Isabella's POV
The phone rings.
Once. Twice. Three times.
Isabella paces her apartment, phone pressed to her ear, waiting. The person on the other end seems determined not to answer. Just when she's about to give up, about to throw her phone across the room.
"Hello?"
The voice is tired. Exhausted. Like someone who's been running on no sleep for too long.
Isabella forces warmth into her voice.
"Hi, sister."
Celeste Sinclair. Adrian's younger sister.
"Isabella?" Celeste sounds surprised. "Is everything okay? It's early."
"I know. I'm sorry. Did I wake you?"
"No, no. I'm at the hospital. Overnight shift." A pause. A yawn. "Haven't left yet. You know how it is."
Isabella smiles to herself. Celeste the doctor. Always saving lives. Always too busy to notice what's happening right in front of her.
"I hope you're not jumping in and out of emergency rooms too much," Isabella says lightly. "You need rest."
Celeste laughs. It's a genuine sound,warm, tired, real.
"Someone has to save the world. Speaking of which, I really need an escape plan. There's a patient in room four who's been yelling for an hour."
Isabella laughs too. The sound is practiced, perfect.
"You're a saint."
"Tell that to my feet."
They share a moment of laughter. Easy. Familiar.
Then Isabella shifts.
"Have you heard from your brother?"
Celeste pauses. "Adrian?"
Isabella rolls her eyes even though no one can see. "Yes, Adrian. Who else would I be asking about?"
"I haven't talked to him in a few days. Why?"
"There's a rumor going around." Isabella lets her voice drop, confidential. "Someone said he was at the hospital. With a girl."
Silence.
Then Celeste, sharper now "At which hospital?"
"I was hoping you might have seen him."
"I didn't." Celeste's voice shifts. Thinking. Processing. "Wait, this is the second time I've heard that today. Someone else mentioned it during shift change. Said they thought they saw him in the ER a few days ago."
Isabella's grip tightens on the phone.
"But you didn't see him?"
"No. I was probably in surgery. Or asleep in the on-call room." Celeste pauses. "He came to the hospital and didn't tell me? That's weird. He always tells me when he's here."
"Maybe he didn't want you to know."
"Know what?"
Isabella lets the silence stretch.
"I went to his place yesterday," she says finally. "He came home with a woman. A stranger. And she's staying there."
More silence.
Then Celeste, carefully "Staying there?"
"In his penthouse. In a bedroom. Like she lives there."
"Isabella, that doesn't sound like—"
"I saw her with my own eyes, Celeste. He brought her home. He gave her a room. He told security to ban me from the property." Her voice cracks deliberately, perfectly. "Your brother threw me out for a stranger."
Celeste is quiet for a long moment.
"I'll talk to him," she says finally. "He came to the hospital and didn't tell me. That's not like him. I'll find out what's going on."
Isabella closes her eyes. Relief floods through her.
"Thank you. That's why I love you."
"I have to go," Celeste says. "Emergency. The page just went off."
"Of course. Go save lives."
"I'll call you later."
"Okay."
They hang up.
Isabella lowers the phone. Stares at the wall.
That face.
The stranger's face. It haunts her. Tugs at something in her memory, something she can't quite reach.
Where have I seen her before?
She paces. Thinks. Nothing comes.
It doesn't matter, she tells herself. Celeste will handle it. Celeste will get answers.
But the face won't leave her mind.
And neither will the feeling that something is very, very wrong.
The Penthouse
Elena's POV
Elena stands in the garden.
Well, not really a garden, more like a terrace with plants. But to her, it's the most beautiful thing she's ever seen. Flowers in every color. Greenery spilling over the edges. Morning light making everything glow.
She reaches out. Touches a petal. Soft. Delicate.
I've never had time to look at flowers before.
It's true. Her life has been work, survival, hiding. No time for beauty. No space for softness.
Now she's surrounded by it.
She doesn't know that Adrian is watching her.
From inside, through the glass doors, he stands in the shadows. Observing. Studying. Trying to understand why this girl makes him feel things he buried years ago.
She touches another flower. Smiles. Just slightly.
Something in his chest shifts.
Harrison's POV
The door slides open. Harrison walks in like someone's chasing him.
He spots Adrian immediately across the terrace, standing by the glass watching Elena.
"Sir."
Adrian turns. Sees Harrison's face. Something shifts in his expression.
"What is it?"
Harrison keeps his voice low.
"Your father is at the company."
Adrian's face doesn't change. "Why?"
