Part 45
(Adrian's POV)
When Adrian woke, the air felt different — heavier somehow.
It wasn't the humidity. It was silence.
Thick, waiting silence.
He rubbed his eyes, trying to shake the fog of sleep, and that's when he saw it — the flower.
Sitting on the counter, bathed in pale morning light.
A Sunflower.
Fresh. Perfect.
Impossible.
He froze where he stood. His pulse spiked instantly.
No one knew they were here.
No one should've been able to find them.
He turned to Leah, still half-asleep on the couch.
The way the light fell across her face made her look almost peaceful — too peaceful.
"Leah," he said quietly.
"Hmm?"
"Where did you get that?"
She sat up, blinking.
"Get what?"
"The flower."
"What flower?"
He pointed. Her eyes followed.
And then she went still — perfectly still.
The silence between them thickened.
"Adrian, I— I didn't—"
"You didn't what?"
"I didn't put that there!"
Her voice cracked, but his heart was already beating too loud for him to hear reason.
-------------
It didn't make sense.
She was the only one with the keys, the only one who came near the window.
And that flower— that specific flower— it wasn't random.
Sunflower.
The same one that appeared on his dressing room table months ago.
The same one left in the hallway after the car accident.
His throat tightened.
His chest burned.
"You're lying," he whispered.
"Adrian, please, I swear—"
"Then how did it get here?"
Leah took a step toward him, but he stepped back.
The sound of his heel hitting the floorboards echoed through the small room like a warning.
For the first time since they'd met, he looked at her not with trust — but with fear.
-------------
Later, when Leah locked herself in the bedroom, Adrian sat alone in the kitchen, staring at the flowers.
He wanted to throw it away, to destroy it — but he couldn't touch it.
Instead, he watched it, as though it might move.
Somewhere in the walls, a faint static hissed — almost like a breath too close to his ear.
He turned, but no one was there.
Still, the whisper came again.
A woman's voice, soft and familiar.
"She doesn't deserve you."
His heart stopped cold.