Chapter 5 - The Husband Who Wanted Her Signature
Adrienne had disappeared.
His apartment was empty.
His office was empty.
His bank accounts were frozen.
But Lorenzo knew that frightened men did not truly disappear.
They went somewhere they felt powerful.
For Adrienne, that place was a private law office in the old financial district.
Lorenzo entered with Isabella beside him.
"No weapons," she said.
He glanced at her.
"That's an unusual request from someone married to a man accused of fraud."
"I mean it."
"Fine."
He nodded to Mael.
Mael remained outside.
Inside, Adrienne waited.
Vivien sat across from him.
She looked exhausted.
Adrienne rose.
"Isabella."
She stopped ten feet away.
"Say it."
His confidence faltered.
"Say what?"
"Whatever lie you came here to tell me."
He laughed nervously.
"I never wanted this to happen."
"Which part?"
"The affair."
"No."
She stepped closer.
"Don't insult me."
The room became silent.
"Was it love?"
"No."
"Was it money?"
Adrienne looked away.
"Yes."
"And was marrying me part of it?"
He did not answer.
That was enough.
She closed her eyes.
When she opened them, the woman who had entered the room was different.
The wife was gone.
The secretary remained.
Calm.
Observant.
Precise.
"How long?"
"Six years."
Her face went still.
"From the beginning?"
"Not at first."
"When?"
"Three months after we met."
She nodded slowly.
"And why?"
"Your father."
Rafael's theory was right.
Adrienne's voice shook.
"Your father left something behind. Viktor needed it."
"What?"
"You."
She stared at him.
"That's ridiculous."
"You were the only person he trusted."
"I was his daughter."
"Exactly."
Adrienne stepped toward her.
"Do you remember your wedding day?"
"Of course."
"Your grandmother gave you a music box."
Isabella froze.
"You know about it."
"I found it."
Lorenzo's voice became cold.
"Where?"
Adrienne smiled.
"Somewhere you'll never reach."
Lorenzo took one step forward.
"Try me."
Adrienne laughed.
"You think you're untouchable because you're Lorenzo Vukov."
"No."
Lorenzo's eyes were dark.
"I know I'm dangerous because I know exactly what people become when they lose everything."
Adrienne looked nervous for the first time.
Isabella spoke.
"What is inside the music box?"
"A key."
"The key to what?"
"The account."
She frowned.
"What account?"
"The original trust."
Lorenzo turned to her.
Adrienne continued.
"Your father didn't hide the ledger. He hid the children."
Isabella's eyes widened.
"He created a foundation. Quietly. The trust funded shelters, legal identities, medical care, education."
"And the names?"
"Encrypted in the music box."
"Then where is it?"
Adrienne smiled.
"At your mother's house."
"My mother died."
"Exactly."
Isabella's stomach dropped.
Lorenzo understood.
"Her grave."
Adrienne shook his head.
"Not the grave."
He leaned back.
"The piano."
Isabella stared at him.
Her mother had owned a small upright piano.
She had inherited it.
It had been in storage for years.
She had never opened the back panel.
Adrienne looked at Lorenzo.
"By the way, your uncle wasn't the one who recruited me."
"Who did?"
Adrienne's smile disappeared.
"Your mother-in-law."
Isabella went still.
"My mother-in-law is dead."
"People die."
Adrienne leaned closer.
"Names don't."
Lorenzo moved.
Adrienne reached under the table.
Mael burst through the door.
He knocked the weapon away.
In seconds, Adrienne was on the floor.
But the room was already filling with smoke.
Someone outside had triggered the building alarm.
Lorenzo pulled Isabella toward the exit.
"Move."
They escaped through a side corridor.
Outside, the snow had intensified.
They reached the car.
Isabella turned to Lorenzo.
"My mother's piano."
"We'll go."
"Now."
They drove to a storage facility on the edge of the city.
The piano waited under a tarp.
Isabella touched the wood.
Her mother's fingerprints seemed to exist in every scratch.
They removed the back panel.
Nothing.
Then Lorenzo noticed a small brass plate.
He pressed it.
A hidden drawer opened.
Inside was the music box.
Red.
Snowflakes.
Just like her grandmother's.
Isabella picked it up.
A melody played.
The same melody her grandmother used to hum.
She opened the lid.
A small key slid out.
Lorenzo caught it.
Stamped on it:
Rafael appeared behind them.
"The final chamber."
"Where?"
"At the Meridian."
Isabella looked at Lorenzo.
"The party."
"Yes."
"You think the building itself is hiding it?"
Rafael nodded.
"Under the original vault."
She stared.
The Meridian had once been a bank.
A very old one.
With a vault beneath the ballroom.
Lorenzo looked at the music box.
"Christmas."
"What?"
"The note said, where Christmas never ends."
Isabella understood.
"The Meridian's vault is beneath the old Christmas room."
She looked at him.
"Then we know where to go."
Rafael shook his head.
"No."
They all turned.
"The vault isn't the danger."
May you like
He took a slow breath.
"The person waiting there is."
