CHAPTER 50: THE NIGHT THE PAST CAME KNOCKING
The day moved with a heaviness that clung to Adrian and Elena like a second skin. Every step through the mansion echoed with the weight of Adrian's past—the one he had kept buried, sealed, and guarded from the world. The man who shaped his ruthlessness. The man who tried to own his soul.
His father.
Elena followed Adrian as he moved through his office, restless, his eyes sharp and distant. She could tell he wasn't just thinking… he was remembering. And that terrified her more than anything Lydia or Marcus ever could.
"Adrian," she said gently, watching him pace, "you don't have to face this alone."
He paused. "I've always faced him alone."
"Not anymore."
Her voice softened the edges of his anger, and he finally sank into the leather chair behind his desk. She stepped closer, determined to break the silence that had swallowed him.
