Episode 3: The Woman on the Phone

For six years, Elena Cross had imagined what she would say if she ever heard her mother's voice again.

She had prepared for grief.

For anger.

For questions.

She had even imagined silence.

She had never prepared for this.

Don't trust the man standing beside you.

The call had ended.

But Elena could still hear the words.

Adrian stood across from her, phone in hand, his expression unreadable.

Too unreadable.

She hated that.

"Who was that?"

He didn't answer.

Elena's voice hardened.

"I asked you a question."

"I know."

"Then answer it."

Adrian placed the phone on the desk.

"It was Claire."

Elena's heart slammed against her ribs.

"You knew."

"No."

"You recognized her voice."

"Yes."

"Then how could you not know?"

"Because recognizing someone's voice isn't the same as knowing where they've been for six years."

Elena stared at him.

She wanted to believe him.

That was the problem.

She wanted to believe him badly enough to frighten herself.

"Why would she tell me not to trust you?"

Adrian's jaw tightened.

"I don't know."

"That's not good enough."

"It's the truth."

"Then give me another truth."

He looked at her.

"You've been investigating me for almost a year. You know what I do. You know what my father did. You know what the Covenant is supposed to be."

"Supposed to be?"

Adrian nodded.

"That's the problem. Most of what you've uncovered concerns what it was."

He stepped closer.

"Someone is rebuilding it."

Elena's anger faltered.

"Who?"

"I don't know."

"Then why should I trust anything you're telling me?"

"You shouldn't."

The answer stopped her.

Adrian's eyes remained fixed on hers.

"You shouldn't trust me."

He paused.

"You should verify me."

Something about that answer unsettled her more than a denial would have.

He wasn't asking for faith.

He was asking her to investigate him.

"Fine."

Elena picked up her bag.

"I will."

Adrian's gaze sharpened.

"Where are you going?"

"Home."

"No."

She turned.

"Excuse me?"

"You're not going home."

"My apartment was broken into."

"Exactly."

"And you think I'm going to stay here?"

"I think whoever broke into your apartment wanted you to find that photograph."

"So?"

"So they knew you'd come looking for it."

Elena's expression hardened.

"You're suggesting I was followed here."

"I'm suggesting someone is several steps ahead of us."

She hated how reasonable he sounded.

"Then where do you suggest I go?"

Adrian hesitated.

"My house."

She stared at him.

"Absolutely not."

"It's secured."

"It's your house."

"Which is why nobody will expect you to stay there."

"You're asking me to move into the home of the man my mother just warned me about."

"I'm asking you to stay somewhere I can protect."

"I don't need protection."

Adrian's eyes traveled over her.

Not disrespectfully.

Assessing.

"You've been followed twice this week."

Elena went still.

"How do you know that?"

"I had someone watching your investigation."

Her eyes narrowed.

"You what?"

"Before you came to me."

"So you were spying on me."

"Yes."

The blunt admission took the wind from her anger.

"You could at least lie."

"I promised not to."

"No. You promised nothing."

"Exactly."

She stared at him.

Then laughed bitterly.

"You are impossible."

"I've been told."

"By many women, I imagine."

A faint smile touched his mouth.

"Not recently."

"Why?"

"Because most women don't argue with me for thirty minutes before breakfast."

"Maybe they have better judgment."

"Maybe."

Their eyes met.

For one dangerous second, neither looked away.

Elena broke the moment.

"Fine."

Adrian's eyebrow lifted.

"I'll stay at your house."

"Good."

"But only until I figure out who's behind this."

"Understood."

"And I get my own room."

"Obviously."

"And you don't come into it."

His expression became almost amused.

"I wasn't planning to."

"Good."

She walked past him.

Then stopped.

"And Adrian?"

"Yes?"

"If you lie to me..."

She turned.

"I won't give you a second chance."

His smile disappeared.

"I wouldn't expect one."

The Vale Residence

Adrian's home wasn't what Elena expected.

There were no golden statues.

No ridiculous displays of wealth.

No servants hovering around every corner.

The mansion was enormous, but strangely restrained.

Dark wood.

Stone.

Muted lighting.

Large windows overlooking the city.

It felt less like a billionaire's home and more like a fortress designed by someone who didn't believe in comfort.

Elena placed her suitcase beside the guest bedroom.

"You live here alone?"

"Mostly."

"Mostly?"

"My sister visits."

"Isabella?"

"Yes."

Elena remembered the name from corporate records.

"Does she know about me?"

"She knows you're investigating the company."

"That's not what I asked."

Adrian looked at her.

"No."

Elena nodded.

"Good."

He started walking away.

"Wait."

He turned.

"Why did my mother know your name?"

Adrian's expression changed.

That question had been waiting between them since the phone call.

"I met Claire when I was eighteen."

"And?"

"She was investigating my father."

"You said she was helping you."

"She was."

"Why?"

Adrian leaned against the doorway.

"My father was grooming me to take over the company."

Elena remained silent.

"I didn't want it."

"Why not?"

"Because I knew what the company was becoming."

He looked toward the window.

"Claire found out."

"And she helped you?"

"She tried."

"What did she do?"

"She gave me information."

"What information?"

"Enough to understand that my father wasn't working alone."

Elena folded her arms.

"The Covenant."

"Yes."

"And then?"

"My father found out."

"What happened to Claire?"

Adrian looked at her.

"I don't know."

"You expect me to believe she simply disappeared?"

"No."

"Then what happened?"

He hesitated.

