Chương 4
The pain in his expression was worse than anger.
“I know.”
She swallowed.
“You don’t understand.”
“No,” he said quietly.
“I don’t.”
The honesty seemed to hurt her.
Daniel stepped closer.
“Adrian, we should talk somewhere private.”
Adrian looked at him.
“You had six years to talk.”
Daniel lowered his eyes.
“I know.”
“No.”
Adrian shook his head.
“You don’t.”
The room became quieter as guests slowly moved away.
Nobody wanted to be the first person to admit they had been watching something they should not have watched.
The wedding planner approached from across the room with a nervous expression.
“Mr. Moretti, should we cancel the rest of the reception?”
Adrian looked around.
The flowers.
The untouched plates.
The champagne glasses.
The cake that had been waiting near the dance floor.
Everything represented a future people had planned.
And now none of it made sense.
“Yes,” he said.
The planner nodded and walked away.
Elena noticed Madison watching the cake.
A strange detail.
Not the guests.
Not Adrian.
Not the letter.
The cake.
Like she was mourning something smaller because the larger thing was impossible to face.
“You should read it,” Elena said.
Madison looked at her.
“What?”
“The letter.”
Madison shook her head immediately.
“No.”
The reaction was too fast.
Elena studied her.
“Why?”
Madison looked away.
“Because I already know what it says.”
Adrian heard that.
He turned back.
“You read it?”
Madison did not answer.
That was an answer.
The room had nearly emptied now.
Only a few people remained.
Daniel.
Madison.
Adrian.
Elena.
And several staff members pretending they were not listening.
Adrian walked toward Madison.
“When did you see it?”
She took a breath.
“Six years ago.”
“Where?”
“At the office.”
“What were you doing there?”
Madison’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“I worked there.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
The old Adrian returned for a moment.
The businessman.
The man who could make people uncomfortable without raising his voice.
Madison looked exhausted.
“I was trying to help Lucia.”
Adrian stared.
“Help her?”
“Yes.”
“With what?”
She laughed once.
It was a small, broken sound.
“You really don’t know anything, do you?”
The words landed.
Elena saw Adrian react.
Not because he was insulted.
Because some part of him believed her.
“I knew my sister was missing,” he said.
“You knew she left.”
Adrian froze.
“What?”
Madison looked at Daniel.
Then back at Adrian.
“Lucia didn’t disappear the night everyone thinks she did.”
The silence returned.
Elena felt a chill move through her.
“What are you saying?” Adrian asked.
Madison rubbed her forehead.
“She left the city before anyone reported her missing.”
“No.”
Adrian’s answer came instantly.
“No, she wouldn’t.”
Madison looked at him.
“That’s what I told myself too.”
The room felt smaller.
Elena looked at Daniel.
“You knew?”
Daniel nodded.
“I knew she was planning to leave.”
“Why?”
Daniel looked at the letter in Adrian’s hand.
“Because she thought someone inside the company was watching her.”
Adrian’s face tightened.
“Someone?”
Daniel did not answer.
Elena noticed.
“You’re still protecting someone.”
Daniel looked ashamed.
“I spent years telling myself I was protecting Lucia.”
“And now?”
He looked at her.
“Now I think I was protecting myself.”
Nobody spoke.
It was the first honest thing he had said.
Adrian walked to the window.
For a few seconds, he simply stood there.
The city reflected in the glass.
His reflection looked unfamiliar.
“My sister was afraid of my family.”
Nobody corrected him.
Because everyone knew what he meant.
Not the family name.
Not the company.
The people behind them.
The choices they made.
Elena folded her arms.
She suddenly felt tired.
The kind of tired that came after surviving something, not before.
She had spent six years carrying Lucia’s secret.
She had lost sleep over whether she had done the right thing.
She had questioned whether keeping a promise to one person had betrayed another.
Now she was standing in a wedding ballroom surrounded by answers that created more questions.
“What did Lucia write about me?” Elena asked.
Adrian looked back at the page.
His expression softened.
“She thanked you.”
Elena looked down.
“She didn’t need to.”
“She said you were the only person who treated her like she was still a person.”
The words hit harder than she expected.
Elena turned away.
She did not want anyone to see her reaction.
Especially not Adrian.
She had spent years telling herself she was just doing her job.
That she had not done enough.
That she should have noticed more.
That she should have pushed harder.
But Lucia had remembered her.
The smallest kindness.
The smallest conversation.
The things Elena had almost forgotten.
Adrian folded the letter again.
“Where is she?”
Daniel looked toward the door.
“I don’t know.”
Adrian stared at him.
“Then why are you here?”
Daniel reached into his jacket pocket.
He pulled out a small envelope.
“I received this yesterday.”
Adrian did not take it.
“From who?”
Daniel looked at Elena.
“From Lucia.”
The answer changed everything.
Elena stepped forward.
“She’s alive?”
Daniel hesitated.
“I don’t know.”
Adrian’s face hardened.
“You don’t know?”
“There was no return address.”
“Then why bring it here?”
Daniel looked at the empty ballroom.
“At first, I thought it was a warning.”
He handed the envelope to Adrian.
“Then I realized it was an invitation.”
Adrian looked confused.
“To what?”
Daniel’s eyes moved toward the bracelet.
“To finding out why Lucia disappeared.”
The envelope shook slightly in Adrian’s hand.
Not because he was weak.
Because after six years of searching, hope was more frightening than loss.
He opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
Elena saw Adrian’s expression change before she saw the image.
“What is it?”
He did not answer.
He handed the photograph to her.
Elena looked down.
It was Lucia.
Older.
Different.
But unmistakably alive.
She was standing outside a small building Elena did not recognize.
On the back of the photograph were three words.
Not an address.
Not a name.
A warning.
May you like
Do not trust him.
Elena read the words again.
