for someone who talks to herself.”
Elara rolled her eyes. “I’m not talking to myself. I’m talking to a hallucination wearing yesterday’s clothes.”
He grinned. “Flattering. But maybe try smiling people might actually like you at work.”
“People already like me.”
“You screamed at a security guard.”
“Because a dead man was in my apartment!” she snapped, adjusting her earrings.
Adrian chuckled softly. “You’re welcome for the drama.”
She exhaled, choosing to ignore him. “Look, just stay quiet today, okay? I need to check your file. No interruptions.”
“Define interruptions.”
“If you speak, breathe, float, or exist, that counts.”
Adrian gave her a mock salute. “Got it, Commander.”
By the time she reached the office, she’d practiced a dozen ways to look normal. A few colleagues waved as she passed her bright smile hiding the chaos in her head.
“Morning, Elara!” Kai’s familiar voice called. He walked beside her, handsome as ever, his tie slightly loose, giving him that effortless charm. “You look… focused. Big case?”
Elara forced a small laugh. “Something like that.”
His smile widened. “Well, if you ever need help, I’m your guy.”
Oh great, she thought, I already have one ghost haunting me. I don’t need another.
“Thanks, Kai,” she said with a polite nod before slipping into the records room.
The lights flickered slightly as the door closed behind her. Inside, the scent of old paper and coffee filled the air. Cabinets stretched wall to wall organized chaos. She glanced over her shoulder before whispering, “Okay, Adrian. Which file were you in?” she talking to herself
Adrian appeared beside her, . “You sound like a thief in your own workplace.”
“I am a thief in my own workplace,” she hissed. “Now, hush.”
She scanned through the files until she found it: REN, ADRIAN DECEASED (SUICIDE CASE). Her fingers hesitated before pulling it out.
Inside, crisp papers, reports, and photographs stared back at her too neat, too perfect.
"wait- where's all pictures? i cleared saw it in kai but why it's not here?" she confused
She flipped through until she found the address of his family’s last known home.
“Here,” she whispered. “Got it.”
Before she could close the folder, the door creaked open.
“Elara?”
Her heart jumped. She quickly hid the file behind her back.
It was Kai. He leaned against the doorframe, his usual smile softer now. “What are you doing here alone?”
Elara forced a laugh, her voice almost too high. “Oh, just organizing some case notes. Getting used to the system, you know.”
Kai stepped closer, eyes narrowing slightly. “That’s the suicide case, isn’t it? The actor.”
Her stomach tightened. “ I mean when I was organising this file accidentally fell so I about to place it on inside and u came , you know about it? I mean this case? I saw a lot of his fan are protesting outside”
He nodded, his tone dropping. “Yeah. Everyone does. The higher ups closed it too quickly. Some people think it wasn’t suicide at all.”
Her eyes widened slightly, though she tried to mask it. “Really?”
“Yeah.” His gaze lingered on her, searching. “Be careful, Elara. There’s something off about that case. You don’t want to get involved in things you can’t control.”
Before she could reply, Adrian appeared just behind Kai, tilting his head curiously. “Who’s this? Your office crush?”
Elara’s jaw clenched as she muttered under her breath, “Not now.”
Kai blinked. “What?”
“Nothing!” she said quickly, forcing a smile. “Just… talking to myself again.”
Kai chuckled, shaking his head. “You’re a strange one, Elara.”
When he left, Elara exhaled, shoulders finally relaxing. She turned toward Adrian, who was grinning from ear to ear.
“Office crush, huh?”
“Don’t you have a murder to solve?” she shot back.
He smirked. “Touché.”
But as Elara took photo of address , and left the workplace
The GPS led Elara to a quiet, upscale neighborhood the kind where the air smelled of polished cars and jasmine hedges. Elegant iron gates lined the street, each one opening to houses that looked like they belonged in magazines.
Adrian floated beside her as they approached one of the grandest homes wide marble steps, tall glass doors, and a fountain glimmering in the sunlight.
He frowned, confusion crossing his face.
“Why are we here?”
“This is your parents’ address,” Elara said, glancing at her phone. “At least, that’s what the records say.”
Adrian blinked, looking around in disbelief. “You’re kidding. My parents live here?”
“Yes.” She gave him a quick look. “Don’t tell me you forgot that part too?”
“I told you,” he muttered, scratching the back of his neck. “Everything’s foggy except… the fame stuff. Cameras, red carpets, fans screaming my name but this?” He pointed at the mansion. “This looks like a movie set , i know I'm rich but I didn't know that I'm millionaire woahhh i changed everything in 2 years?”
