Chapter 4 - Someone Wanted Me Dead Again—Until Adrien Locked Down Chicago and Declared I Was Under His ProtectionI hadn't slept.
Nobody had.
By sunrise, the Volkov estate was surrounded by security.
Cars came and went.
Men spoke into earpieces.
Phones rang continuously.
I sat near a window with a cup of coffee I hadn't touched.
Adrien stood across the room.
“You should eat.”
“I can't.”
“You need strength.”
“For what?”
“Whatever comes next.”
I looked at him.
“You say that like you've known all along.”
“I've known enough.”
“Not enough to tell me everything.”
His silence answered me.
I stood.
“What are you not telling me?”
He watched me for several seconds.
Then he reached into his jacket.
A photograph.
He gave it to me.
It showed my mother at the hospital.
But beside her stood a nurse.
The nurse held a baby.
Another baby.
I looked closer.
The blanket had a small embroidered name.
Lena.
My hands shook.
“That's me.”
“No.”
I looked at him.
“That's your sister.”
“My what?”
“The other baby.”
I stared at the photograph.
“There was another child?”
“Yes.”
“Where is she?”
“That's what I'm trying to find out.”
“Why would my family hide her?”
“Because she may have been more valuable than you.”
The thought made no sense.
“Why?”
Adrien sat.
“Your father wasn't only involved in shipping.”
“What else?”
“He controlled information.”
I frowned.
“Information?”
“Names. Contracts. Bank accounts. Political relationships.”
He leaned forward.
“Luka kept records.”
“And my sister?”
Adrien paused.
“She may have been used as leverage.”
I couldn't breathe.
“Used by whom?”
“Your grandfather.”
“Why?”
“To control Luka.”
I paced the room.
“This is insane.”
“It is.”
“Then why did nobody come for me?”
“Because you disappeared.”
“I was right here.”
“To them, you weren't.”
He showed me another document.
It was a medical record.
My name was crossed out.
Date of death.
The same day I was born.
I stared at it.
“My mother signed this.”
“Yes.”
“And Victoria?”
“Listed as the sole surviving daughter.”
Everything became clearer.
Victoria hadn't just been favored.
She had been officially made the daughter who remained.
I whispered,
“My parents erased me.”
Adrien stood.
“They erased the truth.”
“And my sister?”
“Victoria may have never known.”
I laughed bitterly.
“You believe that?”
“No.”
The honesty surprised me.
Adrien continued.
“I believe she knew something.”
Later that morning, Victoria arrived at the mansion.
She came alone.
Adrien's guards searched her before allowing her inside.
The moment she saw me, her face twisted.
“You.”
“Yes.”
“You've ruined everything.”
I stared at her.
“You were going to marry a man who didn't want you.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“He chose you.”
“No.”
“He chose your blood.”
I flinched.
“Maybe.”
She came closer.
“You think you're special now?”
“No.”
“You were always jealous of me.”
“I was never jealous of you.”
She laughed.
“Everyone loved me.”
“And did that make you happy?”
She stopped.
For one second, something genuine appeared on her face.
Pain.
Then it vanished.
“You don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
She looked at Adrien.
“Can I speak to Elena alone?”
“No.”
Her eyes flashed.
“Why?”
“Because I don't trust you.”
She looked at me.
“Do you?”
“No.”
That seemed to hurt her.
“I didn't know about the documents.”
“You knew about something.”
She looked away.
“I knew Mom hated talking about you.”
“Why?”
“Because she was afraid.”
“Of what?”
Victoria swallowed.
“That you would remember.”
I froze.
“Remember what?”
Victoria stared at me.
“When we were little, you used to ask where the other baby was.”
My heart stopped.
“I did?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“You fell down the stairs when you were four.”
I looked at Adrien.
“Did I?”
He was already reaching for his phone.
Victoria continued.
“After that, Mom told you there had never been another baby.”
My skin prickled.
“You remember.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I was told not to.”
“Who?”
She hesitated.
“Grandfather.”
My entire body went cold.
Victoria began crying.
“I didn't choose any of this.”
I believed her.
At least partly.
Then she looked toward Adrien.
“Does he know?”
“Know what?”
She whispered,
“That Elena's twin is alive.”
Adrien went completely still.
“What?”
Victoria wiped her tears.
“I saw her once.”
“Where?”
“Five years ago.”
My voice barely worked.
“Where?”
“Paris.”
Adrien stepped forward.
“Who was she with?”
Victoria shook her head.
“I don't know.”
“Who brought her?”
“I don't know.”
“What's her name?”
Victoria whispered,
“Evelyn.”
My heart pounded.
“Evelyn what?”
Victoria looked at me.
“I think she's been living under the name Evelyn Cross.”
Adrien immediately turned to his security chief.
“Find her.”
The man nodded.
Victoria stood.
“I don't want to be involved anymore.”
I looked at her.
“You already are.”
She began to leave.
At the door she stopped.
Without turning around, she said,
“There's something else.”
I waited.
“She looks exactly like you.”
The door closed.
I stared at Adrien.
He stared back.
Then the security chief rushed into the room.
“We found something.”
“What?”
“Evelyn Cross has been staying in Chicago.”
My pulse stopped.
“Where?”
He gave Adrien an address.
Adrien read it.
His expression changed.
“That's impossible.”
“What?”
He looked at me.
“She's been living three blocks from the Whitmore estate.”
My blood ran cold.
“Then why hasn't she contacted us?”
Adrien looked toward the door.
“Maybe she has.”
That was when every light in the mansion suddenly went out.
A gunshot exploded somewhere downstairs.
Men shouted.
Glass shattered.
Adrien grabbed my hand.
“Stay behind me.”
Another shot.
Then another.
He pulled me toward a secured hallway.
I heard one of the guards yell,
“They're inside!”
Adrien pushed me into a reinforced room.
He closed the steel door.
I grabbed his sleeve.
“What about everyone else?”
“They know what they're doing.”
“Who are they?”
He looked at me.
“The people who have been waiting twenty-three years to finish what they started.”
Then he drew his weapon.
And for the first time, I saw real fear in his eyes.
May you like
Not for himself.
For me.
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