"She asked me to help her disappear."

Elena froze.

"You helped my mother disappear?"

"Yes."

The room seemed to shrink.

"Why?"

"Because she believed someone was going to kill her."

"And you helped her run?"

"Yes."

"Where?"

"I don't know."

"You expect me to believe you don't know where the woman you helped disappear went?"

"I never knew."

Elena stared at him.

Then she noticed something.

He wasn't defending himself.

He looked almost ashamed.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I promised her."

"She was my mother."

"I know."

"You had no right."

"I know."

Elena's eyes burned.

"Do you have any idea what it was like?"

Adrian said nothing.

"Six years."

Her voice broke slightly.

"Six years of wondering whether she was dead."

He looked at her.

"I know."

"No, you don't."

She walked away.

But Adrian caught her wrist.

Not hard.

Just enough to stop her.

Elena looked down at his hand.

Then up at him.

"Let go."

He did immediately.

"I'm sorry."

She expected an excuse.

There wasn't one.

Only those two words.

Somehow, that hurt more.

That night, Elena couldn't sleep.

Rain tapped against the windows.

The mansion was silent.

She walked downstairs and found Adrian in the library.

His jacket was gone.

His sleeves were rolled to his forearms.

He was reading through old financial records beneath a single lamp.

He looked different without the armor of his suit.

Younger.

More human.

He looked up.

"Can't sleep?"

"No."

"Coffee?"

"Please."

He poured her a cup.

She sat opposite him.

For several minutes, neither spoke.

Then Elena said:

"Did you love her?"

Adrian stopped.

"Claire?"

"Yes."

He considered the question.

"Not the way you mean."

She watched him.

"What does that mean?"

"She was important to me."

"That's not an answer."

"It's the only one I have."

Elena took a sip.

"You're very good at avoiding questions."

"So are you."

She smiled despite herself.

"Maybe that's why we work."

Adrian looked at her.

"Maybe."

Silence.

Then he noticed something.

"You have ink on your hand."

She looked down.

A small black mark stained her thumb.

"I was working."

"At midnight?"

"I told you. Occupational hazard."

He reached across the table.

His thumb brushed lightly over the ink.

Elena froze.

The touch was innocent.

Barely anything.

Yet the room suddenly felt warmer.

Adrian seemed to realize it too.

His hand remained still for a moment.

Then he pulled away.

"Sorry."

Elena swallowed.

"Don't be."

Their eyes met.

The silence stretched.

He leaned forward slightly.

She didn't move.

Neither did he.

Then a loud crash shattered the moment.

They both turned.

The sound had come from upstairs.

Adrian was on his feet instantly.

"Stay here."

Elena stood too.

"Absolutely not."

"Elena—"

"I'm not helpless."

He stared at her.

Then nodded.

"Stay behind me."

They moved upstairs together.

The guest corridor was dark.

Elena's heartbeat pounded.

Another sound.

A door creaked.

Adrian moved toward it.

He pushed it open.

Empty.

Nothing.

Then Elena noticed the window.

Open.

Rain blowing across the floor.

"Someone was here."

Adrian approached the window.

There were footprints on the wet stone outside.

Leading away from the house.

He crouched.

Something glinted beneath the curtains.

He picked it up.

A small silver key.

Elena recognized it immediately.

Her mother's.

She had seen it in childhood photographs.

"Where did you get that?"

Adrian looked at her.

"I didn't."

A piece of paper was tied to it.

He unfolded it.

Three words.

ASK HER ABOUT 2008.

Elena stared.

"What happened in 2008?"

Adrian didn't answer.

His eyes were fixed on the key.

Then Elena saw something else.

A tiny inscription beneath the metal.

CROSS—V

Her breath caught.

"Cross and V?"

Adrian looked at it.

"No."

He turned the key over.

There was another engraving.

CROSS—VALE.

Elena looked at him.

"What does that mean?"

Adrian's expression changed.

For the first time, she saw genuine shock.

"I don't know."

"You keep saying that."

"This time..."

He looked toward the dark window.

"...I really don't."

The next morning, Elena woke to the sound of shouting downstairs.

She rushed out.

Adrian stood in the foyer with a woman Elena had never seen before.

Elegant.

Dark-haired.

Calm.

And furious.

The woman looked at Elena.

Then at Adrian.

"You brought her here?"

Adrian's face hardened.

"Isabella."

His sister's eyes returned to Elena.

"Does she know?"

"Not yet."

"Then you're making the same mistake Father made."

Elena stepped down the stairs.

"What mistake?"

Isabella went silent.

Adrian's eyes closed briefly.

"Isabella."

But it was too late.

Elena looked between them.

"Someone tell me what happened in 2008."

Neither answered.

Then Isabella whispered:

"That's the year your mother tried to expose the Covenant."

Elena's heart stopped.

"And?"

Isabella looked directly at her.

"That's also the year she discovered that Adrian wasn't her only ally."

Elena frowned.

"What does that mean?"

Isabella's expression softened.

"Your mother wasn't helping Adrian escape from the Covenant."

A pause.

"She was helping someone else."

Elena felt the world tilt.

"Who?"

Isabella looked at Adrian.

Adrian said nothing.

Then Isabella delivered the name.

"Your father."

Elena couldn't breathe.

Her mother had been working with Adrian's father.

The very man Elena had spent months believing was the architect of everything she hated.

And if Isabella was telling the truth...

then the story of Claire Cross's disappearance had just become far more complicated than Elena ever imagined.