Chapter 9: The Photograph
We reached Adrian's apartment seventeen minutes later.
The police entered first.
I waited in the hallway with Marcus, Julian, Caleb, and Daniel.
No one spoke.
The silence was unbearable.
Finally, an officer stepped out.
“Clear.””
Detective Bennett looked at me.
“You stay behind me.””
I nodded.
The apartment looked exactly as I'd remembered it.
Dark wood.
Gray furniture.
Expensive art.
Everything carefully arranged.
Everything cold.
I walked into Adrian's office.
The painting Vanessa had described hung behind the desk.
Detective Bennett pulled it from the wall.
A small steel safe was embedded behind it.
Marcus looked at me.
“Do you know the combination?””
I shook my head.
Daniel examined the keypad.
“Try her birthday.””
Bennett entered it.
Nothing.
“Your father's?””
Nothing.
“Your wedding date?””
Nothing.
I looked at the safe.
Then remembered something Adrian used to say.
People always choose numbers that mean something.
I gave Bennett another number.
“My birthday.””
She entered it again.
The safe clicked.
Everyone froze.
The door opened.
Inside were passports.
Bank documents.
Several envelopes.
And a photograph.
I picked it up.
My hands went numb.
It was my father.
Standing beside his car.
And beside him—
Adrian.
Not at my wedding.
Not years later.
The photograph was dated three weeks before I met Adrian.
I stared at it.
“He knew my father before he met me.””
Daniel nodded.
“Apparently.””
I turned the photograph over.
There was writing on the back.
*She must never know.*
My chest tightened.
“Know what?””
Marcus took the photograph.
“Look at the background.””
I did.
Behind my father and Adrian was a brick building.
A sign hung above the entrance.
*Cole Financial Services.*
Julian's face changed.
“That's Dad's office.””
I looked at him.
“Why would Adrian be there?””
Daniel opened another envelope.
Inside was a copy of an old employment contract.
Adrian's name appeared at the bottom.
I stared.
“He worked for my father?””
“For almost a year,” Daniel said.
“Before he met me.””
“Yes.””
“Then why did he pretend we'd never met?””
Nobody answered.
I opened another envelope.
There was a handwritten note.
My father's handwriting.
Adrian Cole is not the man he claims to be.
Below it was a date.
Three days before Adrian first approached me at the charity foundation where I worked.
I felt dizzy.
“He planned it.””
Marcus put a hand on my shoulder.
“What?””
“Our entire relationship.””
I looked at the documents.
“He didn't meet me by chance.””
Daniel shook his head.
“He was assigned to your father's company.””
“Assigned by whom?””
Before Daniel could answer, Detective Bennett pulled out another file.
“This was inside the safe.””
She handed me a corporate document.
At the top was the name of a company I didn't recognize.
*Northbridge Holdings.*
At the bottom was a list of shareholders.
My father's name.
Adrian's father's name.
And one more name.
I read it twice.
Then again.
My heart stopped.
The third shareholder was *Richard Cole*.
Adrian's father.
I looked at Daniel.
“Why would our fathers own a company together?””
Daniel's face had gone pale.
“I don't know.””
I turned the page.
A handwritten note had been attached.
Five words.
*The accident was not the beginning.*
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
“Hello?””
For several seconds, there was only breathing.
Then a man's voice whispered:
“Claire, if you're holding that photograph…”
I gripped the phone.
“Who is this?””
The voice trembled.
“You're looking in the wrong place.””
“Who are you?””
A pause.
Then:
“Ask your brothers what happened the night your father died.””
The line went dead.
I slowly lowered the phone.
Marcus was staring at me.
“What did they say?””
I looked at him.
“Why did someone tell me to ask you what happened the night Dad died?””
Marcus's face changed.
Julian looked at Caleb.
Caleb looked away.
And suddenly, I realized something terrifying.
May you like
My brothers weren't surprised.
They were afraid.
