CHAPTER 6-THE PHOTOGRAPH

For several seconds, I couldn't breathe.

I stared at the photograph on Adrian's phone, trying to understand what I was seeing. The woman in the picture looked exactly like me, wearing the same cream-colored dress I had worn the previous evening, standing outside the same hotel where I had discovered Daniel's betrayal.

But there was one problem.

I had no memory of meeting Daniel after I left that hotel.

"I wasn't meeting him," I finally said.

Adrian's expression remained unreadable. "Then explain the photograph."

"I can't."

His eyes narrowed.

"That's not an explanation, Elena."

"I know."

I looked at the photograph again, hoping that something would suddenly make sense. Daniel was standing beside me, and his hand was holding a small black envelope. I had never seen that envelope before, and I certainly didn't remember allowing him to stand that close to me.

"I left the hotel after catching him with another woman," I said. "I walked through the lobby, and that's when I met you."

"I know."

"I went home afterward."

"Then why does this photograph exist?"

"I don't know."

Adrian's jaw tightened.

For the first time since we had met, I could see the doubt in his eyes.

It hurt more than I expected.

"You think I lied to you."

"I think someone wants me to believe you lied."

His answer surprised me.

I looked up at him.

"What?"

He zoomed in on the photograph.

"The picture was taken at 11:47 p.m. According to the security records from the hotel, you left at 10:18."

My heart stopped for a moment.

"Then the photograph is fake."

"Possibly."

"Or someone took it somewhere else."

"That's what I'm going to find out."

He put his phone away.

I released a breath I hadn't realized I was holding.

"Why would someone do this?"

"Because my company is being attacked, and someone leaked confidential information."

He looked at me carefully.

"Now you're involved."

I frowned.

"I've been involved since the day I married you."

"No. You became involved the moment someone photographed you with Daniel."

There was something in his voice that made me uneasy.

"What are you not telling me?"

He was silent.

"Adrian."

He looked away.

"I don't know yet."

I stepped closer.

"But you suspect something."

"I suspect everyone."

The honesty in his voice made me uncomfortable.

Including me.

Before I could say anything else, his assistant entered the room.

"Mr. Blackwood, the security team is waiting."

Adrian nodded.

"We're leaving."

His assistant looked at me.

"Should I arrange a car for Mrs. Blackwood?"

"She's coming with me."

I looked at Adrian.

He didn't ask whether I wanted to go.

He simply assumed I would.

Strangely, I didn't mind.

The drive to Blackwood International was silent.

I sat beside him in the back seat, staring through the window while my mind replayed everything that had happened.

Daniel.

The photograph.

Victoria.

The leaked information.

None of it made sense.

When we arrived at the company, the atmosphere was completely different from the day before.

Employees moved quickly through the lobby, speaking in low voices. Several reporters stood outside the building, and security guards were struggling to keep them away from the entrance.

Adrian stepped out first.

Then he held his hand toward me.

I hesitated before taking it.

The moment we entered the building, cameras began flashing through the glass doors.

"Mr. Blackwood!"

"Is it true that your company leaked confidential client information?"

"Who is your new wife?"

"Was the marriage connected to the scandal?"

Adrian kept walking.

I stayed beside him.

His hand remained firmly around mine.

For some reason, that simple gesture made me feel safer.

We entered the private elevator.

The doors closed.

I looked at him.

"Do you always hold your wife's hand in front of reporters?"

"Usually."

"Usually?"

He glanced at me.

"You're asking too many questions."

"I'm trying to understand my new life."

"You'll learn."

I gave him a skeptical look.

"I don't think six months will be enough."

His eyes rested on me for a moment longer than necessary.

"Maybe not."

The elevator doors opened.

His assistant immediately approached us.

"Mr. Blackwood, the board members are already in the conference room."

"Tell them I'll be there in five minutes."

He turned toward me.

"You'll wait in my office."

I shook my head.

"No."

He frowned.

"I want to hear what's happening."

"This isn't your responsibility."

"I'm your wife."

His eyes narrowed slightly.

"You keep using that argument."

"Because it works."

For a moment, he simply stared at me.

Then, unexpectedly, the corner of his mouth lifted.

"Fine."

We entered the conference room together.

A group of executives were already seated around the long table.

The moment they saw me, several exchanged surprised glances.

Adrian walked to the head of the table.

"This is my wife, Elena Blackwood."

I tried not to react to the name.

It still felt strange.

