Reborn to Reject the Billionaire Who Ruined Me의 모든 챕터: 챕터 11 - 챕터 20

The dots kept going for a full minute. Then a message came through. Don't tell Adrian yet. I sat up and held my breath. I typed: Who is this? The reply took longer. When it came, it was three words. Someone who watched. Watched what? I wrote. Nothing. I wrote it again. Nothing. I held the phone until my fingers went numb, and by then I'd stopped pretending I would sleep. At six I stood at the window with a cup of tea I didn't want. Adrian's driver was already parked across the road, leaning on a black car and eating something out of paper. I should have felt safe. I didn't. I didn't tell Adrian. I went to work, opened files, closed them again. Every time my phone lit up, I jumped. By seven that evening I was home, and Nadia was at my door with a flask under her arm. "Soup," she said, and kissed my cheek. "My friend's mother makes it. It's the best thing ever. You look terrible, by the way." "Thanks." "I mean it nicely." She walked into my kitchen like she alw

The dots started and stopped three times before the answer came. I don't know exactly. Nobody tested for it. The doctors said your heart was weak and left it there. My hands were cold. I read the line again. It was small amounts. Slow. Enough that you'd feel tired and think it was stress. I typed: Who are you? Not yet. Why are you telling me? The dots came and went. Then: Because last time I said nothing, and you died. I put the phone down on the table. I picked it up again. I looked at the jam jar at the back of the fridge. Every Thursday for two years. Nadia in my doorway with a flask under her arm. Me, thanking her. The message had said not to tell Adrian. I called him anyway. He picked up on the first ring. "Elena?" "Can you come? Now. Please." He didn't ask why. "Twelve minutes." He was there in nine. I heard the knock, then the driver's voice, then his. When I opened the door, his coat was open and he'd come without a tie. He took one look at my face

Adrian read the name out loud, but only once, and so low that I had to lean in to catch it. "Raymond." "Your uncle," I said. "Chairman of the board." His jaw worked. "He's been at every dinner I've hosted since my father died. He taught me how to read a balance sheet. He sat next to me at your funeral." Nobody spoke. The tea Mrs. Lim hadn't touched went cold in front of her. "I need to be sure," Adrian said at last. "A signature on a page isn't enough. Raymond could say it was copied, or that someone used his stamp." "Like they did with mine," I said. He looked at me. "Yes." "The folder," I said. It came together while I said it. "The one on desk fourteen. Fourteen pages of my fake signature. It was dated the afternoon I applied. Somebody had it ready before I walked in." "Because they knew you'd be there." Mrs. Lim nodded slowly. "He plans these things years ahead. I've watched him do it." "Why me?" My voice came out smaller than I wanted. "I'm nobody. I kept book

I smiled at Raymond. It took everything I had."I loved it," I said. "That's the problem. I was so tired the other night that I couldn't finish more than a few spoons. I felt terrible. Nadia, I'm sorry."Nadia's fork stopped halfway to her mouth. "It's okay.""Is it?" Raymond turned his head toward her, slowly. "You told me she promised to finish it.""She did," Nadia said. "I mean, she said she would.""And did you?" He looked at me again. "Finish it?""I tried.""Hm." Raymond lifted his napkin and touched it to his lips. "Tell me, Elena, do you cook?""Badly.""But you know your way around a sink."Vivian looked at her plate. Nadia looked at nothing. Beside me, Adrian shifted his weight, the smallest movement.I kept my voice flat. "I'm not sure what you mean.""Don't mind me. An old man's curiosity." Raymond smiled. "Nadia stopped by your place the next morning, and she mentioned the smell from your drain. She was worried. She said it was sharp, like something had been tipped out i

The maid went to answer it. Nobody at the table said a word until we heard the front door open and a man's voice in the hall, polite and flat."Evening. I'm looking for Mr. Raymond Cole."Raymond set down his napkin and folded it once."Please show them in," he called. "We're only having dinner."Three people came into the dining room. A tall man in a gray raincoat, with a notebook in his breast pocket and the tired eyes of someone who hadn't been home in two days. Behind him, two officers in uniform. Behind them, Mrs. Lim, in her gray cardigan, holding a flat brown envelope against her chest with both hands."Detective Osei," the tall man said, to the room in general. "I'm sorry to interrupt.""Not at all." Raymond got to his feet and spread his hands. "What can I do for you, Detective? Is it something about the company?""It's about a flask, Mr. Cole." Osei didn't smile. "And a jar of soup from Miss Brooks's kitchen. We've had both tested at a licensed lab. This is a copy of the res