Chapter 3 - Adrian Discovered Someone Had Been Following Me Long Before the Shooting, and the Hidden Files Revealed My Mother Had Once Been Part of His Family’s Biggest SecretAdrian's security team searched my apartment.
They found nothing.
But they found one thing outside.
A camera.
Hidden inside a utility box across the street.
It had been recording me.
For months.
They recovered the footage.
I watched myself walking past.
Every day.
Same time.
Same route.
The person filming had been patient.
Then Adrian found something worse.
A folder in an old database.
My mother's name.
Laura Carter.
She had been listed as a confidential medical consultant for the Moretti family.
But the file had been sealed.
Why?
Adrian opened it.
My mother's work wasn't simply medical.
She had been documenting injuries among people inside Adrian's organization.
More importantly, she had recorded evidence of a planned assassination.
The target?
Adrian's late wife.
I stared.
“No.”
Adrian looked at me.
“Your mother knew.”
“She never told me.”
“She may have been trying to protect you.”
The file contained one handwritten note.
If anything happens to me, keep Emma away from Moretti bloodlines.
My breath stopped.
My name.
Emma.
I had never known.
My mother had left instructions about me.
Adrian looked at me.
“You weren't supposed to come into my life.”
I frowned.
“What does that mean?”
He didn't answer.
Then Sophie appeared.
She pointed at the file.
She recognized my mother's handwriting.
I signed:
Did you know my mother?
She nodded.
Then signed:
Mommy trusted her.
I asked:
What did she tell you?
Sophie hesitated.
Then:
She said Daddy would need someone who understands him.
I looked at Adrian.
He looked away.
I didn't know what to say.
Then the door opened.
One of Adrian's men entered.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“We found the original surveillance files.”
“Where?”
“In your late wife's private archive.”
Adrian stiffened.
“Bring them.”
The files arrived.
Inside was a video.
His wife.
Alive.
Standing beside my mother.
The recording was dated six years ago.
My mother looked terrified.
Adrian's wife said:
“Laura, if I die, you protect Sophia.”
I froze.
Sophia?
No.
Sophie.
The recording continued.
“You don't tell Adrian everything.”
“Why?”
“Because someone inside this family is already planning to use my daughter.”
My mother asked:
“Who?”
Adrian's wife looked toward the camera.
Then said:
“You know who.”
The recording ended.
Adrian stared at the screen.
I saw anger.
Pain.
Confusion.
Then his security chief whispered:
“Boss.”
“What?”
“That name in the recording…”
He pointed at the file.
It belonged to Adrian's older brother.
Dead for eight years.
Adrian went completely still.
“My brother died eight years ago.”
The security chief swallowed.
“Yes.”
“Then why is he in the file?”
I stared at the screen.
My mother's hidden message.
The surveillance.
The shooter.
The dead brother.
Everything was beginning to connect.
Then Sophie suddenly grabbed my hand.
She signed frantically.
I looked at her.
“What?”
She pointed at Adrian.
Then at the door.
I looked.
A man stood outside.
I didn't know him.
But Sophie did.
Her face went white.
She signed:
That's the man who took me.
May you like
Adrian saw.
His face became terrifying.
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