Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Adrian’s POV

I stood in her doorway, my body dripping wet from the heavy rain. I wasn’t supposed to be here. I was uninvited and one of her enemies yet here I was, hoping something would magically change.

“Leona.”

She looked at me without saying a word. She looked at me like I was a stranger. Her sharp eyes, the brown ones i fell in love with had become really cold.

Well, I was a stranger. I was three years late. But I hated that she stared at me like something she once knew and then decided to forget.

The silence between us was overwhelming. It was as if she was trying to decide whether to listen to the trash I had to say or to slam the door against my face.

“What do you want?” Her reaction was quick.

Leona had changed. I remembered the girl that laughed aloud at the silliest thing. She used to lean into people when she talked. The bright woman that I loved.

But now, she looked like an angry lion. The woman standing in front of me now was like a stone. Her back was straight and her chin lifted like she was defying me.

Maybe I deserved it.

“I shouldn’t be here.” I muttered, “But I didn’t know where else to go.”

She scoffed. “Then you should have kept driving.”

There was no hint of hesitation in her voice at all. I didn’t recognize the woman in front of me anymore. It’s been three long years, was I supposed to?

“Leona.”

“Don’t call me that.” She snapped, her gaze flickering down to my soaked clothes as if the dripping water made her doorstep dirty.

I swallowed. “I didn’t come here to ask for your forgiveness.” I said,

She raised an eyebrow. “That’s good because you won’t get it.” Her tone was flat and final.

“I came because you’re in danger.”

For a second, nothing happened until she laughed.

“Like that’s good news. Am I supposed to be happy you came to tell me that?” She mocked, “You said that the last time too, right before you handled me over to the wolves.”

I closed my eyes for a brief moment. The words hit harder and sharsher than the dropping rain. I forced myself not to react because I deserved every word she said and would say to me.

I took a slow breath. “Someone is using your old credentials, Leona —“

“Lila.” She cut me off instantly. “My name is Lila Grant.

I paused, taken slightly aback. “Lila.” I corrected quietly.

Saying that name felt strange but I had no choice.

“They’re authorizing internal transactions at Voss Global,” I explained in continuation. “Millions moving through shell accounts tied to the division you used to manage.”

Her expression didn’t change, not even at the faintest level. But something surely flickered in her eyes that I saw.

“If investigators trace the data trail,” I said, “it leads straight to you.”

Silence ensued. If it weren’t for the rain that constantly sounded by pouring against the roof, it’d have been dead silence.

“And this time,” I added quietly, “no one will believe you’re innocent.”

She blinked once. “Do you realize how insane that sounds?” she asked.

“You show up here after three years looking like you crawled out of a coffee machine, and all of a sudden I’m the center of another corporate scandal?”

“It isn’t a coincidence.” I replied, taking a cautious step forward.

Her shoulders stiffened instantly, that stopped me but she didn’t move.

“The system logs match your digital signature,” I explained, “Your encryption key.”

“That key was destroyed years ago.”

I sighed. “I know.”

“Then maybe you forged it.” She accused like it was nothing. “It wouldn’t be the first time you sacrificed me for such.”

My chest tightened at the memory. God. She had no idea how true that was.

“I didn’t know they would come after you,” I said quietly.

Her laugh sounded loud again, it was harsher now. “Oh, please.”

“Victor made sure I didn’t.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Still blaming your father?” she asked.

“I’m not blaming anyone,” I replied. “I’m only warning you.”

“Right.” She folded her arms. “Tell me something, Adrian,” she says.

My name didn’t sound the same on her lips anymore.

“What’s the reason this time?” she continued. “Redemption? Guilt?”

Her eyes searched my face for an answer, maybe an answer she badly wanted to see.

“Or are you just lonely enough to ruin my life twice?”

I exhaled slowly. “I wish I could let you hate me.”

She tilted her head. “It would make this easier.” And shrugged. “Then do it,” she said. “Let me hate you more than I already do.”

The air between us gree heavy, crowded with feelings and guilt. I could tell her the truth. That I haven’t slept a single night in three years without seeing her face in my dreams, behind my eyelids. That every word in that scandal report was written to destroy her… so my family could survive.

But what would that change now? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. So the only thin i came here to do was almost fulfilled.

I reached into my wet coat and pulled out a sealed envelope. It was white and plain, slightly wrinkled from the rain. I stepped forward and placed it gently in between her folded arms.

Her eyes dropped to it with a frown. “What is that?”

“Proof.” I answered.

“I don’t want it.”

“You will. Maybe not yet but you will.”

Her lips curled slightly. “You always come with poison, calling it truth.”

I didn’t argue because she wasn’t wrong. I looked at her one last time before turning into the rain again, turning away from the woman who rebuilt herself out of the ashes that I burned her to.

“Adrian.” Her voice stopped me.

I froze in surprise.

But her tone wasn’t soft. It wasn’t pleading or anything. It was just my name and I wondered why she called me but she didn’t say anything else.

I glanced back over my shoulder, waiting for her to speak for some seconds but she didn’t.

“Be careful who you trust.” I said,

The frown on her face was still there, something I’d have tried to ease if things weren’t so flamed between us.

She watched me. I swallowed, focusing on my self control. Coming here was never a mistake but not leaving when I was supposed to be could end up being a very big mistake.

“They’re closer to you than you think, Leona” I warned her one last time before leaving.