03. Her ghost surrounds me

Chapter 3

Adrian's Pov

“If Eva doesn't want the car, get rid of it." I said to the housekeeper as I stepped into the Riverside apartment.

The first thing that hit immediately was the silence of the place.

It's been three days since Eva walked out of the main villa in the rain.

I told myself I only came here to check the property, but yet the first thing I did was glance toward the hallway, half expecting her to appear.

I loosened my tie and stepped inside as the door shut behind me with a dull click.

“Why are the lights off?” I muttered.

My voice echoed across the living room.

Eva hated dark rooms.

She used to turn on every lamp in the house the moment evening arrived.

“Siri. Play Tomorrow’s Christmas.” The music started softly.

The song played whenever the house felt quiet for her. I didn’t even realize I had said the command until the melody filled the room.

“Did Eva come around?" I questioned the butler when I perceived her perfume on the sofa.

"I haven't seen the miss for a week now." I nodded once.

“The staff should clean better.” I tossed my car keys onto the console table and the house echoed. Too empty.

The lake outside the glass windows was dark, and for a second the image of Eva by the table smiling surfaced in my mind. I frowned and dragged a hand through my hair.

My mind has been unusually distracted lately, scanning the room, my gaze landed on the dining table. A ceramic mug sat near the edge. It was white and plain with a tiny crack along the rim.

My steps slowed when I saw it. I remembered the day she found that crack.

“You should throw it away,” I had told her casually, pulling her hair from her face, but she just shook her head.

“But you bought it.” I almost laughed at the memory.

It was a two-hundred-dollar mug in a house full of things worth thousands and yet she treated it like it mattered.

My fingers brushed the crack along the rim.

For a second I considered throwing it away, instead I set it back carefully in the exact same position, because that was where she always left it.

I walked farther inside and the air smelled faintly of lavender. Her shampoo.

The scent stopped me mid-step and for a moment I could almost see her standing in the hallway again with my sweat shirt like it belonged to her, hair still damp after showering, complaining that the water heater in her bathroom never worked properly.

I shrugged it off. The staff probably used the same products.

But, my thoughts were distracted by a pair of unfamiliar heels beside the sofa. I walked closer. They were glossy red, the type Eva didn't wear.

My phone buzzed once in my hand and a message from Valentina flashed across the screen.

“Where are you tonight?” I ignored it and locked the phone.

On the staircase, I noticed a maid standing stiffly.

Her head lowered the moment she saw me.

“Sir.” she bowed.

“Angie, where is everyone?" She hesitated for a while, then spoke up.

“In the kitchen, sir.”

“Call them.” I ordered, taking a glance at my wristwatch.

Within a minute, two more servants arrived, lining up quietly in the hallway.

"Did Eva come here?” They exchanged glances, that was enough to irritate me.

“Speak.” The maid flinched.

“Miss Eva returned earlier today, sir.”

My jaw tightened and I grabbed a bottle of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti.

“Earlier? And no one deemed it fit to inform me?” The maid’s shoulders trembled slightly.

“Miss Eva said it wasn't necessary.” A faint crease appeared between my brows.

“Not necessary.” The room fell silent and I studied their faces one by one.

None of them dared meet my eyes.

“How long was she here?”

“Not long, sir,” the housekeeper answered carefully. “Perhaps ten minutes.”

“Miss Eva had forgotten something important, so she came to grab it.”

I pushed myself off the railing.

“Show me.”

The servants immediately moved aside and I walked down the corridor toward the bedroom she had been using.

The door was slightly open, so I pushed it with two fingers.

It swung inward quietly. Nothing has changed here.

My eyes moved slowly across the room and her wardrobe was still full.

Dresses from Milan.

Jewelry from Paris.

The diamond necklace she once said was too expensive to wear casually.

She left all of it behind.

My brows furrowed deeper.

“What did she take?” I asked and the maid hesitated.

“The silver ring, sir.”

I frowned.

“That cheap one?”

The maid nodded nervously.

“Yes, sir.”

I looked away, of all the things she could have taken…

The ring was an impulse purchase I bought at a roadside stall and she had worn it almost every day afterward.

Even when I gave her far more expensive jewelry.

“Ridiculous.” I exhaled slowly. She left everything behind.

I tapped my finger once against the glass.

She didn't take anything from me. The envelope and property papers were still on my study desk at the main house.

My lips pressed into a thin line. I had already transferred ownership this morning as compensation, according to the contract.

I turned back toward the servants.

“If she doesn’t want those things, throw them away.”

The housekeeper looked startled.

“Sir… the dresses are worth…”

“I know what they’re worth.” My voice dropped slightly.

“Do as I said.”

“Yes, sir.”

I walked past them toward the door. If Eva didn’t want them, they meant nothing, but halfway down the corridor, I stopped.

Something tugged at my attention.

This was her favourite hour to cook and wait for me.

I stood there for a moment and pulled out my phone without thinking. Her name appeared immediately in the recent call log.

Eva Joshua. My thumb hovered over the screen and for a second I considered pressing the call button.

Then I locked the phone and slipped it back into my pocket.

Pointless.

I shouldn't have come here tonight.

My burner phone rang and I spoke into the phone.

“Mrs. Grant, put someone on Eva Joshua.”

“For protection?” Sir?

I watched the dark lake outside the balcony.

“Observation,” I replied calmly.

Why hadn’t she taken my money? It would have made things simpler, but it was better this way, for both of us.

A faint rustle came from the living room behind me.

“Adrian? You’re back.”

Valentina sat comfortably on the sofa, one leg crossed over the other, watching me.

“Why are you here, Vee?” I walked toward her and she stood, slipping her arms around me in a warm embrace.

“I thought you would be late tonight,” she said softly. I pulled away and picked up my coat from the chair, watching her glance around the apartment.

Her gaze lingered on the furniture Eva had chosen when decorating the place.

“So this is where you kept your little secret,” she murmured.

My jaw tightened. “It’s just a property.”

Her eyes drifted to the mug on the table.

“You really should clean up after your girlfriends.”

I glanced at the mug again. Eva had never called herself that.

Valentina picked it up between two fingers, examining the small crack along the rim.

“You should really throw this away.” I immediately took it from her hand before she could drop it.

I placed the mug back on the table in the exact same position and grabbed my keys.

“Let’s go home.”