One of the executives leaned toward another and whispered something.

Adrian heard it.

"Is there a problem?"

The man immediately straightened.

"No, sir."

"Good."

He turned toward the screen.

"Show me the report."

A large financial document appeared.

I didn't understand most of the numbers, but I understood enough to know the situation was serious.

Millions of dollars were involved.

Several major clients had received confidential information that should never have left the company.

Adrian listened as his executives explained what had happened.

Then one of them said something that caught my attention.

"The information was accessed using an internal executive account."

Adrian's expression changed.

"Whose account?"

The room became silent.

Finally, the executive answered.

"Yours."

Nobody moved.

Adrian stared at him.

"That's impossible."

"The records show that your credentials were used."

"At what time?"

"11:42 p.m."

My stomach dropped.

I looked at Adrian.

That was only five minutes before the photograph of me with Daniel had supposedly been taken.

The same night.

The same timeframe.

Adrian stood slowly.

"Who had access to my office?"

"No one, sir."

"Check again."

"We already did."

Adrian's voice became colder.

"Then you're not checking properly."

I watched him closely.

He wasn't simply angry.

He was worried.

His assistant entered the room holding a tablet.

"Sir."

Adrian turned.

"What?"

"We found something."

He handed him the tablet.

Adrian read the screen.

His expression darkened.

"What is it?" I asked.

He didn't answer.

I walked closer.

The tablet showed a security camera recording from the company.

The timestamp read 11:39 p.m.

A person was entering Adrian's private office.

The face wasn't visible.

But the person was wearing a dark coat.

I looked at Adrian.

"Can you identify them?"

"No."

The recording continued.

The person walked toward Adrian's desk.

Then they turned slightly.

My breath caught.

I recognized the coat.

I had seen it before.

I looked at Adrian.

"I know who that is."

Everyone in the room turned toward me.

Adrian's eyes locked onto mine.

"Who?"

I swallowed.

"I saw that coat last night."

"Where?"

"At the hotel."

His expression became completely still.

"Whose coat was it?"

I closed my eyes briefly.

Then I remembered the man standing near the hotel elevator while I was leaving.

A tall man.

Dark coat.

His face hidden beneath the shadow of a baseball cap.

And now I remembered something else.

He had spoken to Daniel.

I opened my eyes.

"It belonged to someone who was with Daniel."

Adrian's face hardened.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

He stepped closer.

"What did he look like?"

"I couldn't see his face."

"Then how do you know it was the same coat?"

"Because..."

I stopped.

A strange memory suddenly surfaced.

The man had dropped something near the elevator.

I had picked it up.

I remembered seeing a silver emblem on it.

A small black card.

I reached into my handbag and searched through it.

My fingers touched something hard.

My heart began pounding.

I pulled it out.

A black card.

The same silver emblem.

Adrian stared at it.

"Where did you get that?"

"I found it at the hotel."

He took it from my hand.

The moment he saw the emblem, his expression changed.

"What is it?"

He didn't answer.

Instead, he looked at his assistant.

"Lock down the building."

The assistant immediately picked up his phone.

Adrian turned toward the executives.

"Nobody leaves this room."

My pulse quickened.

"Adrian, what's happening?"

He looked at the black card in his hand.

Then he looked directly at me.

"That symbol belongs to a private organization."

"What organization?"

His eyes darkened.

"The same organization that destroyed my father's company twelve years ago."

The room fell silent.

I stared at him.

"What does that have to do with me?"

Adrian didn't answer immediately.

Then his phone rang.

He looked at the screen.

His expression changed.

He answered.

"Blackwood."

A man's voice spoke on the other end.

I couldn't hear the words, but I watched Adrian's face as he listened.

After a few seconds, his gaze slowly moved toward me.

"Are you certain?"

Another pause.

Then Adrian ended the call.

I could barely breathe.

"What happened?"

He walked toward me.

His voice was quiet.

"Your mother just called my assistant."

I frowned.

"Why?"

"Because someone broke into your mother's house."

My blood ran cold.

"Is she okay?"

Adrian didn't answer.

Instead, he took my hand.

"We're leaving."

"Adrian, is my mother safe?"

His grip tightened.

"She disappeared twenty minutes ago."

I stared at him in horror.

"What?"

He pulled me toward the door.

And as we rushed out of the conference room, one terrifying thought entered my mind.

Maybe I hadn't married Adrian to save my family.

Maybe someone had arranged our marriage because they wanted to get to me.