Chương 4
"No."
The answer came quietly.
"Not that I know of."
"Friends?"
"Everyone my mother knew disappeared after she died."
Adrian noticed the wording.
Not passed away.
Not moved away.
Disappeared.
"Everyone?"
Mara nodded.
"She was not exactly popular."
"Why?"
Mara looked at the table.
"She had a habit of making people uncomfortable."
"How?"
"She asked questions."
A small silence followed.
Adrian almost understood that kind of person.
People who asked the wrong questions rarely had easy lives.
"My mother spent years trying to find something," Mara said.
"What?"
"I don't know."
"You never asked?"
Mara looked at him.
"I did."
"And?"
"She would change the subject."
That answer bothered Adrian because it sounded familiar.
Elena had done the same thing.
There had been moments when he asked about her past and watched her become someone else for a few seconds.
Not colder.
Not afraid.
Just distant.
Like she had stepped into a room inside herself and locked the door behind her.
At the time, he had assumed it was normal.
Everyone had things they carried.
Now he wondered what he had missed.
"How did your mother die?" he asked.
Mara's expression hardened slightly.
"A car accident."
"Where?"
"Outside Philadelphia."
"Was it investigated?"
She looked annoyed.
"Are you interviewing me?"
"I need to understand."
"You always talk like that?"
"Like what?"
"Like every sentence is part of a negotiation."
Adrian looked away briefly.
The observation was accurate.
He did not like that.
"My life requires it."
Mara studied him.
"That sounds lonely."
The simplicity of the statement bothered him more than an insult would have.
People usually told him what they thought he wanted to hear.
Mara seemed incapable of that.
"I have people around me," he said.
"That wasn't what I said."
Adrian did not respond.
The room became quiet again.
Noah shifted in the carrier and made a small sleepy sound.
Mara looked down immediately.
The movement was instinctive.
Adrian noticed.
She cared about a child who was not hers.
That mattered.
"You work every night?" he asked.
"Almost."
"Why?"
"Because rent exists."
The answer was so normal that it almost felt strange in his world.
Adrian had forgotten there were people whose biggest daily concern was simply keeping up.
"You sound surprised."
"I am."
"By what?"
"That you said it so casually."
Mara shrugged.
"What else am I supposed to say?"
Adrian had no answer.
A knock came at the door.
One of the bodyguards opened it slightly.
"Mr. Voss."
Adrian looked up.
"What?"
"Your driver received a call."
"From who?"
The bodyguard hesitated.
"Unknown number."
Adrian's expression changed.
Not dramatically.
But enough.
Mara saw the shift.
The calm father disappeared.
The careful man returned.
"What did they say?"
"They asked if you were here."
Adrian stood.
"Who knew I was coming?"
The bodyguard did not answer immediately.
That was answer enough.
Adrian looked at Mara.
"Stay here."
The command came naturally.
Mara frowned.
"Excuse me?"
"It may not be safe."
"For me?"
"For anyone near me."
The honesty in his voice stopped her from arguing immediately.
Then she looked toward Noah.
"Is this because of him?"
Adrian looked at his son.
"No."
The answer came too quickly.
Mara noticed.
"You are lying."
Adrian's eyes moved back to her.
"You don't know me well enough to say that."
"No."
She glanced at the baby.
"But I know what people look like when they are scared."
That stopped him.
Adrian had been called many things.
Cold.
Cruel.
Unreachable.
Nobody had ever accused him of being scared.
The bodyguard cleared his throat.
"Mr. Voss."
Adrian looked at him.
"Find out who called."
"Already doing it."
Adrian nodded.
Then he looked at Mara again.
"You should leave."
Mara looked surprised.
"Now?"
"Yes."
"After all this?"
"Especially after all this."
She looked toward Noah.
"He knows me."
Adrian's face tightened.
"That is exactly the problem."
Mara stood slowly.
The answer hurt more than she expected.
She did not understand why.
Maybe because for a brief moment she had felt connected to something.
Maybe because the baby had looked at her like she belonged there.
"Your son is not afraid of me," she said.
"No."
Adrian's voice softened.
"That is what worries me."
Mara picked up her bag.
She stopped near the door.
"Can I ask you something?"
Adrian waited.
"Did Elena ever mention my name?"
The question landed harder than she intended.
Adrian looked away.
"No."
Mara nodded slowly.
"Then maybe she never knew me."
"Maybe."
"But you don't believe that."
Adrian did not answer.
Because he didn't.
After Mara left the room, Adrian remained standing there.
He watched through the narrow glass window as she walked back through the restaurant.
She moved differently now.
Before, she had been invisible.
A worker doing her job.
Now every person who noticed her seemed connected to a question nobody wanted to ask.
Luca stopped her near the entrance.
They spoke quietly.
Mara looked confused.
Then angry.
Then hurt.
Adrian could not hear the words.
But he could read the change in her posture.
Something had been said.
Something important.
His phone vibrated.
A message appeared from his security team.
Unknown caller traced to an old prepaid number.
No useful identity.
Adrian stared at the screen.
Then another message appeared.
A photograph.
Taken from outside the restaurant.
It showed him entering with Noah.
The timestamp was from twenty minutes earlier.
Someone had been watching.
Adrian felt his jaw tighten.
The image itself was not unusual.
People watched him often.
The problem was what came next.
A second photo loaded.
It showed Mara standing beside the table with Noah reaching toward her.
Beneath the image was a short message.
You finally found Elena's daughter.
Adrian stopped breathing for a moment.
The room seemed smaller.
The noise outside faded.
He looked at the sleeping child beside him.
Then at the photograph on his phone.
Then back toward the door where Mara had disappeared.
May you like
He had spent two years searching for answers about Elena's death.
He had followed financial records.
