chapter 8

CHAPTER 8: THE PHOTO IN THE LOCKED ROOM

Mia POV

I woke up the next morning with my heart still beating fast from the night before.

Adrian had almost touched my hair. Almost. If his phone had not rung, what would have happened?

I shook my head. Rule 1: No love. I must not forget that.

Adrian had already left for work. Martha knocked on my door.

"Good morning, Mrs. Cole. Mr. Cole said you should rest today. No party. No outing."

I nodded, but I felt restless. This house was so big, and I had not seen all of it.

I walked down the corridor. There was a door at the end. It was always locked. Every day I passed it, it was locked.

Today, it was slightly open.

My heart jumped. Adrian had told me never to enter his private office. But this was not his office. It looked like an old storage room.

I pushed it open slowly.

Inside, everywhere was covered in dust. An old box sat on the floor.

I opened the box.

Inside was an old photograph. Not the contract photo Adrian had shown me in the car. This was a real photograph.

Two young men were laughing, their arms on each other's shoulders. One was Richard Carter - my father, when he was young. The other one... I knew that face.

It was Adrian's father.

They were smiling like best friends. Like brothers. Not like enemies.

At the back of the photo, someone had written in pen: "Richard and James - Brothers forever. 1998."

Brothers forever?

My hands began to shake.

Adrian told me my father stole from his father. He told me they were enemies. But this photo said they were brothers.

Who was lying?

Adrian POV

I was in my office when my phone buzzed. It was a house camera alert.

I opened it. I saw Mia. She was inside the locked room. She was holding the photo.

My blood went cold.

That photo was the only one I kept of my father smiling. My father and Richard. Before the betrayal. Before everything fell apart.

I rushed to my car. I drove home like a madman.

When I arrived, Mia was standing in the living room, the photo in her hand, tears in her eyes.

"Mia, you were not supposed to enter there," I said.

She looked at me. "Adrian, tell me the truth. Your father and my father - were they brothers? Were they best friends? Why did you tell me they were enemies?"

I kept quiet. I could not speak.

Mia's voice rose. "You told me my father stole everything. But this photo says they loved each other. So which one is true? Adrian, what are you hiding from me?"

I looked at her. I wanted to tell her everything. About the second document. About the real reason my father died. About why I really married her.

But if I told her now, she would run. She would leave me.

So I did the only thing I knew how to do. I became cold again.

"Give me the photo," I said, my voice hard. "And never enter that room again. That is Rule 4."

Mia POV

Rule 4? He had never told me about Rule 4 before. He had just invented it now.

I gave him the photo, but my heart broke a little.

I looked at him. "You have a secret, Adrian Cole. And I will find it. Even if it is the last thing I do."

I walked to my room. I locked the door.

Adrian stood in the living room, holding the photo, his hand shaking.

He whispered to himself: "Mia, if you know the truth, you will hate me. And I don't think I can survive that."

Outside, the rain started again. But inside, the crack that started in Chapter 7 had turned into a big hole.