Chapter 19: Family Interference – The Event Without Me

The house felt too quiet without Adrian.

The kind that made every sound echo louder than it should. The hum of the refrigerator. The tick of the clock. Even my own thoughts seemed intrusive.

I checked my phone for the third time in ten minutes.

Nothing.

I told myself not to read into it. He’d said it was an obligation. Something old. Still, the absence pressed against my chest in a way I didn’t like.

That was when the doorbell rang.

I frowned.

Mrs. Patel answered it before I could, her polite greeting drifting down the hallway. A second later, unfamiliar voices followed. warm, confident, unmistakably related to the man currently occupying too much space in my head.

“Elena, dear!”

I barely had time to brace myself before a woman walked into the living room like she owned it.

She was elegant in a composed, effortless way, pearl earrings, tailored dress, eyes sharp but curious. Behind her stood a tall man with Adrian’s posture and eyes, just softer around the edges. And trailing them, a