Chapter 1: Unexpected Return

Elena's POV:

I stood in front of the gleaming glass building, rain soaking through my inadequate jacket, staring up at the penthouse where warm golden light spilled from every window. The sound of laughter and music drifted down from twenty floors. My hands shook as I clutched Miguel's graduation photo, wrinkled and damp from my grip.

Miguel had been missing for four days, and I was standing there like a fool, about to humiliate myself in front of the one person who had every right to slam the door in my face.

But he was also the only person with the connections I needed.

The elevator ride to the top felt endless. My reflection in the polished steel doors showed exactly what I had expected: a woman hanging by a thread. Dark circles under my eyes, hair escaping from its messy bun, clothes that hadn't been changed in two days because I had been too busy calling hospitals and police stations and anyone who might have seen my little brother.

The elevator dinged, and suddenly I was standing in front of Adrien's door. I could hear the party in full swing, champagne glasses clinking, sophisticated laughter, the kind of elegant gathering I used to attend at his side. Back when I belonged in his world.

My finger hovered over the doorbell. Three years... Three years since our divorce had been finalized, since I had walked away from his life, with nothing but my pride and a suitcase full of regrets.

But Miguel was missing, and pride was a luxury I couldn't afford.

I pressed the button.

Footsteps approached, and the heavy oak door swung open. A man I didn't recognize, probably Adrien's new assistant, greeted me.

"I need to see Adrien," I said, my voice steadier than I had expected. "Please. It's an emergency."

He hesitated, clearly unsure whether to let this rain-soaked stranger into his boss's engagement party. Engagement party. The thought hit me hard, even though I already knew. I had seen the announcement in the society pages, had stared at the photo of Adrien and his beautiful fiancée until my eyes burned.

"Elena?"

That voice. Deep, familiar, tinged with an accent that still made my stomach flutter despite everything. I looked past the assistant and there he was Adrien, looking impossibly handsome in his perfectly tailored black suit, his dark hair styled just the way I used to run my fingers through it.

For a moment, we just stared at each other.

"Hello, Adrien," I managed, my voice barely carrying over the party noise. But I could see it hit him anyway, this voice that used to laugh at his terrible jokes, that had screamed at him during our final fight.

A woman appeared at his elbow, and my heart stopped. She was beautiful, the kind of effortless elegance I could never quite master, with perfect blonde hair and a dress that fit like it had been made just for her alone. Her fingers touched Adrien's arm with casual possession, and I noticed the massive diamond on her ring finger catching the light.

"Darling? Who is this?" Her voice was silk wrapped around steel.

I looked at her, this woman who had taken my place in Adrien's life, who got to wake up next to him and plan a future I would never have. The pain was so raw and immediate it stole my breath. But underneath it was self-loathing. I had no right to feel this way. I had given up that right three years ago.

"I'm sorry," I heard myself say, taking a step back. "I didn't know you were... I shouldn't have come."

"Wait." Adrien's voice stopped me, and I turned back to see something I couldn't quite read in his dark eyes.

"What are you doing here?" The words came out harsh, sharpened by three years of buried anger and hurt. I flinched as if he had slapped me, and I saw him immediately look like he regretted his tone, which only made me feel worse.

I took a shaky breath and forced myself to meet his eyes. "It's Miguel," I whispered, and my voice broke on my brother's name. "He's missing. He's been gone for four days, and the police... they're not taking it seriously. They think he just took off, but I know something's wrong. I can feel it."

The words came out as barely controlled hysteria, and I could feel myself fighting to hold together the way I always did when the world was falling apart around me. But this time felt different. This time I might actually shatter.

My hands shook as I pulled Miguel's photo from my jacket pocket. "I need your help. I need your connections. I know things ended badly between us, but you're the only person I know who might be able to"

"Elena." The blonde woman's voice cut through my desperate rambling like a blade. "I'm Sophia Martinez, Adrien's fiancée. And you are?"

I pulled whatever remaining composure I had around myself, even though I could feel the cracks spreading. "Elena Vasquez," I said quietly. "Adrien's... former wife."

The words hung in the air like a detonated bomb. I could hear the party continuing behind them, but it felt muffled and distant. Sophia's grip tightened on Adrien's arm, and her perfect smile sharpened.

"I see. Well, I'm sure whatever this is about can wait until after our celebration"

"No."  "No, it can't wait. Every hour that passes... Miguel could be hurt. He could be..." I couldn't finish the sentence. Couldn't voice the fear that had been eating at me for four days.

"Please," I whispered. "I wouldn't be here if I had anywhere else to go."

I watched him war with himself, saw the conflict play out across his features. He owed me nothing. Less than nothing, after what I had put him through. But Miguel... Adrien had always loved Miguel, treating him like the little brother he never had.

"Adrien?" Sophia's voice had an edge now. "Surely this can wait until tomorrow?"

The hope that had been building in my chest crumbled. Of course. His new life, his fiancée, his perfect party, why would he risk any of that for his train wreck of an ex-wife?

My shoulders sagged as I accepted defeat. "You're right," I said, my voice hollow. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have... Congratulations on your engagement."

I turned to go, already calculating how I was going to find Miguel on my own, when Adrien's voice stopped me.

"Wait." This time his voice was gentler, and when I looked back, something had shifted in his expression. "Come inside. We'll talk."

I stared at him, afraid to believe it. "Your party?"

"Can handle itself for a few minutes." He looked at Sophia, whose perfectly applied makeup couldn't quite hide her displeasure. "It'll just be a moment, darling."

Sophia's smile could have frozen hell. "Of course. I'll... entertain our guests."

Adrien guided me through the familiar apartment to his study, closing the door behind us and muffling the sounds of celebration. In the sudden quiet, I could hear my ragged breathing, and could feel how I was holding myself together through sheer will.

Adrien was quiet for a long moment, studying Miguel's photo. When he looked up, I saw the man I had fallen in love with, the one who would move heaven and earth to protect the people he cared about.

Outside his study door, his new life was waiting. His fiancée, his fresh start, his carefully constructed future.

But sitting across from him was his past, desperate and haunting and impossible to ignore.

And somewhere out there was Miguel, who used to call him brother, who might have been running out of time.