Chapter 7 — Working With My Ex-Husband
2177 Words
The gunshot echoed through the mansion.
Elena's heart slammed against her ribs.
For several seconds, she couldn't move.
Mia grabbed her arm.
“Stay behind me.”
Another alarm sounded from somewhere downstairs.
Then—
“ELENA!”
Adrian's voice.
She immediately recognized the fear in it.
Not anger.
Not authority.
Fear.
“Adrian!”
She rushed toward the hallway.
Mia followed.
“Wait!”
But Elena was already running.
The mansion was almost completely dark. Emergency lights flickered along the corridor, casting long shadows across the walls.
At the end of the hallway, Adrian appeared.
His shirt was slightly torn.
There was blood on his sleeve.
Elena froze.
“You're hurt.”
“It's not mine.”
He reached her in seconds.
“Are you okay?”
She nodded.
“I'm fine.”
Adrian looked behind her.
“Where's Mia?”
“I'm here.”
Mia emerged from the bedroom.
Adrian exhaled.
“Good.”
Elena looked at his injured sleeve.
“What happened?”
“Someone fired through the library window.”
“Who?”
“We don't know.”
“Did you see them?”
“No.”
Adrian took her hand.
“We're leaving.”
Elena pulled away.
“No.”
He stared at her.
“I need answers.”
“Not tonight.”
“Especially tonight.”
“Elena—”
“You told me my father was connected to your family.”
Adrian went silent.
“You said there was an agreement.”
“Yes.”
“And you promised him something.”
His jaw tightened.
“Yes.”
“What?”
Adrian looked at her.
“I promised him I'd protect you.”
Elena's breath caught.
“My father knew you?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Before we met.”
She stared at him.
“How much did you know about my family before you married me?”
Adrian didn't answer immediately.
Too long.
Too much silence.
Elena shook her head.
“You knew everything.”
“I knew some things.”
“And you never told me.”
“I was trying to keep you out of it.”
“I'm already in it!”
Her voice echoed through the hallway.
Adrian looked toward the security team approaching from downstairs.
“Not here.”
“Then where?”
He looked at her.
“Tomorrow.”
“No.”
She stepped closer.
“I'm done waiting.”
Adrian's eyes softened.
“Then come with me.”
“Where?”
“To Blackwood Corporation.”
Elena frowned.
“Now?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because there's something you need to see.”
BLACKWOOD CORPORATION
The city was still awake when they arrived.
The massive Blackwood Corporation tower stood against the night sky, its glass walls reflecting hundreds of lights.
Elena had been inside the building many times during her marriage.
But tonight, everything felt different.
She wasn't Adrian's wife anymore.
She wasn't even his employee.
She was something neither of them could define.
Adrian walked beside her.
Mia followed several steps behind.
Security guards opened the private entrance.
As they entered the elevator, Elena noticed Adrian's reflection in the mirrored wall.
He looked exhausted.
“Does everyone know?” she asked.
“Know what?”
“That I'm here.”
“No.”
“Then why are we here?”
“Because there's a file in my private office.”
“What file?”
“The Blackwood Agreement.”
The elevator doors opened.
Adrian led them through the executive floor.
His office was exactly as Elena remembered.
Dark wood.
Floor-to-ceiling windows.
Minimal furniture.
Cold.
Except for one thing.
A photograph.
Their wedding photograph.
Elena stopped.
She stared at it.
“You still keep it here.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Adrian looked at the picture.
“Because I never stopped being proud that you were my wife.”
Her throat tightened.
“Ex-wife.”
His eyes met hers.
“Only on paper.”
Elena looked away.
“Show me the file.”
Adrian walked toward a locked cabinet.
He entered a code.
The drawer opened.
Inside was a thick black folder.
He placed it on the desk.
Elena stared at it.
“That's it?”
“Yes.”
She opened the folder.
The first pages contained financial agreements, signatures, company names, and dates.
Then she saw a familiar name.
Richard Marlowe.
Her father.
Her hands began shaking.
“My father signed this.”
“Yes.”
“What was it?”
“A business alliance.”
“That doesn't explain anything.”
Adrian pointed to another section.
“Read the final page.”
Elena turned it over.
Her eyes widened.
There was a handwritten clause.
She read it slowly.
If anything happens to Richard Marlowe, Adrian Blackwood assumes responsibility for the protection of his daughter, Elena Marlowe.
Elena stopped breathing.
She looked up.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“You knew my father wanted you to protect me.”
“Yes.”
“And that's why you married me?”
Adrian immediately shook his head.
“No.”
“Then why?”
“Because I loved you.”
She stared at him.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I married you because I loved you. I protected you because I promised your father.”
Elena's eyes filled with tears.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because after your father's death, the agreement became dangerous.”
“How?”
“People wanted the documents.”
“Why?”
Adrian closed the folder.
“Because this agreement wasn't only about money.”
Elena frowned.
“What else?”
“The Blackwood family had another business operation.”
“What kind?”
Adrian hesitated.
“One that your father discovered.”
A chill ran down her spine.
“What did he discover?”
Before Adrian could answer, the office door opened.
Victor entered.
Elena immediately stiffened.
“You.”
Victor glanced at the folder.
“So you've finally shown her.”
Adrian's expression became murderous.
“How did you get past security?”
Victor smiled.
“I have access.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“You no longer have authorization.”
