CHAPTER 3: THE HOUSE ON HAWTHORNE HILL
Roman drove without speaking.
He took three unnecessary turns, crossed the river twice, and entered an underground parking garage before changing vehicles.
Evelyn watched him check every mirror.
“You’ve done this before.”
“I spent six years investigating Adrian.”
“You spent six years letting me live with him.”
Roman flinched.
“I was trying to build a case strong enough to protect you.”
“You could have called.”
“Adrian monitored every call you received. He paid your staff. He controlled your security team. Anyone who tried to warn you disappeared from your life.”
Evelyn thought of old friends who had suddenly stopped answering. Employees who had resigned without explanation. Her father’s longtime attorney, who had moved overseas after Charles died.
Adrian had always provided reasonable explanations.
She had been surrounded by lies disguised as coincidences.
Roman parked outside the abandoned Hart family estate on Hawthorne Hill.
The house had been empty since their father’s death.
Inside, dusty sheets covered the furniture. Moonlight stretched across the floor.
Roman led Evelyn into their father’s study.
“I came here the night he died because he called me,” Roman said. “He told me he had discovered someone stealing from Hart International.”
“Adrian?”
“He never said the name.”
Roman approached the fireplace and removed a loose brick. Behind it was a small steel compartment.
Empty.
Roman stared at it.
“What was supposed to be there?” Evelyn asked.
“A ledger.”
“Containing what?”
“Payments to judges, board members, doctors, and private investigators. Your father said it could destroy the person trying to take over the company.”
Evelyn looked around the study.
“Did you find him alive?”
Roman’s voice dropped.
“Barely. He was on the floor beside his desk. He grabbed my sleeve and said one thing before he stopped breathing.”
“What?”
Roman turned toward her.
“Protect Evelyn from the man she loves.”
A floorboard creaked in the hallway.
Roman immediately switched off his flashlight.
They stood in darkness.
Another creak followed.
Then the study door slowly began to open.
Roman moved in front of Evelyn.
A shadow entered.
Evelyn reached for the heavy brass lamp on the desk.
The figure stepped into the moonlight.
It was Mara Bell, their father’s former housekeeper.
She looked older and frightened, but very much alive.
“You shouldn’t have come,” she whispered.
Roman lowered his hands.
“Mara?”
She reached inside her coat and pulled out a leather-bound book.
The missing ledger.
“I kept it hidden after your father died,” she said. “But Adrian knows I have it.”
Headlights suddenly swept across the study windows.
Several vehicles were climbing the hill.
May you like
Mara’s face lost all color.
“He found us.”
