Chapter 5 - The Name Neither Woman Expected
Maya stopped breathing.
Elena stared at the ledger.
Her name sat beneath a string of numbers.
Maya Torres.
Payment authorization.
$48,000.
Date: six months earlier.
Elena looked up.
“Maya.”
“I didn't do that.”
“I know.”
Adrian took the ledger.
“Someone forged the records.”
Maya stared at him.
“You believe me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because if you were working for Dario, Elena would never have survived eight months.”
Maya swallowed.
That was true.
Maya had hidden Elena.
Helped her relocate.
Covered for her.
She had been the one person Elena trusted.
Which meant someone had used Maya’s identity.
Adrian turned the page.
There were more names.
Doctors.
Warehouse supervisors.
Security guards.
A state inspector.
Then one that made Elena freeze.
Dr. Samuel Price.
Her obstetrician.
“No.”
Adrian saw her reaction.
“What?”
“He delivered Lucia.”
Adrian turned pale.
Maya stepped back.
“Maybe it isn't him.”
Elena shook her head.
“I don't know.”
A phone rang.
Everyone froze.
It was Elena's.
The caller ID displayed unknown.
Adrian held out his hand.
“Don't answer.”
Elena did anyway.
“Hello?”
Dario’s distorted voice came through.
“Congratulations, Elena.”
She tightened her grip.
“Where is my friend?”
“Your friend?”
“Maya.”
A pause.
Dario laughed.
“You always did confuse loyalty with friendship.”
Elena looked at Maya.
Dario continued.
“You want to know why your name is in the ledger?”
“Yes.”
“Because you helped him.”
“Who?”
“Adrian.”
Elena’s blood ran cold.
“How?”
“You took his money.”
Maya shook her head.
“I didn't.”
Dario laughed.
“You'll find the bank transfer.”
The call ended.
Adrian was already moving.
“Bank records.”
Marcus entered.
“Already pulling them.”
Minutes later, he returned.
“There was a transfer.”
Maya's eyes filled with tears.
“From an account I don't recognize.”
Adrian looked at the account number.
Then stopped.
“I know that bank.”
“Who owns it?”
He didn't answer.
Elena stared.
“Adrian.”
“My father.”
Silence.
Adrian’s father, Lorenzo Moretti, had died two years earlier.
Everyone believed the old man's empire had passed entirely to Adrian.
But Adrian knew better.
His father had maintained hidden accounts.
Emergency funds.
Secret operations.
Things Adrian had spent two years trying to uncover.
“If the account survived,” he said, “someone has access.”
“Dario?” Maya asked.
“No.”
“Then who?”
Adrian looked at the ledger.
“Someone older.”
That night they moved to a safe property outside the city.
Elena refused Adrian's offer of the master bedroom.
She took the guest room.
Lucia slept between them emotionally though she was physically in a crib beside Elena.
At 3:00 a.m., Adrian stood outside the door.
“Elena.”
She opened it.
“What?”
“I need to tell you something.”
She stepped aside.
He entered.
“My father knew about Dario.”
Elena folded her arms.
“For how long?”
“Before he died.”
“Why didn't he tell you?”
“He left instructions.”
“To kill him?”
“To watch him.”
Adrian pulled a document from his pocket.
“My father created a private contingency plan.”
Elena read.
The plan identified several company employees.
Dario was one.
The second name was blacked out.
“Who removed this?”
“I don't know.”
Elena studied Adrian.
“Were you ever planning to leave this life?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“The night I told you to leave.”
She looked at him.
“I had planned to resign.”
“What?”
“I wanted to sell the warehouses. Keep the legitimate business. Walk away from the rest.”
Elena stared.
“You never told me.”
“I was trying to.”
“You should have tried harder.”
“I know.”
Her eyes filled.
“You don't get to fix eight months in one night.”
“I know.”
“Then don't.”
He stopped.
“Don't fix it.”
“What?”
“Just tell me the truth.”
Adrian nodded.
“The truth is I loved you more than anything.”
Elena closed her eyes.
“The truth is I was terrified.”
She looked at him.
“The truth is I believed if you hated me, you'd stay away from me.”
“You succeeded.”
“I know.”
“And the truth is?”
Adrian's voice broke.
“I regret it every day.”
Silence.
Elena looked toward Lucia.
“You missed her first heartbeat.”
“Yes.”
“You missed the first time she kicked.”
“Yes.”
“You missed every moment I was scared.”
“I know.”
“You don't get those back.”
“No.”
She whispered, “Neither do I.”
Adrian nodded.
Then something changed.
He wasn't asking for forgiveness.
He wasn't demanding another chance.
He was simply standing there, accepting the damage.
That meant more than any grand declaration.
A knock came at the door.
Marcus entered.
“Sir, we found a name connected to the hidden account.”
Adrian turned.
“Who?”
Marcus handed him a file.
Adrian opened it.
His face drained.
Elena stepped closer.
“Who?”
Adrian showed her.
The photograph belonged to a woman.
Older.
Elegant.
Dark hair.
A scar across her eyebrow.
Elena stared.
“I've seen her.”
“Where?”
“At the charity dinner.”
“Who is she?”
Adrian said the name quietly.
“Isabella Moretti.”
Elena blinked.
“Your father's sister?”
“My aunt.”
“I thought she died.”
“So did I.”
Marcus nodded.
“She disappeared twenty years ago.”
Adrian looked at the file.
“She didn't disappear.”
He turned the page.
“She became the person running my father's offshore network.”
Elena felt a chill.
“And Dario works for her.”
Adrian looked at her.
“Yes.”
The door downstairs opened.
Maya screamed.
Adrian ran.
A gunshot echoed through the safe house.
Then another.
May you like
Elena grabbed Lucia.
And for the second time in one night, the past had come looking for her.
