Chapter 10 Chapter 10
Elena’s POV
For a moment, everything froze.
Mandy stood in the doorway like a ghost wearing perfume—too polished, too comfortable, too sure of her place. Her dress sparkled under the restaurant lights, red as blood, tight enough to show off everything she had stolen from me.
Her smile widened when she saw my expression.
“Well, well,” she purred, stepping forward with the confidence of someone who believed she owned the world. “Look at you, Elena. Sitting pretty with Adrian Blake. Didn’t take you long to move on.”
Adrian shifted slightly in front of me.
Protective.
Tall.
Unbothered.
“Mandy,” he said flatly. “This is a private dinner.”
Mandy didn’t even look at him. Her eyes stayed glued to me like I was the show, and she was here to enjoy the front-row seat.
“Oh, I’m not here for him,” she said with a sweet laugh. “I’m here for you.”
Adrian’s jaw ticked.
I felt his hand hover near my waist—close enough to steady me, not close enough to cross a line.
“What do you want?” I asked, keeping my voice steady.
Mandy stepped closer and waved the object in her hand.
A tiny silver flash.
A USB drive.
My heart stuttered.
She tilted her head, her smile razor sharp.
“You left this at the house. Funny how things appear when you no longer live there.”
“I didn’t own a USB drive,” I replied immediately.
“Oh, I know.” She smirked. “It’s not yours. It’s Daniel’s.”
Adrian stiffened.
My stomach twisted.
“What’s on it?” I asked, though a terrible intuition already clawed at me.
Mandy’s grin sharpened. “You tell me.”
I frowned.
Then I realized—
she wasn’t holding the drive out to give it to me.
She tightened her fingers around it like a threat.
“I thought you should know,” she continued, “Daniel had a lot to say the day you left. Many things about you. About your… past. About your father.” She arched a brow. “And I wonder what Mr. Blake would think of those things.”
Adrian’s voice dropped, low and icy.
“You’re playing a dangerous game.”
“Oh, please,” she scoffed. “I’m just being helpful. And honestly?” Her eyes flicked between us. “I wanted to see if the rumors were true.”
“What rumors?” I asked.
She smirked. “That you’re sleeping with him.”
Before I could speak, Adrian stepped forward—slow, deliberate, lethal.
“Be careful with your words.”
Mandy only laughed.
“Aww. Protective now, are we?”
My palms trembled, but I lifted my chin.
“Is that all, Mandy? You came to embarrass me in some restaurant?”
“No,” she said softly, stepping close enough that her perfume—expensive, overly sweet—hit me.
“I came to warn you.”
A chill raced down my spine.
Adrian’s arm finally brushed mine, that tiny touch grounding me in a way I hated and needed all at once.
Mandy leaned in, her whisper slicing the air:
“Daniel isn’t done with you. And whatever you think you’re planning…”
Her eyes flicked to Adrian.
“…you’re already too late.”
She placed the USB on a nearby table, smoothed her dress, and flashed a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
“Oh, Elena? One more thing.”
I held my breath.
“You were never enough for him. And nothing you do will ever change that.”
For a split second, I felt heat rush through my veins—rage, pain, something that tasted like fire. But Adrian’s fingers brushed the small of my back, reminding me:
Don’t react. Not here. Not to her.
Mandy turned sharply and walked away, heels clicking like daggers on glass.
She didn’t look back.
She didn’t need to. She knew she had dropped something explosive between us.
The balcony was suddenly too quiet.
I exhaled shakily. “She’s lying.”
“I know,” Adrian said.
“You don’t even know what’s on that drive.”
“It doesn’t matter,” he replied. “I know Mandy. I know Daniel even better. They want you rattled. They want you doubting yourself.”
His voice softened—barely.
“And I won’t let them win.”
The sincerity in his tone startled me.
I turned to face him fully.
“You believe me? Even if… whatever’s there is bad?”
His eyes locked with mine.
“I believe you.”
Heat pooled in my chest—unwanted, overwhelming.
Adrian stepped closer, slow enough to give me time to stop him, close enough that I didn’t want to.
“You don’t have to earn my trust,” he murmured. “You already have it.”
My breath caught.
“Adrian…”
His fingers brushed my jaw—just a whisper of touch—and every part of me went still.
He lowered his head slightly, his breath warm against my skin.
“I don’t care what Mandy brought,” he said.
“I care about you.”
My pulse thundered.
Something inside me cracked open—fear, hope, longing—all tangled together.
But then—
“Sir?”
The waiter approached nervously.
Adrian straightened instantly. “What?”
“There’s… another message. Someone asked me to deliver it.” He handed Adrian a small folded note.
My heart slammed against my ribs.
Adrian opened it.
His eyes narrowed.
“What is it?” I whispered.
He handed the note to me.
Four words.
Written in familiar handwriting.
“Ask him about Phoenix.”
My blood ran cold.
Phoenix.
A name I hadn’t heard in years.
A name tied to my past.
A mistake.
A secret.
A part of my life Daniel had no right to know.
I met Adrian’s gaze.
He was watching me—carefully, intensely.
“Elena,” he said quietly, “what does this mean?”
My throat closed.
My vision blurred.
And for the first time since our deal…
I realized something terrifying.
If Adrian knew the truth—
he might not trust me after all.