Chương 4
Her fingers tightened around the cup.
“What do you mean gone?”
“I mean he did not come home last night.”
“Did he leave?”
“His car is still outside his house.”
The quiet kitchen suddenly felt much smaller.
Adrian reached into his pocket and placed a folded piece of paper on the table.
“I found this under my office door.”
Elena stared at it.
“Adrian.”
“I have not opened it.”
“Why?”
His eyes met hers.
“Because whoever left it wanted me to find it before I talked to you.”
Neither of them touched the paper.
And for the first time since the ballroom, Elena saw something she had been waiting for.
Not certainty.
Not proof.
A choice.
Adrian pulled out a chair and sat across from her.
“Whatever this is,” he said quietly, “we find out together.”
Elena looked at the unopened note between them.
She wanted to believe him.
That was the dangerous part.
Because believing him meant accepting the possibility that losing him would hurt more than she was prepared to admit.
Adrian reached for the paper.
Before his fingers touched it, his phone began ringing.
The screen showed Claire’s name.
Neither of them spoke.
The call continued.
Then stopped.
A second later, a message appeared.
Adrian read it.
His face changed.
“What did she say?” Elena asked.
He turned the phone toward her.
The message contained only one sentence.
“Ask your wife why she was the last person to see Marcus alive.”
Elena read the message twice before the meaning settled.
The words did not change.
They only became heavier.
“Ask your wife why she was the last person to see Marcus alive.”
She looked at Adrian.
For several seconds, neither of them spoke.
The kitchen clock above the doorway continued ticking, almost offensively normal.
A delivery truck passed somewhere beyond the mansion gates.
A bird landed on the patio railing and flew away.
The world had not stopped because their lives had shifted.
“I did not see Marcus last night,” Elena said.
Adrian kept holding the phone between them.
“I know.”
The answer came too quickly.
She searched his face.
“You believe me?”
“I believe you are telling me what you believe is true.”
The distinction hurt.
But it was honest.
And honesty was more than she had received from most people in the Voss family.
“When did you see him?” Adrian asked.
“I told you.”
“When?”
“Three days ago.”
“Where?”
“The foundation office.”
“Who else was there?”
Elena looked down.
“Only Marcus.”
Adrian leaned back slightly.
The movement was small, but she noticed it.
“You were alone with him.”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“I do not know.”
“That matters.”
She looked up sharply.
“Do you think I killed him?”
“No.”
“But you are asking questions like someone who does.”
“I am asking questions like someone who knows people will ask them.”
The answer reminded her who Adrian was.
He did not just live inside his family’s world.
He understood how it worked.
Accusations were not always about truth.
Sometimes they were about who could control the first version of the story.
Elena pushed the phone back toward him.
“Call her.”
Adrian did not move.
“Why?”
“Because she wants you to.”
“That is exactly why I should not.”
“Then what do we do?”
He looked at the unopened note on the table.
“We find out what happened before anyone else decides for us.”
The note sat between them like a threat with no handwriting.
Adrian picked it up carefully.
He did not tear it open.
He did not rush.
That was the thing Elena had always admired about him.
Even when everything inside him was moving, he made the outside world wait.
He opened the paper.
Inside was a single photograph.
Elena saw Adrian’s expression change before she saw the image.
“What is it?”
He placed the photograph on the table.
It showed Marcus standing outside the foundation office.
The timestamp in the corner showed the previous evening.
8:47 p.m.
Elena stared.
“That is after I left.”
Adrian looked at her.
“When did you leave?”
“About six.”
“Who saw you leave?”
She opened her mouth.
Then stopped.
The answer was nobody.
The foundation office had been almost empty after employees left.
She had stayed late reviewing records.
Marcus had been there.
She had left alone.
Adrian picked up the photo again.
“There is something wrong.”
“What?”
“The angle.”
She frowned.
“What about it?”
“This was taken from inside the building.”
Elena looked closer.
The reflection in the glass behind Marcus showed the hallway lights.
The person who took the photo had not been standing outside.
They had been inside.
“Someone was there,” she whispered.
Adrian nodded.
“Or someone wanted us to think that.”
The front door of the kitchen opened before either of them could say more.
A security employee stepped inside.
His name was Thomas Reed, and he had worked for the Voss family for almost a decade.
Usually, Thomas moved with the quiet confidence of someone who knew exactly where he belonged.
Today, he looked uncertain.
“Mr. Voss.”
Adrian immediately stood.
“What happened?”
Thomas glanced at Elena.
Then back at Adrian.
“The police are outside.”
Elena felt her stomach tighten.
“Why?”
Thomas hesitated.
“They want to speak with Mrs. Voss.”
The mansion suddenly felt different.
The same walls that had protected them from the outside world now felt like they were closing in.
Adrian moved between Elena and the doorway without thinking.
It was instinct.
Protective.
Possessive.
Maybe both.
“Who called them?”
Thomas shook his head.
“I do not know.”
“That is not an answer.”
“It is the only one I have.”
Adrian looked frustrated, but he nodded.
“Let them in.”
Elena touched his arm.
“Adrian.”
He turned.
“If they ask questions, I need to answer.”
“You need a lawyer.”
“I am not guilty.”
“That is not how this works.”
For the first time that morning, he almost smiled.
Not because anything was funny.
Because she sounded exactly like him.
Careful.
May you like
Practical.
Already preparing for the worst.