"A meeting was held. This morning. With the elders."
"A meeting about what?"
Harrison hesitates. "About you, sir."
Adrian waits.
"Someone started a rumor. About the hospital. About Elena. The board knows you've been absent. They're concerned."
"Find who started the rumor." Adrian's voice is cold. Controlled. "And make him jobless."
Harrison nods. "Already working on it."
"What else?"
"The board wants to push the marriage forward."
Adrian almost smiles. Almost. But there's no humor in it.
"Of course they do."
Harrison's voice drops lower. "Sir. There's something else."
Adrian catches the tone. Turns fully to face him.
"What?"
"Julian is in town."
The name lands like a physical blow.
Adrian's face goes still. Too still. The kind of stillness that precedes something dangerous.
"When?"
"Yesterday. No one knows why he's back."
"Does he know about Elena?"
"I don't think so. Not yet."
Adrian's jaw tightens. "Make sure he doesn't."
"Sir—"
His cousin. The one who disappeared years ago after everything fell apart. The one who loved Selena. The one who…
Adrian's jaw tightens.
"I don't think so. But he's asking questions. About you. About why you've been distracted."
"Make sure he doesn't find out."
"Sir, he's your cousin. He has access. He has—"
"I don't care what he has." Adrian's voice is ice. "He doesn't touch her. He doesn't know about her. He doesn't come near her. Understood?"
Harrison nods. "Understood."
Adrian turns away. Runs a hand through his hair.
Julian.
Of all the times. Of all the people.
He looks toward the terrace again. Elena is walking back toward the house, toward the door, toward him.
I won't let him hurt you, he thinks. I won't let anyone hurt you.
Elena's POV
Adrian walks toward her.
She watches him approach. Something's different his jaw is tighter, his eyes harder. But when he reaches her, his voice is gentle.
"I have to go out for a while."
She nods. "Okay."
He hesitates. Like he wants to say more.
Elena watches him go. Wonders who he really is. Why he's helping her. What he wants.
He's halfway to the door when her voice stops him.
"Sir?"
He turns.
She's standing there. Small. Nervous. Twisting her hands together.
"Adrian," he corrects gently. "Call me Adrian."
She nods. Swallows.
"Adrian. I wanted to ask you something."
"What is it?"
"My phone." She looks at him hopefully. "Did you see it? At the accident? I've been looking everywhere, but I can't find it. I think I might have lost it that night."
Adrian's mind flashes back to that night. The rain. The blood. Harrison holding her bag. The phone rang. His order Destroy it.
He looks at her hopeful face. She doesn't know. She has no idea.
"No," he says. "I didn't see it."
Her face falls. Just slightly.
"Oh. Okay. I just thought... someone I know. He's probably worried. I wanted to call him."
Adrian says nothing.
She looks up again. Forces a smile.
Adrian watches her. Something unreadable in his eyes.
"Well. Thank you anyway."
She turns to go.
"Elena."
She stops.
"Harrison will get you a new phone today. You can call whoever you need to."
She looks at him. That same look from the hospital grateful, hopeful, vulnerable.
"Thank you," she whispers.
She walks away.
Adrian watches her go.
THE CAR
Adrian's POV
The car pulls away from the penthouse.
Adrian sits in the back. Harrison drives. The city blurs past.
Adrian's mind is elsewhere.
Julian.
Years ago, Julian was like a brother. Closer than a brother. They grew up together, learned together, fought together.
Then Selena came.
Julian loved her. Adrian didn't. Not the way Julian did. But Selena... Selena loved Adrian. Or thought she did. Or wanted to. It was complicated. Messy. The kind of thing that breaks families.
And then she died.
And Julian disappeared.
Now he's back.
Why now?
Adrian looks out the window. His reflection stares back at him.
Does he know about Elena? Does he know she looks exactly like the woman he loved?
Does he know she's living in my house?
Does he know she's mine to protect?
Mine.
The word surprises him.
He pushes it away.
"Harrison."
"Sir?"
"Julian. Find out why he's here. Who he's talking to. What he wants."
"Already on it
."
Adrian nods.
"And Harrison."
"Yes?"
"If he goes anywhere near Elena..."
He doesn't finish the sentence.
He doesn't need to.
Harrison nods. "Understood."
The car drives on.
Behind them, the penthouse grows smaller. Inside it, Elena waits. Safe. For now.
But the net is closing.
And Adrian doesn't know if he can protect her from everything coming their way.