Victor ignored him.
“Elena, your father wasn't killed because of a business dispute.”
She looked at him.
“Then why?”
“Because he found out the truth.”
Adrian grabbed Victor by the collar.
“Enough.”
Victor didn't fight back.
He simply looked at Elena.
“Ask Adrian what happened the night your father died.”
Elena's face went pale.
She turned toward Adrian.
“What happened?”
Adrian released Victor.
“Leave.”
Victor laughed.
“You can't hide it forever.”
He walked toward the door.
Then stopped.
“Oh, and Elena?”
She looked at him.
“Your father left something for you.”
“What?”
Victor smiled.
“A message.”
Then he left.
Elena turned to Adrian.
“What message?”
Adrian stared at the closed door.
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
“No.”
“You know something.”
“I know your father was afraid before he died.”
“How?”
“He called me.”
“When?”
“The night he died.”
Elena's heart stopped.
“You spoke to my father the night he died?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
Adrian's face hardened with painful memory.
“He told me someone was coming for him.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“And then?”
“He told me to find you.”
Elena covered her mouth.
“What?”
“He said, ‘Protect my daughter. Don't let them find her.’”
Tears rolled down her cheeks.
“And you did?”
“I tried.”
“By divorcing me?”
Adrian looked at her.
“Yes.”
She laughed through her tears.
“That makes no sense.”
“It does when you know what happened next.”
“What?”
Adrian walked toward the window.
“Three years ago, I discovered that the people who killed your father had returned.”
Elena's expression changed.
“And they wanted me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you were the last person connected to the agreement.”
She stared at him.
“What agreement?”
Adrian turned.
“The one your father made with my father.”
Elena looked down at the folder.
“What did my father promise?”
Adrian's phone suddenly rang.
He answered.
“What?”
His expression changed.
Elena watched him closely.
“What happened?”
Adrian didn't respond.
He ended the call.
Then looked at her.
“Mia needs to leave.”
“Why?”
“There was an attack at your apartment.”
Elena's heart dropped.
“What?”
“They found something.”
“What?”
“A photograph.”
“Of me?”
“No.”
Adrian's voice became quiet.
“Of you and your father.”
Elena froze.
“Where?”
“Taken the night he died.”
The drive back was silent.
Elena stared through the window.
Her entire childhood suddenly felt like a carefully constructed lie.
Her father's death.
Her marriage.
Her divorce.
Adrian.
Everything was connected.
When they arrived at the mansion, Mia was waiting.
She held a small evidence bag.
Inside was an old photograph.
Elena took one look at it.
Her knees nearly gave out.
It showed her father standing beside a black car.
And standing beside him—
was Adrian's father.
But there was another person in the photograph.
Someone whose face had been scratched out.
Elena whispered,
“Who is that?”
Adrian stared at the photograph.
“I don't know.”
Mia pointed toward the back.
“There was writing.”
Elena turned it over.
Three words were written in black ink.
TRUST NO ONE.
Then she saw something else.
A date.
The date was exactly one week before her wedding to Adrian.
Elena slowly looked at Adrian.
“You knew my father before our wedding.”
“Yes.”
“You knew about the agreement.”
“Yes.”
“You knew someone wanted me.”
“Yes.”
“And you still married me.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“Because I loved you.”
Elena's eyes filled with tears.
“And now?”
His answer came without hesitation.
“I still do.”
She looked away.
“I don't know if I can trust you.”
“You don't have to.”
“Then what do you want from me?”
Adrian took a breath.
“The truth.”
“What truth?”
“The truth about what happened to your father.”
Elena stared at him.
“And how do we find it?”
Adrian looked at the photograph.
“Together.”
She frowned.
“Together?”
“Yes.”
“You want me to work with you?”
“I want you beside me.”
She almost smiled despite herself.
“You really don't understand women.”
“What do you mean?”
“You're asking your ex-wife to help you uncover the conspiracy surrounding her father's death.”
“Yes.”
“While we're being hunted.”
“Yes.”
“And you think I'll agree?”
Adrian looked into her eyes.
“No.”
He reached for the folder.
“I think you'll choose.”
Elena stared at him for a long moment.
Then she took the folder from his hands.
“Fine.”
Adrian blinked.
“Fine?”
“I'll help you.”
His expression softened.
“But we're doing this my way.”
“Agreed.”
“No more secrets.”
“Agreed.”
“No more deciding what's best for me.”
“Agreed.”
“And if you lie to me again…”
Adrian waited.
Elena looked directly into his eyes.
“I walk away forever.”
Adrian nodded.
“I won't lie again.”
She turned toward the window.
Neither of them noticed the tiny red light blinking from the corner of the room.
A hidden camera.
Someone was watching them.
And somewhere in the city, a man leaned back in his chair as he watched Elena and Adrian standing together.
He smiled.
“Finally.”
He picked up his phone.
“They're working together.”
A voice answered.
“And the girl?”
The man looked at Elena's photograph.
“She's closer to the truth than she realizes.”
“And Blackwood?”
The smile disappeared.
“Let them investigate.”
A pause.
“Because once they find the truth…”
He looked at another photograph.
One showing Elena's father.
“…they'll discover who really betrayed them.”
The call ended.
And for the first time in three years, Elena and Adrian were on the same side.
But neither of them realized that the person they were searching for had already been watching them from the beginning.
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