Episode 10: A Dangerous Past
850 Words
From the beginning Elena understood that Adrian Sinclair possessed both heartless behavior and secretive nature.
His chilly behavior served as protective armor that built up multiple layers to conceal his hidden aspects.
She observed a hidden secret that revealed itself during this particular night.
She experienced a revelation about whatever Adrian concealed for the very first time. It was dangerous.
Whispers in the Dark
The mansion was eerily silent.
Elena should have been sleeping at that late hour which passed midnight. Sleep escaped her during this period of time.
She walked through endless hallways as she moved through the cool marble floors with her bare feet.
The water she needed served as a reason to enter the study where Adrian was speaking.
As the soft conversation between Adrian and someone else emerged from his study she paused in her tracks.
The door was slightly ajar.
The room contained Adrian who maintained a calm tone with an undercurrent of tension in his words.
This tone was completely new to her ears.
Elena knew she shouldn’t eavesdrop.
She stayed there because she felt an unspoken pressure in his voice.
“It’s not your concern.” Adrian’s voice was cold.
The deep unfamiliar voice responded back with “Not my concern?” Your attempt to hide the past will not work according to you.
Elena’s heart pounded.
Bury the past?
The other man scoffed. Your domestic arrangement with your new wife will not survive forever according to the other man. She will discover the truth at some point.
Adrian’s voice darkened. “She doesn’t need to know.”
Elena’s breath hitched.
Know what?
The passing silence became dense and heavy.
Then the man sighed. Throughout your life you have always excelled at pretending to be Adrian. The practice of pretending fails to eliminate the actual events from existence.
There was a pause.
And then, Adrian’s voice, barely above a whisper:
Leaving certain events in the past remains the best course of action.
Elena’s stomach twisted.
What was he hiding?
A Shadow in His Eyes
She didn’t wait to hear more.
She spun around and walked toward their bedroom while her thoughts ran wild.
She arrived at the room while her heart pounded wildly against her chest.
What had she just overheard?
What had Adrian done?
The door creaked open shortly after she rushed past.
Adrian stepped inside.
She now noticed his shoulders were tense along with the brief appearance of a shadow crossing his face.
He was on edge.
Elena swallowed hard.
She could pretend to ignore all she had heard.
Or she could ask.
She chose the latter.
She spoke softly to ask who had entered the room.
Adrian stilled.
He rotated his body toward her in a measured manner.
“No one is important.”
A lie.
She folded her arms. “You don’t lie very well.”
His jaw tightened. “Go to bed, Elena.”
A tight sensation gripped her heart when he brushed her off in that manner.
“I heard what he said.”
Adrian’s eyes darkened.
She gathered her composure through a deep breath before regaining control of her emotions. “He said you were pretending. That I’d find out eventually. What did he mean?”
Adrian didn’t answer right away.
He took a long breath before walking toward the window with his back turned to her.
He told her “Elena” before adding “there are things in my past that you should not worry about.”
She stepped closer. The statement left him with clenched hands.
His tight grip formed on his sides.
“Elena, drop it.”
No.
He had forced her to step away from him many times in the past.
He treated her existence in his life as more than superficial.
She reminded him about their marriage being a contractual agreement. “Fine. But even contracts require trust. Your wife's position demands that I need to know those secrets.
The words left him as he stated "You're not supposed to be anything."
The words hit like a slap.
Elena’s throat tightened.
A sudden turn from Adrian revealed his eyes as he stared directly at her and she finally noticed it.
The fear.
Not for himself.
For her.
The past he carried is something he believes you should avoid knowing about.
She examined his facial features.
She asked in a gentle tone whether he had injured anyone.
Adrian went still.
A moment passed.
Then another.
A deep breath escaped his lungs while he combed his hands through his hair.
He answered with a rough voice "No." “But I did something worse.”
A chill ran down her spine.
She waited.
But he didn’t say more.
He shifted his body and stood motionless.
The distance between them vanished for the first time since their marriage started when Elena experienced it.
The distance between them.
He carried something heavy which he kept hidden.
She understood at that point that pushing her inquiries too deeply could reveal s
omething she would not like.
The truth she discovered would probably be unpleasant to her.
- Writer
