Chapter 2 - The Man Inside the House
Adrian did not shout.
That frightened Luca more than shouting would have.
“Lock the gates.”
Within seconds, the mansion changed.
The Christmas party continued in the ballroom, but security quietly sealed every exit.
No alarms.
No panic.
Adrian had spent years learning that frightened people made mistakes.
He needed whoever had sent the photograph to believe nothing had changed.
“Trace the number,” he told Marco.
“Already doing it.”
“Find Elena's car.”
Marco hesitated.
“She refused tracking.”
“I'm aware.”
“Then—”
“Traffic cameras. Toll readers. Anything legal that doesn't require putting somebody on her bumper.”
Marco nodded.
Adrian returned upstairs.
The bedroom still smelled faintly of Elena’s perfume.
Her divorce papers remained on the desk.
He picked up the first page.
He had been so shocked by the pregnancy test that he had not actually read them.
Now he did.
No demand for money.
No claim on the mansion.
No request for the properties he had purchased during their marriage.
Elena wanted only her personal accounts, her grandmother's small house in Vermont, and the freedom to leave.
Adrian sat down.
He had expected anger.
He would almost have preferred anger.
Anger meant there was something left to fight over.
Elena wanted nothing.
A knock came.
Luca entered.
“Marco found the sedan.”
“Where?”
“Heading north.”
“Destination?”
“Unknown.”
“She's probably going to Vermont.”
Her grandmother's house.
Elena had inherited it when she was twenty-four.
Adrian had visited once.
Small kitchen.
Leaking porch.
A fireplace that smoked whenever the wind changed direction.
Elena loved it.
Adrian had offered to renovate the entire place.
She had refused.
“It doesn't need to become expensive to become valuable,” she had told him.
He understood those words differently now.
“Have someone check the roads without approaching her.”
Luca nodded.
Then he placed a folder on the desk.
“There's something else.”
Adrian opened it.
Medical records.
Dr. Samuel Bell.
Elena's obstetrician.
Bell had disappeared two days earlier.
His clinic told patients he had left unexpectedly for a family emergency.
But Bell's family had no emergency.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“I was confirming it.”
“You had information concerning my wife.”
“I had a rumor.”
“She's my wife.”
“And you've barely spoken to her for eight months.”
The room went quiet.
Luca immediately regretted saying it.
Adrian did not threaten him.
That was worse.
“You think I don't know that now?”
Luca sat opposite him.
“I think you thought distance would keep her safe.”
“It should have.”
“It didn't.”
Adrian looked at the positive pregnancy test.
“No.”
Luca leaned forward.
“Who knew?”
“About the pregnancy?”
“Yes.”
“Elena. Her doctor. Maybe Claire.”
“Anyone in the house?”
“I don't know.”
“Then we find out.”
They began with staff access logs.
Elena had left the mansion only five times in three weeks.
Two doctor visits.
One bookstore.
One charity board meeting.
One afternoon with Claire.
The rest of the time, she had remained inside.
Yet someone had learned she was pregnant.
Adrian requested camera records.
Marco returned ten minutes later.
“There's a problem.”
“What?”
“Some footage is missing.”
Adrian slowly raised his eyes.
“Which footage?”
“West corridor. Garage. Private elevator.”
“When?”
“The morning of Mrs. Vale's first doctor's appointment.”
Luca swore quietly.
“Who can delete footage?”
“Four people.”
“Names.”
“You. Me. Security administrator Tomas Reed.”
“And?”
Marco hesitated.
“Your mother.”
Adrian's expression changed.
Caterina Vale.
Sixty-one.
Widowed.
Elegant.
Cold.
And downstairs at the party.
His mother had never liked Elena.
Not because Elena was cruel.
Because Elena was ordinary.
No family connections.
No political influence.
No wealth.
When Adrian announced their engagement, Caterina had asked one question.
“What can she bring us?”
Adrian had answered, “Peace.”
