Chapter 6 - THE RAT IN THE HOUSE
While the shadow of Adrien’s vengeance loomed over the Sterling family, Grace spent the afternoon at her Lincoln Park studio experiencing a profound emotional transformation.
With her wedding ring back on her finger, sparkling brightly under the studio lights, the lingering fog of anxiety and self-doubt that had tormented her for days completely vanished. She felt grounded, loved, and fiercely protective of her marriage.
As she worked on restoring the spine of an ancient Italian botanical manuscript, her mind replayed the intensity in Adrien’s eyes when he had re-adorned her finger. She realized then that Adrien’s deep-seated trauma—his terrifying fear of being abandoned—was just as fragile as her own fears of being inadequate.
They were two broken people from entirely different worlds, but together, they formed an unshakeable whole.
At four o'clock, the bell above the studio door chimed again.
Grace looked up, expecting to see a client or a delivery driver. Instead, her breath hitched slightly as her former intern, Emily, walked into the shop.
Emily looked pale, nervous, and kept glancing over her shoulder toward the street.
"Emily?" Grace said warmly, coming out from behind her desk. "What are you doing here? I thought you took a position at the Chicago Historical Society?"
"Grace," Emily stammered, wringing her hands together nervously. "I... I needed to see you. I needed to warn you."
Grace’s smile faded, replaced by instant concern. She walked over and took the younger girl’s hands. "Warn me? About what? Are you in some kind of trouble?"
Emily looked down at the floor, tears immediately welling in her eyes. "I made a terrible mistake, Grace. Months ago... right after the water damage restoration at the Moretti archive..."
Grace felt a sudden, icy chill cascade down her spine. "What did you do, Emily?"
"A man came to see me," Emily wept quietly. "He knew I was struggling to pay my graduate school tuition. He offered me fifty thousand dollars... just to give him access to the archive’s personal correspondence logs. He said he was a private investigator working on a historic land dispute."
Grace stared at the girl, her heart sinking. "Who was the man, Emily?"
"I don't know his real name," Emily sobbed, "but he drove a dark sedan with private plates. He asked me specifically about Adrien’s personal life... about how he treated you during the restoration project, about whether your studio was financially stable, and whether you had any old boyfriends or family secrets."
"You sold my personal life to a stranger?" Grace asked, her voice dropping into a painful whisper.
"I didn't think it would hurt anyone!" Emily cried frantically, gripping Grace’s sleeves. "I was desperate! But yesterday... yesterday that same man called me again. He told me that if I didn't leave Chicago by tonight, something terrible was going to happen to me. He said the Moretti family was going to discover what I did!"
Grace took a deep breath, her mind racing. She remembered Adrien’s words from months ago: “She protected someone who couldn't protect herself.” Grace had taken the blame for Emily’s mistake during the archive incident, believing the girl was innocent and naive.
Now, she realized that Emily’s minor mistake had been the entry point for a much larger, sinister plot to infiltrate her life and tear her marriage apart.
"Who called you yesterday, Emily?" Grace demanded, her voice firm, clear, and commanding. "Give me your phone."
Emily hesitantly handed over her smartphone.
Grace scrolled through the recent call logs until she found the unknown, encrypted number that had placed the threatening call. She didn't panic. Instead, she did what any woman married to Adrien Moretti would do.
She pulled out her own phone and dialed Adrien’s private line.
Adrien answered on the second ring. "Grace? Is everything alright?"
"Adrien," Grace said calmly, her voice entirely steady. "I have Emily here at the studio. She was paid fifty thousand dollars months ago to gather intelligence on us. The man who hired her just threatened her life."
There was a brief pause on the line—a silence so cold and dangerous that Grace could feel the temperature in the room drop through the speaker.
"Is she still with you?" Adrien asked softly.
May you like
"Yes. She’s terrified."
"Marcus is already outside your door," Adrien said smoothly. "Tell him to secure Emily and bring her to the Gold Coast estate. It seems all our snakes are crawling into the same pit tonight."
