Chapter 8 - Adrien Nearly Died Protecting Me—and I Finally Admitted the Feeling I Had Been Too Afraid to NameThe next forty-eight hours were chaos.
Richard was arrested.
My mother underwent surgery.
Victoria disappeared.
Evelyn stayed with me.
And Adrien hunted Sergei.
Every news channel in Chicago talked about the Whitmore scandal.
Financial fraud.
Conspiracy.
Corruption.
Murder.
The city's elite watched the empire collapse in real time.
For the first time, people were saying my name.
Not because I was Victoria's sister.
Not because I was a Whitmore.
Because I had survived.
But Adrien was not celebrating.
He was angry.
Sergei had disappeared.
That made him dangerous.
One night, I found Adrien alone on the balcony.
“What are you doing?”
“Thinking.”
“That's dangerous.”
He smiled faintly.
“I've been told.”
I stood beside him.
“Do you regret choosing me?”
He looked at me.
“No.”
“Even though everything exploded?”
“I expected that.”
“How?”
He leaned against the railing.
“When I first saw you, you looked like someone who had spent years convincing herself she didn't matter.”
“That obvious?”
“To me.”
“Why?”
“Because I did the same thing.”
I looked at him.
“You didn't.”
“You see the headlines.”
“And you hate them.”
“I hate what they hide.”
Silence.
Then he said,
“I don't know how to do this.”
“Do what?”
“Care about someone.”
My heart stopped.
He looked away.
“I know how to protect people.”
“I know how to negotiate.”
“I know how to threaten enemies.”
“But I don't know what to do when the person I care about becomes the one thing that can destroy me.”
I couldn't speak.
“Adrien.”
He looked at me.
“I love you.”
The words stunned me.
Not because I didn't feel something.
Because I did.
I stepped closer.
“I think I love you too.”
He laughed softly.
“You think?”
“I've been busy surviving.”
“Fair.”
He reached for my hand.
Then—
The sound of a gunshot cracked through the night.
Adrien jerked backward.
Blood spread across his shirt.
I screamed.
He collapsed against me.
Security flooded the balcony.
“Adrien!”
He was conscious.
Barely.
“Get down.”
“No.”
“Elena.”
I held him.
“You're not dying.”
He smiled weakly.
“You're giving orders now.”
“Because you need to listen.”
He tried to breathe.
“I always thought…”
“What?”
“…you were too stubborn.”
I cried.
“You're talking too much.”
His eyes closed.
“No.”
I shook him.
“No.”
Security rushed him to the hospital.
I followed.
The bullet had entered near his shoulder and missed his heart by inches.
Three hours later, the surgeon came out.
“He's alive.”
I collapsed into the nearest chair.
Evelyn hugged me.
Victoria arrived unexpectedly.
She looked terrified.
“I know who shot him.”
I looked up.
“Sergei?”
“No.”
“Who?”
She swallowed.
“Someone inside the federal investigation.”
I stared.
“That's impossible.”
“He called me.”
“What did he say?”
“He said Sergei wasn't working alone.”
I stood.
“Who?”
Victoria looked at me.
“Your father.”
“He's in custody.”
“Not anymore.”
My blood went cold.
Richard had escaped.
Victoria continued.
“He took Mom's medical records.”
“Why?”
“Because they were leverage.”
I looked toward Adrien's hospital room.
My anger returned.
“Where is he?”
Victoria shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Then she handed me a phone.
“He sent you a message.”
I read it.
Come to the old Whitmore warehouse alone.
I looked at Adrien through the glass.
Evelyn grabbed my arm.
“No.”
“I have to.”
“It's a trap.”
“I know.”
“Then why go?”
“Because Richard thinks I'm still the forgotten daughter.”
I looked at Victoria.
“He forgot something.”
“What?”
I smiled.
“I learned how to stop disappearing.”
The warehouse was empty.
At least, it looked empty.
Richard stepped from the shadows.
“You always were stubborn.”
I stared at him.
“You shot Adrien.”
“I gave an order.”
“Why?”
“Because he was going to destroy everything.”
“You already destroyed everything.”
He laughed.
“Do you think justice will save you?”
“No.”
I took another step.
“The truth will.”
He raised a gun.
“You don't understand power.”
“I understand fear.”
His face changed.
“I was afraid of you.”
He stared at me.
“Not because you were weak.”
“Because you were the only thing I couldn't control.”
I realized the truth.
My father hadn't hated me because I was insignificant.
He hated me because he couldn't predict me.
Sirens sounded.
Richard looked around.
Adrien's voice came from the shadows.
“Drop it.”
Richard's face went white.
Adrien stepped forward.
Blood still stained his shirt.
He looked exhausted.
But alive.
My eyes filled with tears.
“You shouldn't be here.”
He smiled.
“You told me to listen.”
I ran to him.
He held me.
Richard dropped the gun.
Federal agents rushed inside.
Richard was arrested again.
This time, there would be no escape.
Sergei's network collapsed over the next few weeks.
Bank accounts were frozen.
Properties seized.
Names exposed.
The Black Rose disappeared into the shadows.
But one final mystery remained.
May you like
My mother's recovery.
And what would happen to all of us after the truth had taken everything away.
