Chapter 4: The Question
1071 Words
Elena stared at the photograph.
Her hands trembled.
Five years ago.
The night Adrian disappeared.
The photograph showed them standing outside the same building where he had told her he loved her for the last time.
She remembered that night.
She remembered his eyes.
His voice.
The way he had held her hand.
And then, hours later, he was gone.
No goodbye.
No explanation.
Nothing.
She slowly raised her eyes to Adrian.
“Who died?”
Adrian didn’t answer.
“Adrian.”
His face had gone pale.
“Where did you get that?”
“It was pushed under the door.”
He took the photograph from her hand and stared at it.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Elena’s anger returned.
“You know what this means.”
“I know what they want you to believe.”
“Then tell me the truth.”
“I can’t.”
Her eyes widened.
“You still can’t?”
“Not here.”
“Of course.”
She laughed bitterly.
“That’s what you always say.”
“Elena—”
“Five years ago, you couldn’t tell me. Tonight, you still can’t.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“And I was trying to understand why the man I loved disappeared without a word!”
Adrian flinched.
Elena immediately regretted the words, but she refused to take them back.
“I waited for you,” she whispered. “Do you understand that?”
His voice was quiet.
“I waited too.”
“You had a choice.”
“So did you.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“What does that mean?”
Adrian looked at the photograph again.
“That night wasn’t supposed to end with me leaving.”
“Then what happened?”
He hesitated.
“I received a phone call.”
“From who?”
“Your father.”
Elena froze.
“My father called you?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
Adrian looked toward the dark hallway.
“He told me to leave you immediately.”
“Why?”
“He said if I stayed, you would die.”
Elena’s heart pounded.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I didn’t want to believe it either.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because your father made me promise.”
She stared at him.
“My father made you promise to break my heart?”
“He made me promise to disappear.”
Elena shook her head.
“My father would never do that.”
Adrian looked at her sadly.
“You don’t know everything about your father.”
The words silenced her.
Suddenly, a loud noise came from downstairs.
They both turned.
Someone was moving through the house.
Adrian immediately stepped in front of Elena.
“Stay here.”
“No.”
“Elena.”
“I’m not hiding behind you.”
He looked at her.
“You’re still stubborn.”
“And you’re still controlling.”
For the first time that night, the corner of his mouth lifted.
“Some things haven’t changed.”
The brief moment of warmth disappeared when another sound came from downstairs.
A drawer slammed shut.
Adrian reached for the door.
Elena grabbed his arm.
“Don’t.”
He looked down at her hand.
For a second, neither moved.
The old familiarity between them returned.
Then Elena released him.
“Be careful.”
Adrian nodded.
He stepped into the hallway.
Elena followed.
They moved quietly down the stairs.
The living room was empty.
The front door was still locked.
Adrian checked the windows.
Nothing.
Then Elena noticed something.
“Adrian.”
He turned.
She pointed toward the table.
The photograph of her father was gone.
Adrian’s expression hardened.
Someone had been inside the house.
And they had taken only one thing.
Her father’s photograph.
Elena rushed toward the table.
“Why would someone steal that?”
Adrian didn’t answer.
Instead, he noticed something beneath the table.
A small piece of paper.
He picked it up.
Elena moved closer.
“What does it say?”
Adrian handed it to her.
There was only one sentence.
“Stop looking for Samuel.”
Elena’s stomach tightened.
“Why would they be afraid of Samuel?”
Adrian looked at her.
“Because Samuel knew something.”
“What?”
Before he could answer, Elena’s phone vibrated.
She looked at the screen.
An unknown number.
A message appeared.
“You want to know who died five years ago?”
Her heart raced.
Another message arrived.
“Ask Adrian what happened to Daniel.”
Elena looked up.
“Who is Daniel?”
Adrian’s face changed instantly.
For the first time since he returned, Elena saw genuine fear in his eyes.
“Adrian?”
He didn’t answer.
“Who is Daniel?”
Adrian slowly looked toward the window.
Then he whispered,
“He’s the reason I disappeared.”
Elena’s blood ran cold.
“What happened to him?”
Adrian’s eyes met hers.
“He died the night I left you.”
Silence.
Elena’s phone vibrated again.
Another message.
She opened it.
A photograph appeared.
It showed Adrian standing beside a young man Elena had never seen before.
Daniel.
But that wasn’t what made her heart stop.
In the background stood her father.
And beside him was Samuel.
All four men were together.
The date on the photograph was the same night Adrian disappeared.
Elena looked at Adrian.
“You told me you didn’t know what happened that night.”
“I didn’t.”
“Then why were you all together?”
Adrian’s face was filled with guilt.
“I never said I was innocent.”
Elena stepped back.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
Adrian opened his mouth.
Before he could speak, the lights suddenly came back on.
The front door slowly opened by itself.
Neither of them moved.
Then someone stepped into the doorway.
Elena’s breath caught.
She knew the face.
It was the man she had seen in her father’s old photographs.
The man Adrian had refused to name.
He looked directly at Elena.
Then he said quietly,
“Your father didn’t die because of the company.”
He paused.
“He died because he discovered what Adrian did to Daniel.”
Elena turned slowly toward Adrian.
His face had gone completely pale.
And for the first time, Adrian didn’t try to defend himself.
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