A NAME THAT DOESN'T BELONG
1253 Words
The handle moved slowly.
Maya stopped breathing.
Her back was pressed against the cold wooden wall of the wardrobe, and she could hear the faint creak of the door as someone outside began to pull it open.
She couldn't see who was standing there.
She couldn't move.
And she couldn't scream.
Think, Maya. Think.
The room suddenly felt impossibly small.
The footsteps stopped.
A man's voice came from the other side.
"Come out."
Maya's heart slammed against her chest.
He knew she was there.
The wardrobe door opened another inch.
Then—
A loud alarm erupted somewhere in the mansion.
The man immediately stepped away.
"What the—?"
Another voice shouted from the hallway.
"Security! Search the west wing!"
The man cursed under his breath.
"Go. Now."
Maya heard hurried footsteps retreating.
She waited several seconds before daring to move.
Then she pushed the wardrobe door open.
The room was empty.
The two men were gone.
Maya stumbled out, breathing heavily.
Her eyes immediately went to the desk.
The small key the stranger had taken was gone.
Whatever it unlocked, she suspected, was important.
Very important.
She hurried toward the bedroom door.
Then stopped.
Something on the desk caught her attention.
A photograph.
It had been left behind.
Maya picked it up.
Her stomach dropped.
It was a photograph of Adrian.
But the man standing beside him wasn't Alexander.
It was someone Maya had never seen before.
A man who looked almost exactly like Adrian.
Same dark hair.
Same sharp jaw.
Same gray eyes.
Maya turned the photograph over.
There was only one sentence written on the back.
One of them is lying.
---
Maya hurried through the secret passage.
By the time she reached the library, her hands were trembling.
She had barely stepped through the hidden doorway when the library doors opened.
Adrian walked in.
He stopped when he saw her.
For several seconds, neither of them spoke.
Then his eyes narrowed.
"Where were you?"
Maya swallowed.
"In the library."
"That's not what I asked."
His voice was calm, but there was something dangerous underneath it.
Maya crossed her arms.
"I could ask you the same question."
"I was at work."
"No."
Adrian stared at her.
"No?"
"You weren't at work."
His expression changed slightly.
Maya noticed.
"I saw your car return twenty minutes ago."
He said nothing.
"So where were you?"
Adrian walked toward her.
"Maya."
"What?"
"Have you been somewhere you shouldn't?"
The question made her heart race.
She could lie.
She should lie.
But she was tired of being surrounded by people who lied to her.
"Maybe."
His jaw tightened.
"Where?"
"The west wing."
Silence.
Adrian's face lost all expression.
"How did you get inside?"
"I found a passage."
He stared at her for several seconds.
Then he whispered,
"You're not supposed to know about that."
"I know."
He looked genuinely angry now.
"Did you go into the room?"
"Yes."
"Did you touch anything?"
Maya hesitated.
His eyes sharpened.
"What did you touch?"
"Nothing important."
"Maya."
She reached into her pocket.
The photograph was still there.
She pulled it out and held it between them.
"I found this."
Adrian took one look at it.
His entire body went still.
Maya watched his reaction carefully.
"You know him."
Adrian didn't answer.
"You know him, don't you?"
His fingers tightened around the photograph.
"Where did you find this?"
"In the room."
"That room was supposed to remain untouched."
"Why?"
"Because it's dangerous."
"Everything in this house is dangerous!"
Her voice echoed through the library.
Maya's eyes filled with frustration.
"I am your wife, Adrian. Maybe this marriage started with a contract, but I'm still living in your house. I'm being followed. People are breaking into the estate. Someone keeps sending me warnings. And every time I ask a question, everyone tells me to stay quiet."
She stepped closer.
"I'm done staying quiet."
Adrian stared at her.
Something softened in his eyes.
Not much.
But enough for her to notice.
"I'm trying to protect you."
"Then tell me what I'm being protected from."
He looked away.
For the first time, Maya saw something she had never expected from him.
Fear.
Not fear for himself.
Fear for her.
He finally spoke.
"The man in that photograph..."
He stopped.
Maya waited.
"...is someone who should be dead."
Her blood ran cold.
"What?"
Adrian looked back at her.
"His name is Ethan Vale."
Maya stared at the photograph.
"Ethan?"
"He was my father's closest adviser."
"What happened to him?"
"He disappeared."
"Like Alexander?"
Adrian didn't answer.
That was answer enough.
Maya's voice became quieter.
"How many people have disappeared from this family?"
Adrian's expression hardened.
"Too many."
---
Later that evening, Maya sat alone in her bedroom.
She couldn't stop thinking about the photograph.
Ethan Vale.
Alexander Kingston.
The anonymous note.
The secret room.
The man she'd seen near the gates.
Everything seemed connected.
But she couldn't figure out how.
Her phone vibrated.
Maya glanced at the screen.
Unknown number.
A message appeared.
You shouldn't have entered the west wing.
Her stomach tightened.
Another message arrived.
Now they know you know.
Maya stared at the screen.
Then a third message appeared.
Ask your husband what happened on July 18th.
She froze.
July 18th.
The date written on the back of Alexander's childhood photograph.
Maya immediately stood.
She needed answers.
She left her room and headed downstairs.
Adrian's study door was slightly open.
Light spilled into the hallway.
She knocked.
No answer.
"Adrian?"
Silence.
Maya pushed the door open.
The study was empty.
But something was different.
The drawer containing the mysterious envelope was open.
The envelope was gone.
Maya stepped inside.
On the desk lay a single sheet of paper.
She picked it up.
Her eyes widened.
It was an old newspaper clipping.
The headline read:
KINGSTON HEIR PRESUMED DEAD AFTER FAMILY INCIDENT
Below the headline was a photograph.
Maya's fingers began to tremble.
The photograph showed two teenage boys.
Adrian.
And Alexander.
But beneath the picture was something she'd never seen before.
A third name.
Ethan Vale.
Maya's heart pounded.
Then she noticed the date.
July 18.
The exact same date.
A sound came from behind her.
She slowly turned.
Adrian stood in the doorway.
His expression was unreadable.
But his eyes immediately went to the newspaper in her hands.
"Maya..."
She held it up.
"What happened on July 18th?"
He didn't answer.
"What happened to Alexander?"
Still nothing.
She stepped closer.
"And why does Ethan Vale's name appear in the same report?"
Adrian's face hardened.
"You need to leave."
"What?"
"Go back to your room."
"No."
His voice became firmer.
"Maya, please."
She shook her head.
"You promised this marriage would have no secrets."
"I never promised that."
The words struck her.
She stared at him.
"Then what exactly did I marry into?"
Adrian took a step toward her.
Before he could answer, the lights went out.
The entire mansion plunged into darkness.
Maya gasped.
Somewhere downstairs, a scream rang through the house.
Then came the sound of breaking glass.
Adrian immediately reached for her hand.
"Stay beside me."
But before they could move, Maya heard a voice from the darkness.
A voice she recognized.
"Adrian."
He froze.
The voice came again.
This time, closer.
"You've had my name long enough."
Maya's blood ran cold.
Adrian's grip tightened around her hand.
And then a man's silhouette appeared at the end of the hallway.
For one terrifying second, Maya couldn't breathe.
Because the man standing in the darkness...
looked exactly like Adrian.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD