Chapter 6 - The Knock
The sound echoed through the high-vaulted foyer like a gunshot.
RING.
Adrian froze, his arms tightening around my waist.
I pulled back slightly, looking at the grandfather clock near the staircase. It was 11:42 p.m.
"Who could that be at this hour?" I asked, frowning. "Did Samuel leave something behind?"
"Samuel took his car twenty minutes ago," Adrian said, his smile instantly dissolving into his old, watchful posture. "Stay here."
He walked toward the heavy oak front door, his hand reaching into his suit coat out of habit—a gesture born from years of high-profile security protocols.
Through the narrow frosted glass panels flanking the entrance, a shadow was visible against the white background of the snow.
A single figure, wrapped in a dark coat, standing on the stone porch.
Adrian reached the door. He unlocked the electronic deadbolt with a soft beep.
He pulled the heavy door open.
The wind howled into the warm foyer, carrying a blast of freezing snow and icy air.
Standing on the porch, shivering violently, her blonde hair matted with melting snow, her expensive mascara smeared beneath her pale eyes, was a woman.
She carried a small, battered leather bag. Her coat was torn at the hem. She looked thin, exhausted, and terrified.
She looked up.
"Adrian..." she gasped, her voice cracking with cold and emotion.
My blood ran cold. My heart slammed into my ribs with such force I thought I would faint.
It was Evelyn.
My sister.
The missing bride.
She stood there on the threshold of the glass fortress, her body trembling as she took a shaky step into the warm, illuminated foyer.
She didn't see me at first. She saw only Adrian.
"Adrian, please," Evelyn sobbed, dropping her bag onto the marble floor and throwing her arms around his neck. "Please... you have to help me. He's going to kill me!"
Adrian stood completely rigid, his hands at his sides, his face turning into a mask of pure, unadulterated ice. He didn't hug her back. He didn't move.
"Evelyn," he said, his voice as flat and lethal as a razor blade.
Evelyn pulled back slightly, tears streaming down her pale cheeks. "I'm so sorry, Adrian! I'm so sorry I ran! I didn't have a choice! They forced me... he threatened to destroy father's company if I didn't leave!"
And then, her eyes drifted past Adrian's shoulder.
She saw me.
She saw me standing near the grand staircase, wearing a emerald silk dress, wearing the Vale diamond necklace, standing in the home that was supposed to be hers.
May you like
Evelyn stopped crying. Her mouth opened in shock.
"Claire?" she whispered, staring at me as if I were a ghost. "What... what are you doing here?"
