Chapter 5: The Secret Adrian Buried
The next morning, I woke up in my childhood bedroom.
For the first time in years, I slept without hearing Adrian’s footsteps outside my door.
No shouting.
No accusations.
No feeling that I had to measure every word before speaking.
The room looked exactly the same.
The old bookshelf.
The faded painting above my bed.
The small wooden box on my desk filled with memories I had forgotten.
But I was different.
I wasn’t the woman who left this room seven years ago.
I was someone who finally understood what she had lost.
A knock came at the door.
“Come in.””
Alexander entered carrying two cups of coffee.
“You still take it with too much sugar.””
I smiled faintly.
“You remember?””
“I remember everything about you.””
That hurt more than I expected.
Because Adrian had forgotten everything.
My favorite song.
The way I liked my coffee.
The things that mattered.
Alexander sat beside me.
“Emily.””
I looked at him.
“There’s something else.””
I knew from his expression.
Something serious.
“What?””
He placed a folder on the bed.
Inside were documents.
Bank records.
Property reports.
Emails.
I stared at the papers.
“What am I looking at?””
“Your marriage.””
My heart sank.
Alexander pointed to a page.
“Adrian wasn’t just controlling you emotionally.””
I read the numbers.
My hands became cold.
“He transferred money?””
“Your money.””
I looked up.
“What?””
Alexander sighed.
“When you married him, you placed several assets into a shared trust.””
I nodded slowly.
“I wanted us to build together.””
“Yes.””
He tapped the document.
“But Adrian secretly moved funds from that trust.””
My stomach twisted.
“How much?””
Alexander didn’t answer immediately.
That told me everything.
“How much, Alex?””
“Almost eight million dollars.””
I stared at him.
Eight million.
Money I had never cared about.
Money Adrian claimed he earned.
Money he used to make me feel dependent.
“He told everyone I was lucky to have him.””
Alexander’s expression hardened.
“He needed you to believe that.””
A message appeared on my phone.
From an unknown number.
I opened it.
A photograph.
It showed Adrian sitting in a restaurant with a lawyer.
The caption underneath made my blood run cold.
“Your husband has been planning this for months.””
I looked at Alexander.
“He knew.””
“Yes.””
“He knew he was going to divorce me.””
Alexander nodded.
“And he wasn’t planning to leave you with nothing.””
I looked back at the message.
“What was he planning?””
Before Alexander could answer, his assistant rushed into the room.
“Mr. Sinclair.””
Alexander stood.
“What happened?””
The assistant looked at me.
“Adrian Cole filed an emergency motion this morning.””
My heart stopped.
“For what?””
The assistant hesitated.
“To freeze your accounts.””
I laughed quietly.
Not because it was funny.
Because it was unbelievable.
Even after everything.
He was still trying to control me.
Alexander took the papers.
Then his expression changed.
“Emily.””
I looked at him.
“What?””
He turned the document around.
At the bottom was Adrian’s signature.
But underneath it was another name.
A name I recognized.
A name that made my blood run cold.
“Who is that?”” I whispered.
Alexander looked at the signature.
“Someone who should not be involved.””
“Who?””
He looked at me.
“Your father’s former business partner.””
The room went silent.
Because there was only one reason someone from my family’s past would help Adrian.
May you like
They weren’t trying to destroy my marriage.
They were trying to destroy the Sinclair family.
