Chapter 4 - The Man Who Was Supposed To Be Dead
The photograph was only six inches wide.
But it destroyed everything I thought I knew.
I stared at the image on Adrian's phone, unable to move.
The hospital room.
The white walls.
The small bed where I had held Noah for the first time.
I remembered that night.
The pain.
The fear.
The exhaustion.
The happiness when I heard my son's first cry.
But there was something in that picture I had never seen before.
A person standing beside my hospital bed.
A person who should not have been there.
A person who was supposed to be gone forever.
My husband.
Ethan Brooks.
Alive.
I covered my mouth.
"No."
The word came out as a whisper.
Adrian watched me carefully.
He didn't look surprised anymore.
That scared me.
Because it meant he had already considered this possibility.
"You knew."
My voice shook.
Adrian didn't answer.
"You knew he might still be alive."
"I suspected."
I looked at him.
"How long?"
Silence.
"How long, Adrian?"
His jaw tightened.
"Since before I came here."
My anger exploded.
"You came to my apartment knowing this?"
"I came because I needed to confirm something."
"Confirm what?"
"Whether you were still in danger."
I laughed.
It wasn't because anything was funny.
It was because my entire life had become impossible.
"You don't get to decide what I deserve to know."
"No."
Adrian nodded.
"I don't."
For some reason, that made me angrier.
I expected him to defend himself.
I expected him to act powerful.
Instead, he just accepted my anger.
Like he knew he deserved it.
I looked back at the picture.
My hands trembled.
"Ethan was there."
Adrian stayed silent.
"The night Noah was born."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"I don't know."
That answer felt worse.
Because Adrian Cross always seemed to know everything.
And now he looked like he was trying to understand something that even he couldn't explain.
I handed the phone back.
"Tell me everything."
He looked at me.
"Everything?"
"Yes."
A long pause followed.
Then Adrian pulled a chair closer.
For the first time since entering my apartment, he looked less like a mafia boss.
And more like someone preparing to tell me something painful.
"Your husband wasn't just struggling financially."
I crossed my arms.
"Then what was he?"
Adrian looked at the documents on the table.
"He was involved with people who had power."
"Like you?"
"No."
His answer was immediate.
"Much worse."
The room became silent.
I looked at Noah sleeping peacefully in my arms.
How could the world around him be so dangerous?
How could a baby who had only known three months of life already be connected to secrets I didn't understand?
"Ethan told me he was looking for work."
Adrian looked at me.
"When?"
"Two weeks before he disappeared."
"What else did he say?"
I tried to remember.
Every conversation.
Every strange moment.
"He was nervous."
"About what?"
"I don't know."
I swallowed.
"He kept checking the windows."
Adrian's expression changed.
"What?"
"I thought he was stressed."
"When did he start doing that?"
I frowned.
"Why does that matter?"
"Because people don't check windows unless they think someone is watching."
I looked away.
Suddenly, small memories started returning.
Ethan turning off lights.
Ethan refusing to answer calls when I was nearby.
Ethan deleting messages.
I had thought he was hiding something from me.
Maybe he was.
But maybe not for the reason I believed.
"Why didn't he tell me?"
Adrian's voice became quieter.
"Because he was trying to protect you."
I shook my head.
"No."
"You don't believe that."
"No."
I looked at him.
"I believe people leave because they choose to."
Something changed in Adrian's face.
A brief flash of understanding.
Like he knew that pain personally.
"Sometimes people disappear because staying would hurt the people they love."
I looked at him.
"You sound like you've done that before."
Adrian didn't answer.
And I knew I had touched something.
Something he didn't want to talk about.
Before I could ask, one of his men appeared at the doorway.
"Mr. Cross."
Adrian turned.
"We found something."
The man's expression was serious.
He handed Adrian a small envelope.
Not a normal envelope.
A sealed black envelope.
Adrian looked at it.
Then at me.
"What?"
He opened it carefully.
Inside was a single photograph.
Another photograph.
His expression changed.
"What is it?"
He didn't respond.
I stepped closer.
"Adrian."
Slowly, he turned the picture around.
And my heart stopped.
It was a picture of me.
Not recently.
Years ago.
Before Noah.
Before Ethan disappeared.
Before everything changed.
But that wasn't what scared me.
It was where the picture was taken.
A place I had never told anyone about.
A place only one person knew.
My childhood home.
On the back of the photograph was handwriting.
One sentence.
"She was never the target."
I looked at Adrian.
"What does that mean?"
He stared at the words.
"I don't know."
I shook my head.
"No."
His eyes lifted.
"You know something."
"I know this wasn't sent to scare you."
"Then why send it?"
Adrian looked toward the window.
"To warn me."
"About what?"
He didn't answer.
Because his phone suddenly rang.
The name on the screen made his entire body freeze.
I noticed.
And that frightened me.
Because Adrian Cross didn't seem afraid of anyone.
But he looked afraid now.
"Who is it?"
He ignored my question.
The phone kept ringing.
Finally, he answered.
"How are you alive?"
My blood turned cold.
Adrian listened.
His face became darker with every second.
Then he looked at me.
Not at Noah.
At me.
"What?"
His voice was barely audible.
The person on the phone said something.
Something that changed everything.
Adrian closed his eyes.
"No."
A pause.
Then:
"You don't get to come back after all these years."
I stepped closer.
"Who is it?"
Adrian slowly lowered the phone.
I had never seen him look like this.
Not angry.
Not powerful.
Broken.
"Adrian?"
He looked at me.
And whispered:
"Your husband."
The room went silent.
I felt like the ground disappeared beneath my feet.
"Ethan?"
Adrian nodded.
"He wants to speak with you."
My heart raced.
"Where is he?"
Adrian didn't answer.
Because his phone received one final message.
A location.
A time.
And one sentence:
"Bring Savannah alone. She deserves to know why I left."
I stared at the screen.
Then Adrian's security alarm suddenly started ringing.
May you like
Someone had entered the building.
And they were already on our floor.