Elara couldn’t help a small smile. “Then consider this your behind-the-scenes tour.”
Before he could reply, she pressed the doorbell. A chime echoed through the marble hallways inside.
A few moments later, the door opened to reveal a maid neatly dressed, her expression polite but tired. “Yes, miss?”
“I’m Elara,” she said, holding up her ID. “Lawyer. I’m here to speak with Mr. and Mrs. Hale… about their son, Adrian.”
At the mention of his name, the maid’s eyes softened. She nodded quickly. “Please come in.”
Elara stepped inside. The living room was enormous filled with portraits, expensive furniture, and the faint scent of lilies. A grand piano sat by the window, covered in framed photos of Adrian.
Adrian followed silently, staring at everything like a stranger walking through someone else’s life.
Then his gaze caught on a photo him, smiling brightly with his parents on a beach. His mother’s arm around him, his father laughing beside them. He stared at it for a long moment.
“...They look so happy,” he whispered.
When his parents entered the room, Elara stood. His mother looked graceful but hollow-eyed, her father dignified yet weary.
“Miss…?” the mother asked gently.
“Elara,” she said, introducing herself again. “I was a friend of Adrian’s. I wanted to speak with you about what happened.”
The father stiffened. “We’ve already told the police everything.”
“I understand. But…” she hesitated. “Do you believe it was suicide?”
The question broke the calm like a stone through glass. His mother’s face crumpled; her voice shook.
“No,” she whispered. “He wasn’t like that. Adrian… my son "
Please sit down, Miss Elara,” his mother said softly.
“thank u” Elara replied, forcing a small smile. “I’m a lawyer working in the crime department. I came because… there are still questions left unanswered about his death.”
At her words, Adrian’s father’s eyes darkened. “The police said it was suicide. Case closed.”
“Yes, sir,” Elara said carefully, “but you don’t seem convinced.”
Silence filled the air for a moment. Then his mother spoke, her voice trembling. “Our son… wasn’t the type to give up. Even when things were hard, he’d say”
Adrian, listening beside her, mouthed the words with her as if remembering them through her voice.
‘Once I settle everything that’s bothering me, I’ll live happily. I’ll make you both proud.’
Elara’s throat tightened. “He said that to you?”
“Yes,” his mother whispered, clutching a tissue. “It was only a few days before he died.”
His father’s voice cracked slightly as he spoke. “He had plans, Miss Elara. He was supposed to meet his producer the next week. He was planning a new album, not… this.”
Elara frowned. “Did he ever mention being depressed? Or under pressure?”
“Every celebrity feels pressure,” the father replied, “but he managed it. He took breaks, traveled, came home when things got tough. Suicide?” He shook his head firmly. “Never.”
Adrian stood near the fireplace, guilt and confusion battling on his face.
Elara looked between them the mother’s tears, the father’s anger, the empty room filled with too many memories and something inside her shifted.
“You’re saying,” she began slowly, “he didn’t seem hopeless. He didn’t talk about ending things. He had plans for the future?”
Both parents nodded immediately.
“He even promised,” his mother said, voice breaking, “that once he solved everything that was bothering him, he’d come home for a long break. He said he wanted to cook for us again.”
Elara’s brows furrowed. Solved everything that was bothering him?
“What was bothering him?” she asked gently.
The father hesitated. “Something about his company. He didn’t explain much, but he said someone was betraying him… someone close.”
Elara leaned back slowly, her heartbeat quickening.
So it wasn’t just sadness. There was something else something unfinished, something hidden.
As she rose to leave, she glanced back at the mourning couple. “Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Hale. I’ll make sure what really happened to your son. even if it's suicide or something beyond"
When she reached the door, the maid who had led her earlier quietly stepped forward. Her eyes darted around before she whispered, “Miss… there’s something you should know.”
Elara paused. “What is it?”
The maid hesitated, then spoke in a low, nervous tone. “Two weeks before he died… I found a bottle of antidepressants in his drawer. It was half empty. He told me not to mention it to anyone, especially his parents.”
Elara’s eyes widened slightly. “Are you sure?”
The maid nodded quickly. “He said it was just to help him sleep, but… his hands were shaking every morning.”
Elara stood frozen for a moment, caught between reason and instinct.
Outside, the wind whispered through the garden, carrying the faint echo of a familiar voice his voice.
“See?” Adrian muttered behind her. “Maybe I was broken after all.”
Elara turned to face him, her voice low, conflicted. “maybe you hide everything to your parents, what made u suicide?:why it's getting complicated..”
For the first time since his death, neither of them knew what to believe.
- Writer
