Chapter 9 - THE SECRET UNDER THE FLOOR
Adrian did not sleep.
Neither did Mara.
Elena's image remained on the screen of his mind.
Alive.
After eight years.
Impossible.
Yet there she was.
A scar on her wrist.
The same scar Adrian had remembered.
Mara found him in the library before dawn.
He stood beside the window.
“You should rest.”
“So should you.”
“I’m not the one who found out my dead sister is alive.”
Adrian looked at her.
“You don't know that she is alive.”
“She was in the video.”
“Videos can be old.”
Mara studied him.
“You believe she is alive.”
Adrian said nothing.
That was answer enough.
She walked toward him.
“What does Blake have to do with her?”
“I don't know.”
“Then we find out.”
Adrian looked at her.
“You're very determined.”
“I’ve had practice.”
He almost smiled.
Almost.
A man entered the library.
“Boss.”
Adrian turned.
“We found the house.”
“What house?”
“The one Mara described.”
Mara stepped forward.
“What did you find?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“Empty.”
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
“Search again.”
“We did.”
“Then search better.”
The man hesitated.
“There is one thing.”
“What?”
“A section of flooring that doesn't match the rest.”
Adrian looked at Mara.
She immediately understood.
“The basement.”
They drove to the house.
The property was abandoned.
Dust covered everything.
Mara walked through the rooms.
Memories returned.
Blake had brought her there once.
She had been pregnant then.
No.
Not pregnant.
That had been before.
She remembered cleaning the kitchen.
Blake had told her never to enter the basement.
She had never asked why.
Now she stood before the door.
Adrian opened it.
The stairs descended into darkness.
Mara followed.
The basement smelled of damp earth.
A section of flooring looked newer than the rest.
Adrian's men began removing the boards.
Beneath them was a metal door.
Adrian opened it.
Inside were boxes.
Dozens of them.
Mara stared.
“What is this?”
Adrian opened the first box.
Documents.
Photographs.
Hard drives.
A second box contained passports.
A third contained cash.
Then Mara saw a name.
ELENA CROSS.
Adrian stopped breathing.
He opened the file.
Inside were photographs.
Elena.
Alive.
At different ages.
Different cities.
Different names.
Mara stared.
“She was being watched.”
Adrian nodded.
“By whom?”
Adrian turned another page.
A list of payments.
All sent to the same account.
Mara looked at the name.
“Vanessa Reed.”
Adrian's face went cold.
“Vanessa was paying someone to track Elena.”
Mara felt a chill.
“Why?”
Adrian opened another file.
This one contained photographs of Blake.
And Elena.
Together.
Mara stared.
“Blake knew she was alive.”
Adrian said nothing.
Mara looked at him.
“He knew.”
Adrian's hands tightened around the file.
Then Mara saw another photograph.
It showed Blake standing beside a woman.
The woman had dark hair.
A scar on her wrist.
Elena.
But she was not looking at Blake.
She was looking at someone else.
A man standing behind the camera.
Mara took the photograph.
“Who is that?”
Adrian looked.
His face changed.
Mara followed his gaze.
The man was older.
Gray hair.
Expensive suit.
A familiar face.
Mara's stomach dropped.
She knew him.
“That's my father-in-law.”
Adrian looked at her.
“Blake's father?”
Mara nodded.
“He died three years ago.”
Adrian stared at the photograph.
Mara whispered:
“Then how was he there?”
A sound came from upstairs.
Footsteps.
Adrian immediately closed the file.
“Someone is here.”
Mara's heart pounded.
The basement door slammed shut.
The lights went out.
Adrian pulled Mara behind him.
A voice came through the darkness.
“You were never supposed to find that.”
Mara recognized the voice.
Vanessa.
Adrian raised his weapon.
“Where is Blake?”
Vanessa laughed.
“Closer than you think.”
A gunshot struck the wall.
Adrian pulled Mara toward the hidden room.
More shots followed.
