Chapter 4 - The Woman in Room 308
Clara was in room 308.
Alive.
Weak.
Bruised.
But alive.
When I saw her, everything inside me broke.
She opened her eyes.
"Elena?"
I ran to her.
She grabbed my hand.
"I knew you'd come."
"I thought you were dead."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't."
She cried.
Adrian entered behind me.
Clara's face changed.
"You."
He stopped.
"What?"
"My mother warned me about you."
Adrian looked confused.
"Your mother?"
Clara nodded.
"She said the Vasile family would come for us."
Adrian frowned.
"Your mother knew my family?"
"She worked for your father."
The room went silent.
Clara explained.
Our mother had been an accountant.
She handled offshore accounts for several companies.
Among them was Vasile Shipping.
She discovered money being moved through shell companies.
Drug money.
Weapons.
Political bribes.
But one account stood out.
Children's medical charities.
Money was being donated through fake foundations.
Then those foundations were buying properties near impoverished neighborhoods.
Those properties were being used to manufacture an illegal pharmaceutical compound.
A compound that had never been approved.
A drug designed to induce severe dependency.
The people behind it had been making money from the resulting medical crisis.
Clara had found out.
Our father had tried to stop them.
That's why he had vanished.
Then Nathan Cross discovered the truth.
And started killing everyone connected to it.
But there was more.
The operation had two leaders.
Nathan Cross.
And Adrian's father.
I looked at Adrian.
He absorbed every word without expression.
"Why did my father try to protect us?"
Clara looked at me.
"Because your father threatened to expose him."
Adrian closed his eyes.
"My father wasn't protecting you."
"No."
Clara looked at him.
"He was protecting himself."
That hurt.
But it wasn't the worst part.
Clara reached beneath her pillow.
She pulled out a small brass key.
"Mom gave me this."
"What is it?"
"I don't know."
Adrian took it.
There was an inscription.
I stared.
"Table 17."
Adrian looked at me.
"That's why Cross sent you there."
"What?"
"He knew I would notice you."
I felt cold.
"You mean our meeting wasn't accidental."
Adrian shook his head.
"No."
"Then why?"
"Because someone wanted us together."
"Why?"
"I don't know yet."
We were interrupted by shouting in the hallway.
Gunfire.
Adrian immediately moved in front of me.
His men returned fire.
A nurse screamed.
Someone had found us.
Adrian grabbed Clara.
I grabbed Lily.
We ran through the service stairs.
At the bottom, Adrian's driver was waiting.
We escaped.
But Clara was injured.
She needed surgery.
Adrian took her to a private clinic.
Then he came to find me.
I was sitting alone in a hallway.
"She's alive."
I nodded.
"She's going to recover."
I covered my face.
He sat beside me.
"Why did they send me to table 17?"
"I don't know."
"They wanted you to notice me."
"Yes."
"Why?"
He looked at me.
"Because you were supposed to fall in love with me."
My heart stopped.
"What?"
He looked away.
"Maybe that's what they wanted."
I stared at him.
"That's insane."
"Yes."
"Then why are you looking at me like that?"
His expression softened.
"Because now I can't tell where the plan ends."
I couldn't breathe.
He took my hand.
"I don't know when it happened."
"What?"
"I started wanting you around."
I looked at him.
"Adrian..."
He lifted my hand.
"I'm not asking you to love me."
"Good."
"I'm asking you to stay."
I looked down at our hands.
"I don't know how."
"Neither do I."
He smiled.
"That's the first honest thing we've agreed on."
I almost laughed.
Then a nurse came running.
"Ms. Marlowe!"
I stood.
"What happened?"
She held out a file.
"This was found in your sister's bag."
Inside was a photograph of our father.
Alive.
And standing beside a woman I had never seen.
On the back was a date.
Tomorrow.
May you like
And one sentence.
Your father wants his daughters together.
