Chapter 6

Chapter Six: Cracks in the Foundation

Elise's POV

Adrian shot to his feet, the documents scattering from his lap like fallen leaves. "That's it," he snapped, pacing the living room like a storm in a glass box. "I'm going to rip the truth out of them myself."

He was halfway to the door when I stumbled after him, grabbing his arm. "Wait—Adrian—no."

Adrian jerked to a stop, glaring down at me, chest heaving. "They can't—" My voice cracked. I forced it steadier. "They can't have done this. It has to be some mistake. Someone's trying to ruin them."

Adrian let out a short, humorless laugh, sharp as a blade. "Ruin them?" he spat, shaking his head like he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Elise, they ruin themselves just fine."

I flinched, but he wasn't done. "They sent me away like trash because I wouldn't kiss their boots. Said I was bad for business. Truth? I didn't fit their lies." His hands flexed restlessly, like he was barely holding himself together. "I had my own vision, and that scared the hell out of them!"

"But they took me in," I said, my voice breaking. "They helped me when no one else would. They're still your family—"

"They helped you," he cut me off, voice slicing clean through, "because guilt eats them alive. Saving you was just easier than facing what they did." He leaned in, fury burning under his skin.

"And when they sent me away—" He took a sharp breath, his hands curling into fists at his sides. "When I was forced to leave you behind, Elise—they stopped being my family. That's it."

Confused, I opened my mouth to argue, but he wasn't finished. His voice cracked the tiniest bit.

"They can kick their own son across the world like yesterday's trash just to protect the family name. You really think they wouldn't do worse to someone who wasn't blood?"

The words knocked the air out of me. I stumbled back, the tears I fought so hard to hold spilling out.

Adrian's expression shattered the moment he saw. He closed the distance between us in two strides, hands hovering like he was afraid to touch me, then folding me gently against him. "Hey, hey," he whispered, voice rough with guilt. "I'm sorry. Shh. Don't cry." He held me there, like he could anchor me against the storm neither of us could stop anymore.

"It's just... it's too much," I mumbled into his chest, fists clenching into his shirt. "I don't know what to believe anymore. What to do."

He breathed out slowly, the anger bleeding from him like a slow leak. "Okay," he said after a beat, pulling back enough to look at me, hands still resting on my shoulders. His thumb brushed over the fabric of my jacket, a steady grounding motion. "We don't rush into anything. Not yet."

I sniffled, blinking up at him.

Adrian's mouth quirked into a small, crooked smile—not mocking this time. Just tired. Determined. "We verify it first. Everything. Whoever dropped that envelope—someone wanted you to find this. We find them. We find out why."

I nodded shakily, the weight on my chest easing just slightly.

Adrian squeezed my shoulders once before letting go, stooping to scoop the documents back into a rough pile. His movements were gentler now, more careful. "We're not letting them bury the truth," he said, quieter but deadlier than before. "Not this time."

Adrian's arms tightened around me again as I tried to pull away, my tears subsiding but still feeling fragile. I felt his steady heartbeat against my cheek, grounding me, yet the storm inside him hadn't fully calmed.

"Adrian…" I whispered, lifting my head slightly to meet his eyes, still damp from crying. "Even if everything's confusing, you can't just fight your family. They're still your family. And no matter how much they've hurt me… I don't want you to do something you'll regret."

His jaw clenched, his gaze hardening as if my words were a personal challenge. "Elise…" he started, voice low and firm. "They're no longer my family. Not after what they did to you. What they did to us."

I shook my head. "But it's not your fight. This—this is my fight. I have to be the one to deal with this. I have to be the one who decides what happens next."

"Listen, Elise…" His voice was low, almost too controlled, but there was a sharpness to it that betrayed his frustration. "I get it. You don't want me to fight your battles. You've always been that way—stubborn. But this? This isn't just your fight. You're still in the crossfire, and I'm not going to sit back and let them destroy you."

I swallowed, his words cutting through me in a way that made me feel even more vulnerable. He was right—this wasn't just my fight anymore. The truth was becoming too much to ignore. And yet…

"I know it's messy," I said, my voice barely a whisper. "But fighting with family… your family, Adrian... it'll just make everything worse. You don't need to take this on because of me."

Adrian's grip on me tightened almost imperceptibly, his voice taking on a sharper edge. "Family?" He scoffed, bitterness lacing his tone. "The ones who covered up your parents' murder, the ones who treated you like a damn pawn? Newsflash, Elise—they're not family. They never were. And they sure as hell don't deserve you."

I flinched at his words, but Adrian's voice softened, becoming more tender, as if he was trying to rein in his anger for my sake. "You've spent your whole life thinking you owe them something. But you don't. Not anymore."

He paused, his expression softening as he seemed to shift gears. "You remember when we were kids?"

The question caught me off guard. For a second, I didn't know what he was referring to. But as the memories hit me, I couldn't help but flinch. I had grown up under the Laurent roof, their charity—if you could call it that—after my parents' death. They had taken me in, treated me like a guest in my own life.

Adrian's voice was quieter now, but it carried a weight, a quiet intensity. "You always stayed by my side back then. When no one else did. You never cared about what they said or what they wanted. You just… stayed with me, even when it got tough. Do you remember?"

I nodded slowly, my thoughts racing as I recalled the days when we were both just kids, lost and abandoned by the very people who should've protected us. The Laurent family had given me a roof, but never really belonging. The cold walls of their mansion, the forced smiles, the distance. It had never felt like home.

"Yeah, I remember," I whispered, the memories making my chest tight.

Adrian's eyes softened for a split second before his frustration flared again. "You always had my back, Elise. Even when they tried to push me aside. And now…" He trailed off, as though he was fighting something he couldn't quite say. "Now they've gone too far, and I won't sit back and let them tear you apart. Not again."

His words hung heavy in the air, and for a moment, I thought he might finally admit something else. But the moment passed, and before he could say anything more, I felt my exhaustion finally catching up to me. The emotional toll of the last few days, the weight of the past, was too much for me to fight off.

I felt my eyelids fluttering, and as much as I tried to fight it, I couldn't stay awake anymore. Adrian's warmth was a comfort, and with him holding me, I allowed myself to surrender to sleep, my mind too tired to hold onto the chaos any longer.

Adrian, sensing my slip into unconsciousness, let out a soft sigh, his tone much gentler than before. "You really are something, you know that?" His voice was almost a whisper, laced with an odd tenderness I couldn't place.

His arms remained around me, and as I drifted off, I heard him mutter under his breath, his voice heavy with something deeper than frustration, something I wasn't ready to confront yet.

"You've always been the one for me, Elise. I will always stand by you."

I let the quiet lull me to sleep, letting go of the world outside and the storm that raged in both our hearts.