Chương 5
Private investigators.
Old friends.
People who claimed to know her.
Every path ended in silence.
And now, without warning, the answer had walked into his restaurant wearing a black apron.
The worst part was not that someone else knew.
The worst part was that someone had been waiting for him to find her.
Adrian read the message three times before his mind accepted the words.
You finally found Elena's daughter.
The sentence looked simple.
Too simple.
That was what made it dangerous.
People who wanted to scare him usually tried harder.
They sent threats wrapped in poetry.
They made promises about pain.
They wanted him to know they were watching.
This message was different.
It was not a threat.
It was information.
Someone had wanted him to discover something.
Someone had wanted him to understand that the discovery was not an accident.
Adrian picked up his phone and called the number that had sent the photograph.
The call connected immediately.
That bothered him more than if it had gone to voicemail.
A quiet breathing sound came through the speaker.
Nobody spoke.
Adrian looked through the window toward the restaurant floor.
Mara was still near the entrance.
Luca was talking to her with a serious expression.
"Who are you?" Adrian asked.
The person on the other end stayed silent.
"How do you know Elena?"
Nothing.
Adrian's fingers tightened around the phone.
"How do you know about my son?"
A few seconds passed.
Then the call ended.
Adrian stared at the blank screen.
He had spent his entire life surrounded by people who wanted something from him.
Money.
Protection.
Approval.
Fear.
But whoever this was wanted something else.
They wanted him to chase.
His phone rang again almost immediately.
This time it was his security director, Marcus.
"Adrian."
"What did you find?"
"Not much."
"I didn't ask for much."
Marcus paused.
Adrian knew that pause.
It meant there was something he did not want to say yet.
"Say it."
"The number was registered under a fake identity."
"Of course."
"But the location pinged near the restaurant."
Adrian looked toward the window.
"How near?"
"Within two blocks."
His expression changed.
"Find the person."
"We're trying."
"No."
Adrian walked toward the door.
"Find them before they leave."
"Adrian, if someone wanted you to see that message, chasing them may be exactly what they expect."
Adrian stopped.
Marcus was one of the few people allowed to speak to him like that.
"Are you telling me not to?"
"I'm telling you to think."
Adrian looked at Mara again.
The woman who had appeared out of nowhere.
The woman his son trusted.
The woman connected to Elena.
Thinking was difficult when everything inside him wanted immediate answers.
He ended the call.
When he stepped back into the restaurant, people immediately noticed.
The atmosphere shifted.
Not because he raised his voice.
Not because he made a scene.
Because Adrian had a way of making a room feel smaller.
Mara saw him approaching.
She was holding her coat.
"You said I should leave."
"I changed my mind."
She gave him a tired look.
"That happens often?"
"No."
"Then I guess tonight is special."
The sarcasm surprised him.
It was the first time someone had spoken to him that way without fear.
"I need to talk to you."
"I figured."
Luca stepped forward.
"Adrian."
The use of his first name caught Mara's attention.
The restaurant owner rarely sounded comfortable around anyone.
Now he sounded worried.
"What?" Adrian asked.
Luca looked at Mara.
Then back at him.
"I should have told you years ago."
Adrian's expression hardened.
"Told me what?"
Luca looked older suddenly.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
Like he had been carrying something too heavy for too long.
"Elena came here after she left you."
Mara looked between them.
Adrian went still.
"She left me?"
Luca immediately regretted the wording.
"I mean..."
"No."
Adrian's voice became quiet.
"Say exactly what you mean."
Luca rubbed his forehead.
"Elena came here several months before she died."
The room seemed to move around them.
Adrian had spent two years hearing versions of Elena's final days.
Most people said she had been unhappy.
Some said she was afraid.
Others said she was planning to leave him.
But nobody had ever told him she had gone somewhere.
Especially here.
"Why?" Adrian asked.
Luca looked at Mara.
"Because of her mother."
Mara stepped back.
"My mother?"
Luca nodded.
"Your mother and Elena knew each other."
Mara shook her head.
"That doesn't make sense."
"It didn't make sense to Elena either."
Adrian stared at him.
"What happened?"
Luca looked toward the empty dining room.
"I don't know everything."
"That is not an answer."
"It is the truth."
Adrian hated that he believed him.
Luca continued.
"Elena came here asking questions about a woman named Claire Bennett."
Mara's face changed.
She knew that name.
"My mother."
Adrian noticed immediately.
"You know Claire Bennett."
Mara looked uncomfortable.
"I told you I didn't know much."
"You knew enough."
"My mother's maiden name was Bennett."
Luca looked surprised.
"You never knew?"
"Knew what?"
Nobody answered.
The silence became its own answer.
Adrian felt something unpleasant settle in his chest.
Not anger.
Not yet.
Something closer to betrayal.
Everyone around Elena seemed to have pieces of the truth.
Everyone except him.
The man who had been her husband.
The man who had buried her.
The man who had spent every night wondering if he had missed a warning.
"What did Elena find?" Adrian asked.
Luca looked down.
"I don't know."
"You keep saying that."
"Because I don't."
"Then tell me what you do know."
Luca hesitated.
"She was scared."
The word was quiet.
Adrian looked at him.
"Elena was not easily scared."
"No."
Luca swallowed.
"That's why I remembered."
Mara folded her arms.
"What did she say?"
Luca looked at her.
"She said if anything happened to her, I should not trust the first story I heard."
Adrian felt a cold pressure in his chest.
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"Did she say my name?"
Luca looked away.