His mother had never understood.
“Bring her upstairs.”
Luca stood.
“Adrian, don't assume—”
“I’m not assuming anything.”
A minute later, Caterina entered.
She wore black velvet and diamonds.
“What is this nonsense about locking the gates?”
“Sit.”
“I will not—”
“Sit.”
She did.
Adrian placed Elena's pregnancy test on the desk.
His mother's eyes moved toward it.
Just once.
But Adrian saw it.
“You knew.”
Caterina looked at him.
“Knew what?”
“That Elena was pregnant.”
Silence.
Luca stared at her.
Adrian leaned forward.
“You knew.”
“I suspected.”
“How?”
“She was nauseous.”
“When?”
“Several mornings.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“That is hardly my responsibility.”
Adrian's voice became dangerously calm.
“Did you contact Dr. Bell?”
“No.”
“Did you delete security footage?”
“No.”
“Did you tell anyone Elena might be pregnant?”
Caterina's eyes sharpened.
“You're interrogating your mother because your wife left you?”
“My wife left me because I failed her. That part belongs to me.”
The admission surprised Luca.
It surprised Caterina more.
“But somebody threatened her tonight.”
He showed Caterina the message.
Her face changed.
“This is serious.”
“Yes.”
“Bring Elena back.”
“She doesn't want to come back.”
“She doesn't understand the danger.”
“She understands it better than anyone. She lived inside it for eight years.”
Caterina looked away.
Adrian noticed.
“What aren't you telling me?”
“Nothing.”
“Mother.”
She stood.
“You have enemies. You always have. Perhaps one of them discovered the pregnancy.”
“How?”
“I don't know.”
Adrian watched her leave.
Luca waited until the door closed.
“She knows something.”
“Yes.”
His phone rang.
Marco.
Adrian answered immediately.
“We found Bell.”
“Where?”
“St. Matthew's Hospital.”
“Why?”
“He was admitted anonymously yesterday.”
“For what?”
“Someone beat him badly.”
Adrian stood.
“Can he talk?”
“Barely.”
“I'm coming.”
Forty minutes later, Adrian entered Bell's hospital room.
The doctor looked terrified when he saw him.
“Mr. Vale.”
“Who did this?”
Bell looked toward the nurse.
Adrian waited until she left.
“I didn't tell them.”
“Tell them what?”
Bell swallowed.
“About your wife.”
“Someone already knows.”
Bell closed his eyes.
“They came after her first appointment.”
“Who?”
“I never saw his face.”
“Male?”
“Yes.”
“What did he want?”
“Confirmation.”
“That she was pregnant?”
Bell nodded.
“I refused.”
“And?”
“He showed me photographs.”
“Of what?”
“My daughter leaving school.”
Adrian's expression hardened.
“I told him.”
Bell began crying.
“I’m sorry.”
“Did he give a name?”
“No.”
“Voice?”
“American. Maybe forties.”
“Anything unusual?”
Bell thought.
Then his eyes opened.
“He wore a ring.”
“What kind?”
“Silver.”
Bell lifted his shaking hand.
“A snake wrapped around a cross.”
Adrian knew the symbol.
So did Luca.
It belonged to a family Adrian had believed destroyed twelve years earlier.
The Rinaldis.
But their last surviving son had disappeared.
Adrian stepped into the hallway.
His phone rang again.
This time it was Elena.
He answered instantly.
“Elena.”
Nothing.
“Elena?”
Then he heard her breathing.
Fast.
Terrified.
“Adrian.”
“Where are you?”
“The driver stopped.”
“Why?”
“He said there was something wrong with the car.”
Adrian was already moving.
“Lock the doors.”
“I did.”
“Send me your location.”
“There’s another car behind us.”
His blood went cold.
“Elena, listen to me. Stay inside.”
The sound of glass breaking exploded through the phone.
May you like
Elena screamed.
Then the line went dead.