Mara crouched behind the boxes.
Adrian fired back.
Then silence.
He looked toward the door.
“Stay here.”
Mara grabbed his arm.
“No.”
“Mara.”
“You said I’m not luggage.”
His eyes met hers.
For a second, something passed between them.
Then Adrian nodded.
“Stay behind me.”
They moved through the basement.
The door was open.
Vanessa was gone.
But she had left something behind.
A single envelope.
Mara picked it up.
Adrian looked at her.
“Don't.”
She opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
Mara stared.
It showed Blake's father.
Standing beside Elena.
And beside them—
Adrian.
Mara's heart stopped.
The photograph was dated eight years ago.
The night Elena disappeared.
Adrian stared at it.
Mara slowly turned toward him.
“You were there.”
Adrian looked at the photograph.
His face became unreadable.
Mara's voice shook.
“You said you didn't know what happened to her.”
“I didn't.”
“You said you left her alive.”
“I did.”
“Then why are you in this photograph?”
Adrian said nothing.
Mara stepped backward.
“Adrian.”
He finally looked at her.
“I don't remember taking that photograph.”
Mara's blood went cold.
“What?”
“I don't remember.”
She stared at him.
He took the photograph.
His fingers tightened around it.
Then he saw something in the background.
A black car.
A license plate.
Adrian's expression changed.
Mara watched him.
“What?”
He whispered:
“That car belonged to my father.”
Mara felt the world shift.
“Your father?”
Adrian nodded slowly.
“My father died nine years ago.”
The basement fell silent.
Then Mara's phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered.
A woman's voice came through.
Weak.
Terrified.
“Adrian?”
He froze.
Mara put the phone on speaker.
The voice continued.
“It's me.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“Elena?”
Silence.
Then:
“Don't trust anyone.”
Mara's heart pounded.
Adrian whispered, “Where are you?”
Elena began to cry.
“I’m sorry.”
“Where are you?”
“Adrian…”
“What?”
Her voice dropped.
“The man you think is dead…”
Adrian's face went white.
Mara stared at him.
Elena whispered:
“Your father is alive.”
The line went dead.
For several seconds, neither Mara nor Adrian moved.
Then footsteps echoed above them.
Slow.
Heavy.
Approaching.
Mara looked at Adrian.
Adrian raised his weapon.
The basement door opened.
A man stood at the top of the stairs.
Older.
Gray-haired.
Elegant.
Mara recognized him instantly.
She had seen him at family dinners.
At weddings.
In old photographs.
Her father-in-law.
The man everyone believed had died nine years ago.
He looked down at them.
Then smiled.
“Hello, Mara.”
Mara stopped breathing.
Adrian slowly raised his weapon.
The old man looked at him.
“Put it down, son.”
Adrian's face turned white.
The man smiled.
“You always were a difficult child.”
Mara stared between them.
Adrian whispered one word.
“Father.”
The man stepped down one stair.
Then another.
And behind him stood Blake.
Alive.
Smiling.
Mara's blood turned cold.
Blake looked directly at her.
“Did you miss me, sweetheart?”
Adrian moved in front of Mara.
His father laughed.
“Still protecting women who don't belong to you?”
Adrian's weapon remained raised.
Mara looked at Blake.
Then at the man who had supposedly been dead for nine years.
Then at Adrian.
And suddenly, she understood.
This had never been about Blake alone.
Blake had not built the empire.
He had inherited it.
And the man behind the entire empire—
the man who had watched Mara suffer—
had been alive the whole time.
Adrian's father smiled.
“Now,” he said, “let's talk about the child.”
Mara instinctively covered her stomach.
The old man's smile widened.
And Adrian finally understood the truth.
Blake had never wanted Mara back because he loved her.
He wanted the baby.
Because the child she carried was the last thing standing between the Bennett empire and complete control of Baltimore.
May you like
The basement door slammed shut behind them.
And the war truly began.
